Airport Staff review: Treatment of customers 1

I travelled to Australia in July. This was my first trip in 4 years. My experience of Airport staff made me never want to travel again. We are the customers off on a holiday, but was is sullied by rude and arrogant staff. When I arrived in Australia I was distressed for days at how I had been treated and feared travelling back.

Two things occurred:

At the e gate an airport staff member stepped in to help me as the gate was not operating correctly. Her manner was terse and rude. I felt like I was a child being told off. It's not their job to treat people rudely. Next time I will refuse help and figure it out myself in order to protect myself from this poor treatment.

The second thing that occurred was extremely upsetting. At security the print on my t-shirt was picked up in the scanner. I was directed to be patted down by a female. I understand the reasons for security. For very personal reasons, I shared with them why I was not comfortable with this procedure. Having to admit this was humiliating in itself. The scorn, contempt and lack of kindness exhibited by the two female staff was atrocious. This only served to have the situation escalate into a terrible confrontation. Had they shown concern for my welfare and some kindness it would have been a different outcome. Clearly they had no skills to handle this situation. The need for security does not mean passengers are to be spoken to angrily and intimidated. As a female being expected to consent to another female touching me who is displaying aggressive body language (arms crossed, rolling her eyes, smirking, sighing, turning away) this made for a horrific situation where I felt vulnerable and unsafe.

Offering to take me to a private place was not a solution and served to acutely escalate the situation. All that was needed was a display of care and understanding to make me feel safe to undergo the pat down.

Conversely the Wellington Airport staff handled the situation professionally and with care. They didn't get aggressive and demanding. They spoke kindly. The manager had the other staff member demonstrate on her what they would do and that really helped.

It is horrifying enough that travellers are faced with having share to strangers decades later a traumatic event and being faced with the same fear of unwanted touching, let alone authoritarian and distressing treatment from staff. Treat people kindly. It's free.