Be careful what you wish for, as the saying goes.
Flights out of Changi Airport have experienced some delays due to poor weather conditions and air traffic, which have left passengers waiting longer than usual.
One such passenger, Gene Goh, was on a plane bound for Osaka last Thursday morning, taking Scoot, a budget airway. Goh, while waiting for his flight to take off, presumably got thirsty and asked for water. Unfortunately, the flight crew turned down his request, since only bottled water was available. In other words, if he wanted water, he’d have to pay for it.
Goh was given a cup full of ice instead, and the attendants told him to wait till it melted.
Dissatisfied with this, Goh posted a photo of the cup of ice on FlyScoot’s Facebook page, told his story, writing, “All I am asking is just a cup of water, I wouldn’t care if it was from the tap. I hope that there could be some sort of care for passengers, not being unreasonable over here.”
He would have been okay with water from the tap, and insisted he was “not being unreasonable.”
“There was a delay in taking off of your flight from Singapore to Osaka this morning, as of now I am currently still seated in your plane. I asked for just a cup of plain water but was told by your staff that only bottled water is available for purchase. I was given a cup of ice and was told to wait for the ice to melt. All I am asking is just a cup of water, I wouldn’t care if it was from the tap. I hope that there could be some sort of care for passengers, not being unreasonable over here.”
And the comments came in like a flood, defending the airline.
One, netizens said, if Goh could afford to travel to Osaka, he could certainly afford to buy a bottle of water.
Two, they pointed out that Scoot is a budget airline, and that Goh should not expect to get any frills from the service.
Three, tap water on planes is generally considered unsafe for consumption, and so the Scoot staff was correct in not serving it to Goh.
But one netizen called Goh’s complaint legitimate, and said that Scoot could have at least given him a glass of water, especially if the delay had been lengthy.
