The Way I See It
Business-class tickets for a stale bun - A fair compensation?

Business-class tickets for a stale bun - A fair compensation?

Upon being asked how she can be compensated, to everyone’s surprise her reply was “three Business Class tickets”. Wow!

Hamza Tahir May 07, 2015

It seems as if we lose all our values as we grow up. What is taught to us as children ebbs away as we hit adulthood. Unity, faith and discipline turn into mere words instead of values. The word Pakistan should hold immense importance and respect in our hearts and therefore, all the establishments being operated in association with Pakistan deserve equal respect.

People of Pakistan or should I say ‘citizens of this great nation’ have a duty to uphold the integrity and honour of the state. By defaming a national establishment, we inevitably end up defaming our state.

Recently, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) came under scrutiny over a case of a stale bun served to a passenger. Sara Zafar Malik, the individual who posted the picture of the bun on a social media forum, clearly wanted to be in the spot light. She claims that her two-year-old daughter was served a stale and fungus infested bun on a flight from Islamabad to Birmingham.

Photo: Facebook

Total chaos ensued after the picture went viral on social media. Various pro and against opinions have been formed over Ms Malik’s story. With most stories in favour of Ms Malik, how will the judge presiding over this case give a final and unbiased verdict, especially with only one angle being presented?

What about PIA? Do they not have the right to defend their image? Should they not get a chance to prove themselves innocent?

Ms Malik claims,

“At first I thought it was a normal fruit bun. But when I turned it over, there was green fungus all over it. It was really bad.”

She took numerous pictures of the bun, joked about it with her husband and returned the meal tray without registering any complaint with the crew.

I am extremely confused. When joking about an incident and then posting it on social media with a tag line, “share it as much as you can”, did Ms Malik not realise that her actions could have severe repercussions?

Firstly, if she had such an issue, why did she not take up it up with the authorities there and then? A simple complaint would have sufficed, rather than creating a public scene on a public forum. An official flight complaint log is actively maintained by the authorities, yet she chose not to file a complaint there. Maybe Ms Malik thought it would be more exciting and effective if she voiced the issue on a food forum on Facebook.

Photo: Facebook

Secondly, if this were a genuine case, why did the other passengers not complain about stale food being served to them? How is it that out of the hundreds of passenger, only one passenger managed to get a stale bun, considering the fact that it was from the same batch of buns given to the other passengers? Either Ms Malik was travelling alone on the flight or none of the other passengers were served lunch. It makes no sense.

Moving on to the issue of compensation, Ms Malik was approached by PIA officials to resolve the matter. She was of the view that PIA owed her an apology and should be compensated in some form. Upon being asked what she wanted, to everyone’s surprise her reply was,

“Three business-class tickets”.

Photo: Facebook

Photo: Facebook

How is this fair compensation?

According to her, she was wronged by PIA because she was served stale food.

My question is why did she not ask PIA to probe into the matter and bring the culprits behind this to justice, or even advise them to keep a strict check on the food being served on the flight, so that chances of such incidents occurring can be reduced?

How is asking for business-class tickets against a stale bun remotely justifiable?

How can she blame the whole organisation for the act of a handful of individuals?

She had pointed out that sharing photos of the stale bun on social media would keep her friends safe and they would be careful while flying the airline, yet, she is willing to fly the very same airline in a more lavish manner?

What about people who are not her friends? What about those people or families who live abroad and travel by PIA? What about foreigners and government officials? Had she complained to the officials about the incident, which in this case did not happen according to PIA officials after an internal investigation, the problem would have been solved that very moment.

How can we expect good things from the world when such people continue to damage the image of Pakistan? How can justice prevail when such people get the opportunity to right a wrong but instead they opt to gain personal benefits by exploiting a national establishment?

So you see greed can get to everyone. Exploiting a national airline for free tickets: bravo Ms Malik, bravo.

WRITTEN BY:
Hamza Tahir The author is an MBA graduate and is currently working as a social media manager. He tweets as @hamxabt

The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (44)

Fatima | 8 years ago | Reply We Pakis make a big deal out of everything. Pathetic article. Ridiculous!

islooboy | 8 years ago | Reply That,s why i prefer airblue

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Uzzi | 8 years ago | Reply Shame on the writer on writing this article to portray woman as evil and justify PIA's act.

