Letter to the Editor: Open letter to Regional Express Airlines

Firstly, congratulations on securing your contract for another five years. I do hope you can do better than previously.

Your airline services many regional centres and there are people who rely on you to get them to Perth for many reasons medical, to catch another flight and sometimes maybe in an emergency.

I must say you do not live up to the hype that you put out. Just recently, we were booked to fly out at 1.30pm. The flight was delayed until 9.10pm. That evening, we all arrived at the airport at around 8pm and we were told that the flight was cancelled.

A lot of people use Rex to get to Perth for medical treatment and have appointments lined up. The stress in trying to rearrange appointments is inconvenient, not just for the person involved but for hospitals and doctors.

Some doctors have to book their operating theatre and if you miss that appointment, it could be weeks before you get one and this can be life-threatening.

Another thing, you seem not to inform the public of the reasons why you are cancelling flights.

Most people are patient and will understand if told pilots need rest time or there is an issue with the aircraft. Rex flights are delayed or cancelled 60 per cent of the time.

Rex, this is not good enough; you need to have your Perth office open until at least midnight so the local people working in regional airports can get in touch with you.

Some customer service would go down well.

One person at my airport (Albany) indicated she wouldn’t come back here. She was a tourist returning to Hong Kong and she missed her connecting flight.

We rely on our tourists and a lot prefer to fly. Who would want to come (or try to) when you could lose a couple of days of your holidays.

You need to do better, REX.

Unbeknown to you and your organisation, you have possibly cost some people their lives and it appears you couldn’t care less.

You have also made it difficult for tourists, medical personnel and the general public to want to fly with you.

At least a nice cuppa on you would be welcome.

Letters to the editor must contain the author’s full name, address and daytime contact number. Letters may be edited for space, clarity or legal reasons. Email news@albanyadvertiser.com or post to PO Box 5168 Albany, WA, 6332.