The Cart Before The Horse: Saudi Aviation - Bureaucrat Upon Bureaucrat
12 July 2016By Tariq A. Al-Maeena
The title of this column is a proverb that translates to mean that something
is being done contrary to a conventional or customarily expected order or
sequence. As Wikipedia puts it, ''a cart is a vehicle which is ordinarily
pulled by a horse, so to put the cart before the horse is an analogy for doing
things in the wrong order. The figure of speech means doing things the wrong
way round or with the wrong emphasis.''
Now if one is to look around, he or she would not have to look too far to see
that putting the cart before the horse has been an exercise that is routinely
practiced by many of our bureaucracies. One such instance came to mind when I
read a report last month that the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA)
had invited the Saudi Minister of Transport Sulaiman Al-Hamdan to inaugurate
the new executive office or VIP lounge at King Abdul Aziz International
Airport (KAIA) in Jeddah.
Once the customary ribbon was cut, the Minister accompanied by a high level
delegation from GACA including Abduellah Al-Rasheed, director of the executive
offices, visited the new facilities and was briefed at each step along the way
by GACA officials on the services which the VIP lounge provided to its guests
including the working procedures in place designed to provide the best comfort
and services to the airport's clients.
Describing the VIP lounge in detail, Al-Rasheed said that ''the new executive
office is located on a total area of 4,215 square meters, with a seating
capacity of 500 passengers. It includes a passenger seating area, a commercial
space, restaurants, a meeting room, a business center and a prayer area for
men and women.'' He added that GACA was also ''working on the development of
modernization of the executive offices in Riyadh (KKIA) and Hail Airport,
while work continues on implementing executive offices projects in the
remaining airports. The work will be done in stages, which include the
creation of new buildings and the development and modernization of existing
buildings.''
Now I have been following the developments at KAIA with much interest over the
past three decades. Not so much out of simple curiosity but more so as a
frequent user who has had to contend with standards of service that were often
surpassed by airports in poorer and less developed countries. I know I do not
speak for myself alone when I bring up the horrendous details of travelers who
have had to contend with unimaginable nightmares when all they wanted to do
was simply get on a flight and depart without much fuss.
In the last few decades, bureaucrat upon bureaucrat came and went, all
assuring the public that the new airport with state-of-the-art facilities was
going to be up and running during his tenure. This has never happened and most
of these men have long since disappeared to other pastures. But passengers
continue to be disgruntled. This summer there has been a surge of discontent
from passengers at the Kingdom's major airports for a host of reasons. Most of
these are a rehash of the same set of tribulations of years gone by, and
nothing seems to have been done to address the repeated set of complaints.
Thus, when I read of so much care and commitment given by GACA to the
establishment of executive lounges, I wonder. Shouldn't the authorities first
be focused on providing everyday passengers who make up the majority of fliers
with the basic standards a traveler has come to expect? Shouldn't they focus
on the persistent problems that plague our airports and resolve to find
permanent solutions to them? Or should they simply ignore all of that and
herald the establishment of an improved VIP lounge to cater to a small
percentage of the traveling community?
However, in all honesty, I was not surprised by the news. I have come to
expect such idiosyncrasies from most of our public service organizations who
seem to forget whom they are meant to serve. Had they done otherwise, I would
have indeed been tongue-tied, and this column would never have made it into
print.
— The author can be reached at talmaeena@aol.com. Follow him on Twitter @talmaeena
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