SEREMBAN: Air travellers who faced flight delays or cancellations stemming from last week's global IT outage may lodge complaints with the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom), says Transport Minister Anthony Loke.
He said budget carrier AirAsia was among the hardest hit.
"Hundreds of flights were affected over two or three days as the system took about 24 hours to get up and running again.
"The crash was unexpected and affected tens of thousands of travellers during the period," he told reporters after launching the Motoring TVET programme at SMK Mantin near here on Tuesday (July 23).
On Sunday (July 20), MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong took AirAsia to task after his flight to Sandakan was delayed several times.
A visibly angry Dr Wee took to Facebook to voice his grievances, detailing the sequence of events and criticising the budget carrier for its lack of responsibility and inadequate crisis management.
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The Ayer Hitam MP said AirAsia should have informed passengers of the cancellations earlier and urged the airline to be more professional in handling the crisis.
Loke said airlines should review their procedures and communication systems to ensure passengers are updated in the event of delays or cancellations.
"But it is also my hope that passengers would understand that what happened over the weekend was unexpected and affected airlines the world over.
"Passengers have rights, and get upset when these things happen, so it is my hope airlines can improve their communications without compromising safety," he said.
He noted that Mavcom had fined airlines previously for not complying with standard operating procedures.
Loke said passengers also need to understand that delays can be caused by inclement weather and technical problems with the aircraft.
He said when a flight is delayed, it has a cascading effect on subsequent flights owing to the tight turnaround times between trips.
