Feelings toward Salina's newest air
carrier were a bit warmer and fuzzier for some Monday morning after
they learned why the SeaPort Airlines plane delayed its morning flight
to Kansas City, Mo.
"Now that is great customer
service," Melissa McCoy, Salina Airport Authority spokeswoman,
wrote in an e-mail to the Journal.
The SeaPort pilot who was guiding the
plane to the runway returned to the M.J. Kennedy Air Terminal so a
passenger could give a set of car keys to his wife.
SeaPort station manager Amy Ivie was
walking down the corridor as the plane was taxiing to the runway when
she intercepted the passenger's wife.
"She was really upset. I asked her
what was wrong," Ivie said. "She said her husband had her car
keys, and her doors were locked. She had no way to get home."
Ivie "sprinted" back to her
office, where she radioed the flight crew.
"They said, 'OK, we're headed
back.' They turned around, came back and turned off the engine,"
Ivie said. "I was able to open the door and get the keys. They
went on their way again."
The flight was still able to depart a
few minutes before the scheduled time of 8 a.m., she said, and it
arrived in Kansas City minutes early as well.
The crew's actions were surprising,
McCoy said.
The service was "above and beyond
previously normal operations," and in "sharp contrast to
previous operators at Salina," said Tim Rogers, executive director
of the Salina Airport Authority.
The turnaround was done solely "with
the intent of making sure the customer was not inconvenienced -- in
this case, the customer's wife was not inconvenienced," Rogers
said.
Efforts by the Journal to reach the
passenger's wife were unsuccessful, but Ivie said the woman "was
really pleased."
The airline, based in Portland, Ore.,
began operations April 19 in Salina.
"It's not unusual for SeaPort. We
are known to hold a flight if a person is running late. We will leave a
little early if they have a tight connecting (flight)," Ivie said.
"Whatever it takes to help the customer."
