“… If someone could let us know that this letter has arrived at the right places, we would greatly appreciate it!…..“
This is last sentence in an email from an Australian passenger to VNA hoping its headmen recognize how good their services and amazing their people are. There would be a great miss were this story not to spread widely. Thus, I assigned myself the responsibility to retell the story on Spirit – Vietnam Airlines through my lenses.
The incident was described in great details by the wife, counting from the moment the husband was hospitalized during the transit of the Australian couple at Tan Son Nhat on their journey from London to Sydney, and the difficulties having been encountered in 9-day stay in Vietnam until their return to Sydney.
Specifically, in the morning of August 15th, 2019, passenger R.E.J (born in 1943, of Australian nationality) on flight VN773 SGN-SYD suffered a heart attack while in the transit at Tan Son Nhat airport. He was then quickly transferred to Central Military Hospital 175 for emergency treatment. Immediately, a TOC representative was sent to the hospital to stay on duty and support the customers. Thankfully, after the emergency operation, the client was no longer in critical condition.
During the days when passenger R.E.J received treatment at the hospital, TOC representatives kept visiting and supporting the passengers enthusiastically, from monitoring the health status, communicating with the doctors to arrange accommodation for the accompanying passenger…
Ms. Ha, a team member and Mr. Tien Manh (TOC Passenger Service Department) visited the Australian passengers. (Photo: TOC).
In the email to VNA after the trip, the wife kept repeating the name Pham Ly. Ly is a TOC employee, a duty staff on August 15th, 2019 who supported the two Australian passengers from their arrival until their departure. I have never met Pham Ly, I am not even sure if I got her full name correctly. After the incident, I decided to contact Ly for information verification. As for what I received, I think there is no word to describe the whole heart that Ly gave to the passengers despite the fact that the wife has spent many beautiful words to praised her, “Everything seems to have collapsed until you came, then I could see the sky.”
Ms. Pham Ly who directly supported the Australian passengers. (Photo: TOC).
When receiving the complimentary letter Ly said: “… I feel very happy and reassured to read Catherine’s letter. I have received a lot of thanks from them, from the time Mr. Robert was in the hospital until he took off to fly back to Sydney…. Feeling nervous, I continued to pray during the flight time, hoping he would make it home. I knew my prayers were answered when getting informed by Catherine that they had arrived safely in a warm welcome of their son. To me, that was the biggest happiness….”
But Ly is just one of the many amazing staffs at TOC. I used to work directly with TOC in a very small division namely the Transit Tour service, the service for passengers under the sixth Freedoms of the Air in transit at Tan Son Nhat. Transit Tour is neither too complicated nor pressure, but, it would be a great challenge to adhere with regulations, achieve reasonable flexibility, ensure service quality control and not to make mistakes in the whole service chain. This requires employees to be professional and especially devoted to the job doing. I know such a person, that is Thu Thuy, who is in charge of the Transit Tour service at TOC. It can be said that Thuy is the activator of Transit Tour service and Ly is the person who finishes it in a closed chain. It would be incomplete if we do not mention other silent people, such as Ms. Ha, a staff member of TOC Passenger Service Department, who timely came to the hospital to visit and encourage passengers along with Mr. Tien Manh (Passenger Service Department) or Ms. Kim Anh and Mr. Phuong (Administrative and Accounting Department).
That is my view of the TOC Transit Tour and I would like to conclude with a phrase “Dedicated and Professional”. Below are the reviews of the Australian passengers on VNA through the TOC lens.
Vietnam Airlines,
Ho Chi Minh City,
Vietnam
Dear Sir,
Re: Robert E. Johnson, from Australia, a VNA passenger, August 2019
It was a very worrying time for us, and Miss Pham’s friendly face and practical help was something I will never forget. Miss Pham Ly’s manager also came to the Hospital to see Robert, which we also greatly appreciated.
Miss Pham Ly’s choice of hotel for me, the Ibis Airport, was a very good one, as it was very comfortable and quite close to the Hospital. I understand she had various conversations with the Ibis, to get me a room for the time I needed.
Throughout our time in HCMC Miss Pham Ly stayed in contact, texting to ask me about Robert’s progress. She also came to 175 Military Hospital on the Saturday morning, 17th August, which I believe was her day off, to see Robert, and ensure Robert’s transfer from the Military Hospital to FV International Hospital took place. She was such a reassuring presence when we were having a very stressful time. We speak no Vietnamese, had no knowledge of HCMC, and didn’t know who to contact about what, so she played a very vital role in how we coped in Vietnam.
During our stay Ly was assuring me that she would organise our flight to Sydney, which she then did. This was at short notice – the doctors gave Robert permission to fly on the morning of Friday 23rd, and we were on the flight that night! Amazing!
Ly met us at HCMC Airport that evening and organised everything, the wheelchair, our check-in, and our passage through the Outgoing Immigration process. A wonderful service. We also greatly appreciate the flexibility of VNA in rescheduling our flight.
Miss Pham Ly is an extremely well organised, efficient and highly reliable person, and has a delightful and engaging personal style. I would like to congratulate her and VNA on the very high calibre assistance Miss Pham Ly offered to us. In the excellence of her work, Miss Pham Ly reflects in the most positive way, upon the very high standard of your airline and staff.
We thank you so much!
In closing, I am hoping this letter reaches the top management of your airline, and comes to the attention of Miss Pham’s immediate Line Manager, and also Miss Pham Ly herself. So that all concerned get our feedback! If someone could let us know that this letter has arrived at the right places, we would greatly appreciate it!
Once again, our very great thanks for your wonderful assistance!
Very kind regards,
Catherine Munro
Do Khoi Nguyen-MSD DGM
