Outspoken politician and businessman Temba Mliswa has called for greater accountability from service providers following a distressing travel experience with Fastjet.
In a series of statements on Twitter, Mliswa criticized the airline’s handling of an unexpected delay that led to missed connections.
Mliswa was scheduled to depart from Harare to Johannesburg at 6:10 a.m. for an important court appointment.
However, at the last minute, passengers were informed that the flight would instead leave at 7:25 a.m. with an additional, unplanned stop in Bulawayo. Fastjet management reportedly attributed the detour to a ZANU-PF event in Bulawayo, which, according to Mliswa, should have been anticipated and planned for well in advance.
With no timely communication, many passengers, including Mliswa, were left in the lurch and missed critical appointments.
“The sudden change meant I will miss the court [session], and I become a victim due to someone’s failures,” Mliswa lamented on Twitter. He further noted the impact on a couple on their way to a honeymoon in Mauritius, who missed their connecting flight due to the delay. “That’s not a way to start a marriage!” he remarked, highlighting the wider consequences of the airline’s lack of foresight and communication.
Mliswa’s tweets sparked a wave of responses from other dissatisfied Fastjet customers who had similar experiences, adding weight to his call for greater accountability.
One Twitter user shared a troubling experience, revealing that a flight booked for 6:10 a.m. ended up departing from Bulawayo at 6 p.m. after an entire day of uncertainty at the airport. “They couldn’t give a departure time and told [her] to wait because it could arrive anytime. It’s ZUPCO air, basically. She’s never used them since.”
Another passenger recounted an ordeal nearly identical to Mliswa’s, revealing that her Fastjet flight earlier this week was also delayed from 6:10 a.m. to after 7:40 a.m. due to a reported issue with flight crew changes. “They were waiting for the captain,” she said, frustrated by the lack of clear information.
The backlash has underscored a pattern of delayed departures and poor communication, with many questioning Fastjet’s commitment to customer service and transparency.
For Mliswa, the solution lies in a stronger culture of consumer rights and legal recourse. “It’s time we start suing them when wronged,” he urged, calling on Zimbabweans to hold service providers accountable.
However, he noted that the high costs of engaging the legal system often discourage consumers from seeking justice. “Our legal system is very expensive to engage; thus, many suffer losses silently,” he added.
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