I am on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. So when the staggering effects of volcanic ash shutdown our operations worldwide, I was there on the frontline at our ticket office here in New York helping stranded passengers and maintaining constant communications with all of our personnel at our 13 airports across the US.    

Up until this point in the airline industry we had never seen anything have such an impact on travel as the ash from a volcano that barely anyone can pronounce correctly (according to NPR that checked with the Icelandic embassy in DC, it is: AY-yah-fyah-lah-YOH-kuul). Alone in the US, for Air France and KLM, we transport 9,000 passengers a day. None of whom were able to get home, or leave for their vacations. This meant we moved into full crisis mode to provide our passengers with the most information and help as possible.

Saturday found me at our Manhattan ticket office speaking with those trying to re-book their flights at a later date or find alternate routes to their final destination, listening to their stories, handing out bottles of water and serving pizza (after being on your feet for hours, it’s amazing how wonderful pizza can taste). Though there was nothing I could do directly in terms of re-starting our service – just listening to people and their stories and empathizing can make a huge difference. Not to say that we weren’t doing our most to get them to their final destinations as soon as possible, sometimes by alternate routes, or trying to help their lengthened stays be as comfortable as possible by liaising with the multiple Consulates to try and help those that needed it. So I spent the weekend at the ticket office with all of our reinforced staff, where we began staying open until midnight so that we could accommodate as many passengers as possible who were standing in line.

I’ve often found that crisis situations will test the mettle of an individual – and I can’t tell you how proud I am of all of my staff who were working 19 hour shifts, from those working at the airports, to call centers and customer relations, to the ticket office in order to help everyone that was affected by the volcanic ash. Without any knowledge of when the cloud of ash would disappear and flights could resume, everyone was in the role of trying to help our customers to the best of our ability and help keep the situation calm. I think that everyone did an amazing job – and I can’t thank them enough for working such long hours, even on a weekend when normally they’d be spending time with their families and relaxing. No one needed to be asked twice (or even once as we had so many volunteers), and for that I know my US team is one of the best. I was also impressed and grateful at how calm all of the passengers were while waiting and dealing with the extraordinary situation.

I can’t tell you how happy I was to be able to personally take the bullhorn on Monday and inform those waiting in line outside the ticket office that flights were resuming and they could all go to the airport. I know it’s been a relief to everyone working at the airports as well. We’re still working as hard as we can to get all those home, but I know it’s been easier with how efficiently and quickly we were able to resume our regular long-haul service.

Perhaps now I might be able to learn the pronunciation of Eyjafjallajökull.