If you read my blog often, you know I try to remind people of the positive side of the airline business (sometimes it is harder than others). Each year airlines receive A LOT of complaints. Some are well deserved, while others are from [...]]]>

United Airlines Boeing 757 and Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 at SFO.

If you read my blog often, you know I try to remind people of the positive side of the airline business (sometimes it is harder than others). Each year airlines receive A LOT of complaints. Some are well deserved, while others are from people who have a warped sense of what is right and wrong.

Occasionally an airline will receive a positive letter and possibly a story of one employee who truly went out of their way. Some might think that letters like these get lost in a sea of other letters, but trust me, they do not. When touring many airline operation centers, they have a special place where they show off the positive letters and cards that they receive. Unfortunately the area is not too large, since not too many are sent. Let’s change that…

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE – LET AIRLINES KNOW WHEN THEY ROCK!

Next time you are flying and someone goes out of their way or is obviously passionate about their job, take a few moments to jot down their name and email the airline. Be sure to mention the airport, your flight, their name and any other details. It doesn’t need to be long, just enough to give some kudos. Not only will people at the airline love to hear it, but this could actually help the career of the employee.

Recently, I have experienced two such instances that I made sure to tell the airline about. The first was a United Airlines gate manager in Seattle. I was waiting to take a flight to Chicago and the early morning flight had been cancelled and my aircraft had been changed from an Airbus A320 to an A319 (smaller). This meant there were a lot of people and not enough seats. He did a great job of just being honest with people and keeping a sense of humor during the ordeal. Most people were smiling as the gentleman warmly welcomed them on the flight, even the people who didn’t make the flight seemed happy (they also for $400 on United).

The next was an Alaska Airlines gate agent in Los Angeles. I had a five hour layover and plenty of time to watch her keep her spirits up and welcome each passenger by name on each flight. She was also my gate agent and it is just nice to be welcomed by name on a plane even though I was flying economy.

If you are having difficulty finding who to send it to, it is okay to send it to me (david@airlinereporter.com) and I will make sure it gets to the proper people. Heck, even if you send them to the airline directly, send it to me anyhow, I love hearing positive stories and I might even post a few. If you are a Twitter user, share your stories and use the hashtag #AirlineLove (what the heck does that mean?).

Airlines and employees have to deal with a lot of crap, let’s remind them that there are still people out there who love airlines and see flying as a great experience. The ball is now in your court!

Image: iflysfx

I love the self-service kiosks at airports. I was one of the first people to use them when they came out and I am still a huge fan today.

One of the most annoying issues is printing out my boarding pass and then waiting [...]]]>

Two American Airlines MD-80s from the tarmac in Austin, TX

I love the self-service kiosks at airports. I was one of the first people to use them when they came out and I am still a huge fan today.

One of the most annoying issues is printing out my boarding pass and then waiting for someone to come over and give me my bag-tag. Sometimes I can end up waiting longer for my tag than I took actually checking in. American Airlines is trying to change the game by allowing passengers to print off their own bag tags.

Already at 35 airports around the world, passengers can print off their own luggage tag, but that hasn’t been the case in the US. American is giving this a six month test in Austin, TX to see how it goes. Your ID still needs to be checked, and an agent needs to watch the conveyor belt to make sure only authorized bags make their way on board, but this should be able to speed up the check-in process.

Some passengers and airline employees are not happy. Passengers feel this is a step backward with customer service and employees are afraid about keeping their job. I think it boils down to the cost of a ticket. Airlines need to get creative to be competitive and if this is a way to speed things up and save a few dollars on a ticket, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it being used more in the future. Delta and Alaska Airlines have already shown some interest and I imagine that others are keeping a close eye on how this goes.

What do you think? Is this the future or a lame-duck idea?

To learn more about this program, check out the story I posted on AOL Travel News.

Image: John Rogers

With all this talk about how airlines treat passengers horribly when they are stranded, good news comes from Southwest Airlines — which earns them an Awesome Medal!

A Southwest flight from Fort Lauderdale, FL to Denver, CO ran into some stormy weather and had to be diverted [...]]]>

Southwest Airline's pilot hands out pizza. Awesome!

With all this talk about how airlines treat passengers horribly when they are stranded, good news comes from Southwest Airlines — which earns them an Awesome Medal!

A Southwest flight from Fort Lauderdale, FL to Denver, CO ran into some stormy weather and had to be diverted to Pueblo, CO. Anyone who has been on a diverted flight, knows it is not a fun experience.  But in this instance, the crew stepped up and got the passengers pizza.

I spoke with Chris Mainz, with Southwest, about this unique customer service experience. He pointed out that Pueblo is not an airport usually served by Southwest and it was a team effort between the flight crew and airport personal. I asked if Southwest had any policies regarding what the flight crew should do in these instances and he told me there are no written rules or policies and Southwest trusts their employees to do what is right.

You always hear people complaining about losing the “good ‘ol days of flying,” but dang, I don’t even think airlines of yesteryear did this.

Cheers to the flight crew, Southwest Airlines, and the Pueblo Memorial Airport  for providing this awesome service. This proves you still can have low fares and amazing (I didn’t want to use “awesome” again) customer service!

