READING AND COMPREHENSION

Immediately an aircraft's engines are shut down and the passengers begin to disembark, airline staff off load the baggage. This is another area of service where an airline can impress, or antagonize its customers. It is not much use flying at around 600 miles per hour to destination in a comparatively short space of time if the passenger hes to waste much of the time he Has gained waiting to fee reunited with his baggage. Each piece of baggage is labelled at check-in and the label tags are clipped to the wallet. When the baggage is brought into the arrivals terminal the passenger claims his cases and then goes through Customs. Messages can be delivered by airline ground staff to passengers before they have cleared these formalities. No contact with the general public is allowed until the passenger has passed through Customs and Immigration.

UNIT 11

COLLECTING CARGO

Dialogue

Next morning, Mis. Marshall finds he has a problem. The model of the oil refinery that had been sent by air freight to Bahrain for the conference has not arrived. Armed with the details from the air waybill, he goes to the airline's cargo depot at Bahrain airport.

Mr.Marshall: Good morning. I wonder if you can help me. I want a piece of air cargo that should have arrived on Friday.

Clerk: Certainly, sir. Can you give me some details - the air waybill number, the name of the consignee, and the time and place of ispatch?

Mr.Marshall: Yes, here are details of the waybill, which were given to me before I left London yesterday.

Clerk: And you say it hasn’t arrived yet? When did you last check with us?

Mr.Marshall: My colleague, Mr.Assif who is my company's representative here, has checked several times since Friday and tells me your people can’t give him any information.

Clerk: I'm very sorry you've had this trouble. I'll recheck immediately...

I'm sorry sir, your package doesn't appear on our import register. I can't imagine what can have happened to it.

Mr.Marshall: Does that mean you've checked every item in the warehouse?

Clerk: Practically every item, and certainly everything of this size. We haven't got much awaiting collection at the moment, so it wasn't a long job.

Mr.Marshall: But I must have this package. It's a valuable model and I need it for the oil conference. It can't have vanished into thin air. Really, I'm getting very annoyed.

Clerk: Yes, sir, of course. It's very upsetting, but if it's not here, I don't know where else I can look.

Mr.Marshall: Have you checked with London to see that it was actually dispatched? And what about your records here - do they show whether or not it actually arrived?

Clerk: I was told by a colleague who checked earlier that it had not arrived at all. We could signal London for dispatch information if you wish.

Mr.Marshall: Yes, that would be a very good idea.

Clerk: If we signal London we would probably get a reply later this morning. Perhaps I'd better have a word with the Duty Officer and see what he suggests.

Mr.Marshall: Yes, please, fetch the Duty Officer. We may get some action.

Duty Officer: Good morning, Mr.Marshall. I'm the Duty Officer. My clerk has explained your problem to me and I've already started a fresh search.

Mr.Marshall: Good. I must get this consignment.

Duty Officer: Of course, sir. I'm having the import register re-checked, the warehouse is being searched, and I have instructed one of my staff to signal London "urgent" for confirmation of dispatch from there.

Mr.Marshall: Thank you. Now perhaps we shall get somewhere.

Duty Officer: Ah, here comes the clerk who was searching the import register. I take it you confirm we have never received the consignment in Bahrain?

Second clerk: I'm sоrrу, sir, but someone seems to have slipped up. It did arrive. We booked it in off the freighter. I can't understand why you were told it hadn't arrived.

Duty Officer: So it's bee here all the time? I'll have something to say about this later.

Second clerk: It wasn't my fault, sir. I only came back off a week's leave this morning.

Duty Officer: All right, all right. What bin was it stored in?

Second clerk: The bin number seems to be missing, sir. I really don't know why.

Duty Officer: Heavens above! Can no one do a job properly here? I'm sorry, Mr.Marshall, but as you will have heard, your consignment is here but there's been a bit of a muddle in the paper work in the office.

Mr.Marshall: Well, at least we're making some progress. We do know it's in Bahrain - unless one of your staff has shipped it out again.

Duty Officer: Don't worry sir, I'm sure we'll lay our hands on it in a few moments, now that we know it's here. If you'll excuse me, I'll go down to the warehouse and see what progress they're making.

Mr.Marshall: Yes, please do - and see if you can hurry them up.

Duty Officer: Mr.Marshall, we're turning the place upside down, but we can't find a thing. We're still looking.

Mr.Marshall: It wouldn't surprise me if one of your staff had shipped it out again.

Duty Officer: Oh, no, sir. That couldn't happen. For one thing, the necessary documents can't be raised without a written instruction or an instruction for despatch form from the shipper himself. But you've given me an idea, sir. Please excuse me for a moment while I go and check something.

Mr.Marshall: I'm getting used to waiting.

Duty Officer: We've found it, sir. For some extraordinary reason it was stored in the export section instead of the import side, and no one had thought of looking there before.

Mr.Marshall: Well, thank goodness it's found. But how on earth could something like that happen?

Duty Officer: We're very short-staffed at the moment, and I'm afraid that after the initial error of documentation here, things just went from bad to worse .I'm very sorry for the trouble we've given you…A loader has taken it out to your car, and will put it in the boot for you. Please accept our apologies.

Mr.Marshall: Yes, of course. All's well that ends well. But there's one thing I can't help wondering - how long would my model have stayed in the export warehouse before someone found it?

Duty Officer: We'd have found it this afternoon when we loaded for the next departure.

Mr.Marshall: Well, that wouldn’t have bee too bad. Thank you again for your help Good-bye.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 906