KUALA LUMPUR: Former transport minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong today suggested for the management of the Malaysia Airlines Bhd to revise its standard operating procedure (SOP) for e-boarding passes.
This, he said, came after an incident encountered by a fellow passenger of his prior to their flight back from Johor Baru to Kuala Lumpur.
In a Facebook post, Wee said a woman asked for help when he was queuing at the security counter at Senai Airport (LTS) before entering the security checkpoint.
The woman told Wee that she had checked in for flight MH1058 from Senai to Kuala Lumpur for both herself and her father, since her father does not have a mobile phone.
However, the guards did not allow the father to enter the security check area and to board the flight because only one e-boarding pass is allowed on each mobile phone.
Wee said the woman further explained that her family of four had left for Kuala Lumpur, since they have their e-boarding pass in their respective mobile phones.
He added that the woman also claimed that the problem only happens at LTS and there is no such problem at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
The woman told Wee that the guard at the counter told her that only Malaysia Airlines has that rule.
"AirAsia, however, allows their customers to do so (multiple e-boarding passes on a mobile phone) and passengers are allowed to take off."
Fortunately, Wee added, after the intervention of a Malaysia Airlines duty officer who appeared at the scene, the guard allowed the woman's father to board the flight.
"Here, I would like to ask some questions of the management of (Malaysia Airlines) and LTS; why is only one e-boarding pass allowed in one mobile phone? What about the elderly who are illiterate or do not have a mobile phone?
"Why does AirAsia allow two e-boarding passes in one mobile phone (and Malaysia Airlines does not)?"
Wee also questioned why the SOP for e-boarding at LTS was different from KLIA.
"What is the logic behind this practice and why only after the intervention of (Malaysia Airlines) officials could the passengers involved board the plane? Is there some kind of 'magic' involved?
"Therefore, I suggest to the management to revise the SOP, discuss with the LTS management and auxiliary police so that such an incident will not happen again."
