A CLARE man who was among thousands of passengers stranded after an IT problem saw Aer Lingus cancel 51 flights earlier this month has praised an Ennis Travel Counsellor for his help in getting him home.

Michael Lorrigan from Quilty had traveled to Bulgaria and was due to return to Ireland on September 10.

However, it was only on arrival at Bourgas Airport that he became aware of what he describes as “the Aer Lingus fiasco”.

The disruption was caused by what Aer Lingus said was a “major incident” with their network provider which meant its cloud-based systems enabling check-in, boarding and website were unavailable.

Michael describes the scene at the airport as “chaos” with people, including families with young children, arriving to discover their flights had been cancelled.

Fortunately Michael had a place to stay while he tried to organise a way home. The next morning he contacted well-known Ennis travel counsellor Gearoid Mannion, through whose company he booked his flights.

Michael told The Champion that, despite it being a Sunday, Gearoid went over and above to help him return to Ireland.

He contacted The Clare Champion to publicly express his “heartfelt thanks to someone who displayed exceptional commitment to customer service”.

Michael had been staying in the mountains with friends an hour’s drive from the airport. He recalls arriving for his flight home saying, “As I arrived in the check-in area, and looked up at the monitor, the word ‘Cancelled’ suddenly appeared against the flight number. There was then chaos.

“Families, many with very young children, had checked out of their hotels and come on buses to the airport.  They now found, like me, their flight was cancelled.  They had no idea what to do.  Much of their hotel accommodation would have already been assigned to new arrivals from other European destinations.  So, there was confusion and bewilderment.”

He contacted the driver who dropped him off to bring him back to his friends’ house. “I was relatively OK, but feeling very sorry for those stranded families left at the airport.

“The next morning I made contact by email with Gearoid Mannion, through whose company I had booked my flights, and who had already helped me with a problem obtaining parking at Dublin Airport.

“I apologised for disturbing his Sunday morning, but asked for his help.

He checked and informed me that the next Aer Lingus flight to Dublin, with an available seat, was Monday September 20. I had to be back much earlier than that for many reasons.

“So we exchanged emails all day Sunday, trying to get alternative flights to Dublin, via various European cities.  There was nothing available that was reasonable, or even remotely viable.  But  Gearoid persevered.”

Having communicated throughout the day, Gearoid got back to Michael on the Sunday evening to say someone had cancelled their Wednesday flight.

“I thanked Gearoid profusely, and asked him to bill me for all the extra time he had spent on his Sunday to help me. His reply was: ‘no additional charge.  All part of the service’.

“I was blown away with this level of service.  I was Managing Director of a Corporate Training company in Dubai for 22 years, semi-retiring to Ireland in August 2020).

“My company worked with over 3,000 companies and organisations running 50+ different courses, including Customer Service training.  I have seen examples of great service, but this was truly exceptional!

“I would like to publicly thank Gearoid for his help and assistance, and recommend him to anyone who wants professional help, guidance, and support with their travel arrangements.”

When The Clare Champion contacted Gearoid to tell him about Michael’s appreciation for his efforts he said, “In theory Aer Lingus were allowing free changes to bookings, but their next two flights home were completely full and the soonest Aer Lingus could offer Michael a seat home was a full week later.

“Michael was desperate to get home sooner than that, so I kept checking the two midweek flights and I wait-listed him and eventually – late on Sunday afternoon – I got him a seat on the Wednesday flight.

“Aer Lingus didn’t charge me, so there was no charge to Michael. He already paid for his holiday, so he shouldn’t have to pay any more. He did nothing wrong!

“Personal customer service is the cornerstone of the Travel Counsellors franchise. If I hadn’t been available for Michael on Sunday, we have a 24/7 Duty Office based in Manchester who would have done the exact same for him, without any charge.

“If you’re our customer, then you’re our customer. Simple as that.”

In a statement issued after the disruption Aer Lingus stated its systems were restored on the Saturday evening and the company apologised to customers.

Additional capacity and services was added to a number of routes to accommodate customers and those who wished to apply for a refund or a change to plans could do so free of charge.