A letter I wish I could send

Dear United Airlines,
Thank you for the wonderful and pleasant flight home from Chicago last week. It was great to get your email before the flight about your changes to the SkyCap curbside service. I don't mind paying $2 per bag to cover the cost of gasoline. The SkyCaps are always so polite and friendly, and it's nice to be greeted with, "Hi Ms. Weaver! Thank you for flying United for more than 20 years, we appreciate your business." (I know that it's just your computer that keeps track of it, but it does feel good to be acknowledged.)

I'm glad to see that you discontinued charging extra for the exit-row seats. It seemed fairer to give them away on a first-come, first-served basis at the airport. We understand that there is more room in those rows to get us off the plane safely in case of an emergency. Charging more for them always felt wrong, creating a little island of exclusivity in the middle of coach; I'm glad you stopped doing that.

It was fun to take part in the "Create a Snack Box" voting campaign, and I was excited to see that my creation, the gluten- and sugar-free healthy snack box, was included in the finalists. I don't mind paying $5 for a snack box when it's something I want.

I loved the pillow and blanket reservations option, as I need that little pillow for my low back. I don't mind paying $2 for the reservation, as it's nice to know that those amenities are still available for the people who want them.

It was a great surprise to receive those towelettes midway through the flight when we were all tired and sticky. Thanks!

I so appreciated how the flight crew kept the bathroom clean using that Swiffer Wetjet on the floor. Otherwise it can get pretty gross in there over a four-hour flight.

Finally, it was nice for the pilot to recognize those of us who have been traveling with you for many years. Feels like I'm part of a fun club.

Best,
Stephanie Weaver
United Mileage Plus Member

Well, I can dream, can't I? By the way, if any other airlines are monitoring blogs, this is for you, too.

Technorati Tags: customer experience, customer service, airline travel, United Airlines, consultant

Maybe American Airlines needs someone from Disney, too

Thanks to Clay Heery, who volunteered this story for my blog:

To: TSA Contact Center
Subject: American Airlines -- DFW

Good Morning:
On Dec. 29th, we flew into DFW to find out that the entire airport had been closed due to bad weather. Okay, that's understandable. Hundreds of flights were canceled, inconveniencing thousands of travelers. [Read one of the news stories here.]

What was NOT understandable were the procedures initiated by the American Airlines ground personnel. In order to "cope" with the crush of passengers with a minimum of difficulty, several REMOVED and/or hid their IDs, so that their deliberate misinformation (we were deliberately lied to several times) would not be attributable to them.

Very possibly, AA could respond that this was an isolated incident, but I submit that it was so coordinated and pervasive, that an isolated incident could not possibly be the case.

As for the TSA's concerns, having people in airline uniforms running around an airport without ID on a somewhat-regular basis, does not make for a secure operating environment.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Clay Heery

Clay continued in his email to me:

While we were in a SIX HOUR line at the American Airlines counter at DFW (two windows open for "regular" passengers, four windows open for First Class), I did an interview for the local ABC station, WFAA.

That interview, without my knowledge, was picked up by CNN and broadcast worldwide for a 24-hour period, at approximately the 50-minute mark every hour.

So, if the terrorists didn't know about this security breach by AA before, they do now.

By choosing to post this in my blog, I am deliberately participating in negative word-of-mouth advertising. I, too, have had terrible experiences with American. While I don't know whether the TSA will do anything about this flagrant infraction, perhaps by posting this someone at American will take notice. Perhaps they'll even consider hiring a VP of Customer Experience, like United just did.


Tip of the Day: If you really don't care about your customers, act like American did. But, don't be surprised if you end up on a blog.

Technorati Tags: customer experience, customer service, American Airlines, United Airlines

Keep an eye on United Airlines

They have just hired a VP of Customer Experience from, you guessed it, Disney. According to the press release, Barbara Higgins is charged with "differentiating United from its U.S. competitors by delivering a customer experience that rivals its top global peers."

Let me know if you notice any changes in the friendly skies, blog readers.

Technorati Tags: customer experience, customer service, Disney, United Airlines