Fatima Abbas | 8 years ago | Reply Although I don't completely agree with the article but I do think that Ms Sara Zafar crossed the thin red line between helping PIA and hurting PIA when instead of complaining she publicly asked everyone to share the picture as much as possible. Such mistakes happen but you don't have to go to the solicitor for that. Especially when its your national airline.

Amir ali | 8 years ago | Reply Author, Who gives you the right to publish someone's private communication? And when an "AIRLINE" asks anyone for compensation for a wrong Airline did, obviously aggrieved party isn't gonna be asking for a train ticket or a hotel meal coupon as compensation.

Farah Kamal | 8 years ago | Reply How pathetic that you chose to defend something so obviously downright incorrect. I have spend over more then half my life travelling the world and airlines do compensate by offering free tickets, free Hotel stays, what she asked for is totally justified. Your article is unfortunately completely out of place.

Muhammad Asad Khan | 8 years ago | Reply Complaints, really? Did you even travelled in PIA? Pakistani airlines are worst in the world, once a passenger complained about tea being cold instead of hot and next thing we saw was whole pot was dropped on him intentionally by air hostesses, flight was from karachi to Islamabad. Demands by Ms. Sara may not be right but are fair enough... Should have asked more...

Saad | 8 years ago | Reply While I don't really agree with all the points the writer makes about "damagin" Pakistan's image internationally - first thing, the small number of foreigners that do venture into Pakistan dont even use PIA - they usually fly via the Gulf. Also, dont really understand why the lady in question did not bring up the issue or make a complaint while she was still on the plane - the issue would have gotten resolved there and then. I agree asking for three business class tickets is pushing it a bit.

Rehan Ali | 8 years ago | Reply Complementary tickets are the most common compensation to settle matters which involve passengers being wronged by the carriers. Therefore, it is normal of the passenger to have asked for them. How PIA played it is unprofessional, stupid and ridiculous. The write-up seems to be another one of those attempts much like the online videos. Accusing the woman concerned for not asking for details and inquiries is lame. She did the right thing by settling the matter. This settlement would push PIA to inquire the matter and get it sorted out so that the airline doesn't have to undergo similar financial stress. Inquiry, reports etc do not fall into personal domains and we shouldn't expect the woman to have asked for such and direct such questions towards PIA

Punjab | 8 years ago | Reply reading this piece left me in such a bad mood, This author is paid pen of PIA. how can you malign someone like this? My flight to Brazil was cancelled and Swiss airline gave me business class ticked on another airline because i had to go through pain of changing flight from another airport, that's how you treat customers.

Madiha Manzar | 8 years ago My flight from Athens to Karachi was delayed. I had to appear for an exam the next day in Karachi. PIA stepped in with Turkish Airlines business class ticket and got me to my destination on time. Im not saying their service is world class nowdays but at at least they should not be tarnished for a third party provided stale bun. A complaint would have been sufficient by the Greedy Drama Queen.

Sumone | 8 years ago | Reply Lady you should..Forgive and Forget!

Gullu, Guddu and Gomnath | 8 years ago | Reply No. asking for 3 business class tickets is ridiculous. Perhaps PIA could have offered her and family a free dinner coupon, or gift certificate, that can be used anywhere in UK or Birmingham.

Browncoat | 8 years ago PIA asked the woman what she would like! She didn't 'demand' anything as you seem to be turning it around.

FacePalm | 8 years ago | Reply Had this happened on any western airline, the woman could have sued them for millions for risking the health and well being of her child. I'd say 3 Business Class tickets is peanuts in comparison!! The greater issue however is that people in this country seem to think that the perception is more important than reality, with this mindset maybe the author will be okay if someone died eating that food, that is, as long as no body knows about it.

