Turbulence on the air
TV Tonight asks Corrine Grant whether filming at a budget airline nets cameras the most extreme of airline passengers.
- Published by David Knox
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With her extensive background in comedy, Corrine Grant was probably an uncoventional choice to narrate another factual show for Seven. But she happily returns to Airways this Sunday night.
Even more surprisingly, Tiger Airways has agreed to another season of more ‘warts-and-all’ stories of irate travellers, abusive passengers and customer care 101. Somewhere in there too, there are tear-jerker reunions and positive stories for balance.
As Grant tells TV Tonight, it’s a case of what you see is what you get in the budget airline industry.
“It must be working for them because they said yes to a second series. And we don’t pull any punches either. We don’t protect them,” she says.
“Extreme characters are what makes good television. So if it was a show where everybody politely got on board and off their flight there would be no drama, and you wouldn’t have a TV show. But we’ve got business people, we’ve got mathematicians, we’ve had gallery owners –it’s not all working class people.
“It’s a budget airline, so we’re just reflecting the people that fly on the airline. I don’t think we’re deliberately trying to make a class attack. I came from a working class background so I don’t see it as a class attack.”
Filmed at Tiger’s terminals on the East Coast, the production is packaged by Border Security Producer Lyndal Marks. Filming that hit show proved how proficient the Seven team is with airport procedures and no doubt geared producers up for filming complete strangers.
Grant says Consent Forms are part of the territory for such filming purposes.
“Everyone gives permission to be on camera,” she says. “If they’re filming and they say ‘Don’t film me’ then we stop.”
This season opens with the show’s most irate passenger to date.
“There is an extraordinary couple called Johnny and Rose that will stay with you forever. Their flight gets delayed by 6 hours and it’s the most spectacular overreaction you’ll ever see by two people. It’s an award-winning performance, it’s fantastic.
“And there’s a guy coming up in a couple of weeks…and I don’t know if I was the girl behind the counter if I could have coped with it. I think I would have absolutely snapped.”
Grant says that despite having met Tiger staff and been behind the scenes at the airport, she is yet to actually experience being a Tiger passenger first hand.
“I’ve never managed to do it! Because I have to fly in and out on the same day, there’s just not enough Tiger flights going. I want to but it just doesn’t hook up with when I have to get to places,” she says.
“I’ve travelled a lot though and all budget airlines are kind of run the same way.”
Airways lands another 8 episodes this season, given a prime Sunday night slot, following the documentary on Trishna & Krishna. After such optimism it could be quite a crash-landing with Airways‘ extreme characters.
But Grant remains upbeat.
“There’s the occasional heart-warming story and the positive stories, there’s some great characters in the staff. I guess it shows the airline with both the highs and the lows, the bits where they get it really right and the bits where they don’t.”
Airways returns 8pm Sunday on Seven.
13 Responses
so much for excess luggage. policy changed 2008 and no mention on the ticket that only carry-on luggage is included. after following about 3 links finally found mention on their webpage that it is better to pre-book check-in luggage but again no mention that if not they will charge $50 per 15 kg. Flight delayed 1 hour. ok. But no announcement stating that there will be a delay. Come on Tiger, don’t keep us in the dark. We may have bought cheap tickets (apparently) when you don’t consider the several hundred dollars we then pay in socalled airport charges, but we can still be treated with some decency.
Not to turn this into an aviaton thread as opposed to TV but Paull, I fly all the time domestically and this so called fair go policy you speak of doesn’t exist. Virgin close their gates off smack on the dot, as do Qantas.
I don’t understand why Tiger should just let people who are late get in. They clearly state through all documents, and their reality TV show, check in time closes at 45 mins. If we execute the fair go policy, what do you say to the person who is 29 minutes late, and then fair go let them on, what about 28 mins late person and so on and so on.
Budget flying is like a train, if you are not on the station ready to get on with your correct ticket – the train’s leaving, no matter your excuse. The existence of buget airlines operates solely on cheap fares = less staff to turn planes around hence the longer check in time. If people want extras, pay extra.
