Successful Hoteliers, especially General Managers and Sales Managers, do a lot of traveling. Nothing beats a face-to-face meeting with a potential customer or decision maker. And although most of my business trips as a G.M. were both successful and uneventful, one particular travel experience was very memorable….for all the wrong reasons.
It was March 2008, and I had just finished a 3-week sales trip to several countries across the Middle East, a key market for my hotel at the time in Malaysia. My next mission: to fly from Damascus, Syria, to Florida, USA, for a 2 day stop-over with family, en-route to the 2008 Ritz-Carlton General Manager's conference in New Orleans.
Our sales trip culminated with a 3-day visit to Syria, and happened to coincide with the 2008 "Arab League Summit". Security around the capital city was extremely tight, and departure out of the Damascus airport was nothing short of wild. A long line of at least 150 people stretched out the doors of the airport and out onto the street. To ensure my safety and expedite my departure, I was sent to the airport with an "assistant", a tiny Syrian man who grabbed my huge suitcase, raised it over his head, and dove into the crowd, shoving his way to the front with me following behind in his wake. We fought our way through the airport scanners and he got me to my gate with a nod, and a silent handshake. And then he was gone. It was a 3 hour flight east, back to Dubai, so that I could catch my connection west, a 13 hour flight to New York. Total travel time including layovers, from Syria to Dubai to New York: 21 hours.
I was relieved to be back home in the U.S.A…. until I realized that I was not going to be allowed into the country. At the immigration counter, the officer took my (USA) passport, placed it in a green folder, and told me to go to the end of a hallway ,informing me that I had been flagged for "irregular travel patterns". Apparently, it was uncommon for a U.S. citizen to travel to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Syria, and the UAE all in the span of 3 weeks. Hoteliers do it all the time.
When I reached the immigration ‘holding area', I politely asked the officer at the counter if he knew how long this would take, as I had to catch a connecting flight. He warmly replied "Have a seat, SIR." So I waited for one and a half hours for my turn, which caused me to miss my connecting flights onward to Florida. As time ticked by, I began to eagerly anticipate my pending interrogation. Would there be a separate, darkened room, with a single light hanging from the ceiling? Would I get to experience a ‘cavity search'? My imagination ran wild. Once it was finally my turn, however, the interview with the officer was hugely disappointing, and went exactly like this: "What were you doing in the Middle East?" he asked. My reply:
"I was on a sales trip visiting customers; I work at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur." The reply:
"OK".
Ok? That's it? Apparently it was, and I was permitted to enter my home country. What a waste of time!
After locating my luggage and fighting another group of hundreds in line for outbound flights, I managed to book myself onto the next available option from New York to Florida, which connected through North Carolina. The flight from New York to North Carolina was hit twice by lightening in a huge thunderstorm, and was about as turbulent as you could imagine, with passengers and overhead luggage bouncing around in unison. Needless to say, I was glad to be in North Carolina after a 1.5 hour flight, because this meant there was only ONE MORE HOUR to go: the final short hop onwards to Jacksonville, Florida. Almost there! Total travel time thus far: 27.5 hours. What else could possibly go wrong?
And naturally, something else went wrong. Something un-imaginable. We were seated on the tiny plane. We were ready for takeoff. Our seatbelts were on, our tray tables were up. All electronic devices had been switched off, and our seats were in their fully upright positions.
And then with an ominous chirp of white noise, the pilot came on the intercom: "Uhhh…good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen, it appears we have a bit of a problem…" And he went on to explain, as I listened in disbelief, that the aircraft lavatory door lock was somehow broken. Yes, the door to the toilet could not be locked. It could be closed…..but not locked. And apparently U.S. Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) regulations stated that an aircraft whose lavatory door could not be locked was considered "out of service", and un-fly-able. Thus, we had to de-plane, and wait to board a 2nd aircraft to Florida, as the raging East Coast thunderstorms that day continued. I finally arrived in Florida, exhausted and battered, after 4 connections through 3 countries and 1 missed flight. Total travel time: 31 hours. And naturally, as you might imagine, due to the change of airplanes in North Carolina, the airline lost my luggage, which was only delivered to me the following night.
Steve Cokkinias is the Founder & CEO of InnSense Leadership (www.innsense.com)which he established in 2012 after a successful 17-year career in the hospitality industry that included senior positions with Ritz-Carlton, Westin, and Sheraton in the U.S.A, Caribbean, and Asia. An inspiring and sought-after speaker and executive coach, Steve has delivered energizing programs on service, leadership, and talent management to a wide range of international companies. During his 9 years as General Manager in Kuala Lumpur, his hotel was named "Best Employer in Malaysia" 4 times consecutively by Hewitt & Associates, earning him a place on Human Capital Asia's "Hot 40 – Asia's H.R. Superstars". In 2010, Steve was named Malaysia's "General Manager of the Year" by the Hospitality Asia Platinum Awards. His new book, "InnSanity – Leadership Lessons from a Lifetime in Luxury Lodging", is due for release in early 2013. Steve can be reached at steve@innsense.com or you can follow Steve on Twitter: @stevecokkinias.