Sonia Khawaja | 8 years ago "The greater issue however is that people in this country seem to think that the perception is more important than reality, with this mindset maybe the author will be okay if someone died eating that food, that is, as long as no body knows about it." Bravo- you summed up our country so well. explains why our folks hate victims of horrific like Malala and Mukhtara mai rather than praise them for their braveness

Gullu, Guddu and Gomnath | 8 years ago Nope, you are wrong. She could have sued for a billion dollars, if there is a mentally challenged attorney who took her as a client. Besides, a judge would have thrown out the frivolous lawsuit. Because no injury resulted, from the stale bun.

thriftysmurf | 8 years ago | Reply The story is bogus, if the woman wanted to be taken seriously or pursue litigation, why didn't she secure witnesses by making the staff aware? She also had a moral obligation to make the staff aware of the stale product so as to prevent it from being fed to other passengers.

fassih | 8 years ago | Reply Extremely biased piece of writing. Lady had every right to ask for conpensation. What a way of vindication pia of their incompetence on the name of nationalism....

Zain Ali | 8 years ago | Reply The plaintiff is constantly asked as to what she needs as a compensation...what would she have said, send me a proper "not-so-stale" bun or a boeing 777 itself. From a place where an organisation like McDonalds ends up giving free food if theres something grossly wrong with the order this is a just and fare demand. Specially if Sara Zafar Malik is constantly asked by the PIA team as to what she needs to settle the issue, that too on facebook. PIA's audacity to post up what they did on their facebook page is commendable. This organisation if run the same way is surely destined to be privatised as budget airlines like airblue and Shaheen are providing better service then PIA

urooj | 8 years ago | Reply Lol what a pathetic article.

Marvi | 8 years ago | Reply She had been wronged. But she wanted to cash in on the stale bread and that was also wrong. Maybe not legally but morally and ethically. Anybody defending her cannot deny this fact.

omair | 8 years ago | Reply PIA asked her what they should do in order to compensate her. Her response of asking for 3 tickets or whatever is justifiable. Instead of calling her an attention seeker PIA could have politely declined and offered something else in return. Heck a simple sorry would be in order.

Ahmed | 8 years ago | Reply Mr make a choice 1) uphold the image as you say or 2) waste millions billions down the drain? Uphold the image for what? Billions of tax payers money to go down the drain unattended so that PIA can get away with poor service? Is this your idea of upholding the image of the country then let me tell you Mr. righteous by not "sharing" these stale buns we will all rot away. In a civilized world, the complainant would have been treated fairly and definitely not harassed by the corporation involved. She was served the bun, let her express herself or should she first take permission from social media managers on what to say? Making her conversations public and using the same in blogs? Misplaced patriotism clouds all stale buns my dear.

Omar Farooq Jamil | 8 years ago | Reply hamza i just loved your article man. 3 business class tickets. wah what love for Pakistan. hahahha i just hope i get to meet this sara zafar malik in real.

MKF | 8 years ago | Reply Indeed we make mistakes, but PIA makes them a little too often. The system of the airline is such that our complaints rarely reach the concerned department until or unless we make a big issue out of it. You can't blame the cabin crew because their job is to serve, not to check what food is being loaded in the plane to be served. Mrs Sara has made an unfair and very selfish demand. She raised awareness with a good reason, but all her effort came crashing down with her selfish demands. The author is right and wrong. Right about Mrs Sara, wrong about raising voices. There is no other way to deal with this system.

Parvez | 8 years ago | Reply PIA deserves to be criticized .........but its major faults lie on the ground and not in the air. Its a airline structured to cater to a few ..... at the expense of the paying passenger and the tax payer.

Rabbia Faisal | 8 years ago | Reply It was definitely her right to take it on the social media or not wanting to complain then and there ( maybe she realized thr neef later, whatever) But demanding for BUSINESS CLASS tickets? That clearly shows her mentality and portrays what she actually intended for! And then you say you love your country!

Browncoat | 8 years ago So what you;re trying to say is , that the people who travel in business class are all the enemies of the state? When did it become a crime travelling first class? It was the PIA personnel who gave her the choice of what she would like, not the other way around. Twisting the situation is not doing your case any good at all.