This program demonstrates that a lot of Australians want to pay next-to-nothing for their tickets while they have the pre-2000 mindset of the old Qantas/Ansett service days.
Like everything else, you get what you pay for.
It really surprises me that so many people watch it and it puts them of flying Tiger… infact It surprises me full stop the idiots that are on the show. Everything is on the website, in print… usually in more than one place – and the actual paper you need to take to check-in says in big, bright lettering – ‘Check-In Closes 45 Mins Prior To Departure’.
I’m in the Tiger Melb Terminal right now infact… just saw a bit of filming for what I take was a happy, up-lifting story. A few delays today, but the staff are being great and so are most of the passengers. As the show goes on I think the message will get through more about the policies etc.
What Tiger is lacking is the Australian ‘Fair go’ policy that other airlines use, they’re rigid to a fault. If someone does accidently arrive 40 minutes before their flight to check in, as opposed to the 45 min limit! All other airlines give up to half an jour, so in situations whe people come before half an hour prior to their flight, but after 45 minutes, tiger should do the kind and gracious thing by letting passagers on.
I think this shows paints a damning image of Tiger Airways. Definitely puts me off flying with them.
After watching last season of airways, I know I will avoid Tiger airways at all costs. At times their policies are so unfair. I also think it’s unethical how much they charge for extra luggage.
I will never forget the time when one customer booked two tickets for themself and a friend. However, the tiger employee doing the over the phone booking made an error and only booked one ticket. So on the day, the other customer ended up having to pay hundreds for a last minute ticket to make up for Tiger’s mistake! How unfair is that!
I’ve always seen Airways not so much as entertianment but as a way for Tiger to educate people about their policies. You can look at it on the surface as Tiger being unreasonable but it seems to me like everyone who chucks a fit at Tiger was at fault – whether through not showing up early enough, not reading the T&Cs of their flight, booking connecting flights when Tiger doesn’t have them, etc. I’m sure through this show there are more people who knows about these rules and are able to follow them correctly.
Oh, I agree that the staff were absolute saints in the face of the over-the-top and frankly unacceptable abuse they cop from disgruntled passengers. In any other scenario, people would be arrested for that sort of abusiveness as technically, it can be considered assault. I wasn’t criticising the staff, sorry, my original post probably wasn’t expressed very well. I was just surprised that Tiger would agree to Season Two, given how badly they were portrayed on the show.
airways is a great little factual. i don’t think tiger come off bad at all, if anything they are getting free publicity. it’s more a reflection on the idiot passengers that chuck a tantie because they expected a plane to take off in a cyclone so they can get home earlier.
and some of the bogan staff are hilarious.
Allie, for me the show makes me appreciate the Tiger staff and be very sympathetic for them. If I ever fly Tiger I’m going to be so much nicer to them now that I’ve seen how disgracefully a small proportion of the population treat them. The abuse they cop is unbelievable and if I went up to a random person on the street and yelled abuse like that I would probably be arrested for it.
I don’t think Tiger came off badly in the last season at all. I thought it highlighted really well the strictness required to run a low-budget airline. If you get a ticket for $29 what more can you expect? And the rigidness they showed isn’t anything that wasn’t made aware to passengers upon purchase of a ticket – check in early, delays happen, and we don’t compensate.
I also thought it showed how abusive people can be when they aren’t getting their own way and how well Tiger staff handled it. I would have snapped at more than one idiot who demanded the most obscene over the top compensation that Qantas don’t even give it’s regular travellers with domestic delays.
And by the way, I don’t work for Tiger.
I’m surprised Tiger Airways would agree to a second series, given how badly they came off in last season’s show. The series routinely made them look like a Z-grade, rigid, don’t- give-a-damn outfit and It is for this reason that I probably would not consider purchasing a ticket to fly Tiger Airways, no matter how cheap they are. Travelling is stressful enough as it is, without the possibility of that sort of angst and hassle, just to save a couple of hundred bucks. Oh well, they say even bad publicity is better than no publicity at all.