Browncoat | 8 years ago | Reply Wow. Every single thing the Woman did was justified, and yet instead of apologizing and making corrections, here we have PIA trying to malign the poor woman. Would the gentleman behind the article care to feed fungus-ridden food to his children? I shall very much like to see him try. That will settle for once who's in the right and who's making an entirely bogus attempt at face-saving. See if anything's worth more than the well-being of your loved ones. A handful of Business Tickets would be the least of your worries when this image is made viral and spread out to international circles to show them, not the 'image of Pakistan', but the height of incompetency of officials who drain millions in salaries from the national exchequer. Image of Pakistan has not been maligned by the Woman's attempt to spread awareness, it has been already severely compromised by the level of pathetic service the national carrier provides, and to top even that incompetence, their feeble attempts (such as this very article) to make sad excuses and try to shift the blame to aggrieved party. Bravo Mr. Hamza, for your attempts at shoveling dirt in the public's eyes.

Gullu Guddu and Gomnath. | 8 years ago The author pointed out a shocking demand from the aggrieved woman. NO airline will give you 3 business class tickets for a stale bun. NONE. It was the catering contractor's fault. Very likely the plastic wrap on the bun was perforated. So many scenarios in how this stale bun got on the plate. Airline could have offered her a gift certificate, a discount on future travel. A free dinner for her and her family in a local upscale restaurant. But the demand for three tickets is is a joke. By the way, will YOU remember this episode a month from now? No. Will anyone else? No. Will people stop traveling on PIA because of one stale bun? NO. World does not come to an end becomes of one stale bun.

HK | 8 years ago Browncoat ..."here we have PIA trying to malign the "poor woman" " On a lighter note "Poor people" can't afford to travel through airline.. On a serious note article seems to be one-sided, but she also had to register a complaint against the situation , since third party contractors are responsible for flight's food and PIA have a right to investigate and find a hole in overall process.It seems she took full advantage of situation after get approached and not concerned about for future service.

javad | 8 years ago | Reply why was my comment deleted!?

javad | 8 years ago | Reply A couple of years ago I flew PIA (economy) from Birmingham to ISL. One of the meals that was presented to me contained a dead cricket. I politely pointed it out to the cabin staff who took the meal away. Furthermore, I was also presented with an extra pudding when the one that we received was not to our liking. A senior member of cabin staff then repeatedly checked up on us during the remainder of the flight. Both my wife and I agreed not to make a fuss when we found the insect in our food. Why? Because sometimes s$%^ just happens!

Sumone | 8 years ago It seems you're a decent guy Javad! most of us Pakistanis are not!

Ahmed | 8 years ago That's cabin crew's duties. It is their job to check up on passengers. You pay to get these services. It is a right not a privilege. Cabin crew only performed their duties, nothing less, nothing more. Decent service does not mean PIA has no problems and highlighting the same does not mean treason.

Ahmed | 8 years ago I don't know if any other airlines of repute serve dead crickets in their food?! I don't even know if something like this EVER happens on Emirates/Qatar/Qantas/Singapore Airlines et cetera?! It is your right to do whatever but being served dead cricket in your food (really!) cannot be a simple matter of crap happening! This cannot be a coincidence! It is just poor standards of food hygiene and highlighting it will not be tantamount to damaging the pride of the country as the author puts it.

Sane | 8 years ago | Reply Are you a PIA PR person or their counsel? This surprising that instead of having remorse you are trying to give this another angle. Typically our politicians mindset.

AwaisA | 8 years ago | Reply Dear author, Why are you creating such a big scene of she asked for three business class tickets as a compensation? Any airline in the world would give out business class tickets to satisfy the customer. It's not a big deal; she could've claimed a whole lot more if she wanted, but she settled the matter with just three tickets because as she points out she loves her country etc. As for your argument that she should have asked PIA to probe into the matter and bring the culprits to justice; that is usual protocol anyway, and if any organisation needs this to be told to them, that's rather worrying. PIA is once again in the wrong for publishing these private conversations to public forums. It's very unprofessional of them to first ask the customer for what kind of compensation they would like, and then ridicule them with their response.

atif | 8 years ago | Reply But then again, you mr.Hamza are ofcourse the best judge. She demanded an unfair compensation I agree but taking it to the social media? Isn't that her freedom of speech? Isn't everything being tried in the social media now? So what's the harm in creating awareness? And blaming her for nit complaining, I wouldn't do that. PIA is not a very complaint friendky airline. And I would not be comfortable myself with the complaint.

naveed | 8 years ago | Reply What a wast of time by reading this. The writer seems a PIA Media manager.

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Business-class tickets for a stale bun - A fair compensation?

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