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At a time where airline’s frequent flier programs are becoming less friendly with higher charges, more miles required to redeem free flights, and more restrictions, American Airlines has decided to try something new and make it easier for its fliers to redeem their miles.

American [...]]]>

McDonnell Douglas MD-11, N1767A, Approaching r/w 27L, London, Heathrow,

At a time where airline’s frequent flier programs are becoming less friendly with higher charges, more miles required to redeem free flights, and more restrictions, American Airlines has decided to try something new and make it easier for its fliers to redeem their miles.

American Airlines is now allowing passengers to easily redeem one-way tickets for half the miles a round-trip ticket takes. This will open up many more options for those that only need a one-way flight, but wasn’t able to easily or cheaply do it with their miles. This should also make it easier to find a free seat on an airline. For if a person was booking a round trip “miles flight” and one of the legs had no more free slots, the entire itinerary would be denied. Now, it allows more flexibility.

Airline analysts think American Airline’s move will help to booster their AAdvantage membership by millions and will cause a ripple effect to other airlines, forcing them to follow suit. This should bring up revenue for additional passengers who want to build up their miles and also via partnerships with hotels and rental car companies who purchase miles for airlines.

It took about a year for American Airlines to make the changes to their system to handle the one-way ticketing and they expect it to take another year before seeing other airlines providing direct competition.

According to the Customer Service Satisfaction Index, airline passengers feel the airlines are doing a 3.2% better job in customer service compared to the year before.

Although fees are up, the numbers of passengers are down. This means less lines, [...]]]>

Does Southwest Airlines giving out free drink coupons help them to acheive #1 status?

According to the Customer Service Satisfaction Index, airline passengers feel the airlines are doing a 3.2% better job in customer service compared to the year before.

Although fees are up, the numbers of passengers are down. This means less lines, fewer bumped people, and more room since you might have no one sitting in the center seat.

Southwest Airlines was #1 for customer satisfaction for the 16th year in a row with it’s highest rating ever. The biggest gainers were Delta Airlines, US Airways, and Continental who improved by margins of 6.7% to 9.7%. American Airlines saw the largest decrease (3.2%) and United Airlines ended with the lowest overall score for the year.

It will be interesting to see if the airlines can keep this positive trend going, since hopefully by next year we’ll have a strong economy and fuller planes (and lines).

At a time where airlines are cutting jobs, services, airplanes, while raising fees – it seems odd that American Airlines has decided to move forward with paying out $14million in bonuses — or does it?

There is no denying that moral [...]]]>

AMERICAN AIRLINES Airbus A300 & Boeing 777 at JFK, New York, USA. Sept 2008.

At a time where airlines are cutting jobs, services, airplanes, while raising fees – it seems odd that American Airlines has decided to move forward with paying out $14million in bonuses — or does it?

There is no denying that moral at some airlines are reaching record low levels. About 72,000 American Airline employees might feel a little less down when they see their performance based bonuses (averaging $200).

According to American Airlines, the incentive program seems to be working – with customer service up 3% and on-time service up 23%.

I think it can be hard for airlines to realize what their greatest investment can be…not planes, new technologies, or routes, but investing into their employees. On a flight with all the “toys,” no fees, and on the newest plane can be great, but if the customer service received is horrid, it can leave a very lasting impression.

Although it is frustrating at times, I understand when airlines have had to send jobs overseas to help them survive.

Delta, in a rare showing, is now doing the opposite — and at a good [...]]]>

Flight 891 from Buffalo. This plane was delivered to Eastern Airlines on 11/30/1979 and transferred to Delta in 1991

Although it is frustrating at times, I understand when airlines have had to send jobs overseas to help them survive.

Delta, in a rare showing, is now doing the opposite — and at a good time nonetheless! They are no longer outsourcing their reservation call center to India and will be moving the jobs back to the US.

There will still be call centers in Jamaica and South Africa, but staffing would most likely be reduced there as well in the future.

When Delta outsourced their call centers to India in 2002, they estimated saving $25million per year, which is nothing to sneeze at.

However, customers made it clear they weren’t happy with the service they received from the call centers in India. “The customer acceptance of call centers in foreign countries is low, and our customers are not shy about letting us have that feedback,” said Richard Anderson, Chief Executire of Delta Airlines.

I would imagine the number of reservation calls has greatly decreased since 2002, with most people choosing to reserve tickets online.

With prices going up and amenities going down, it shouldn’t be too surprising that complaints are going up. Airline complaints increased about 60% from 2006 to 2007.

While the complaints increase, more and more companies are cutting call centers, outsourcing, and automating, increasing the distance from [...]]]>

Sometimes it is impossible to get customer service!

With prices going up and amenities going down, it shouldn’t be too surprising that complaints are going up. Airline complaints increased about 60% from 2006 to 2007.

While the complaints increase, more and more companies are cutting call centers, outsourcing, and automating, increasing the distance from the customer to someone in the company who can do something about it.

Christopher Elliot (former National Geographic Traveler’s reader advocate) lists the 8 most common mistakes people make when complaining.

1- Frivolous grievances: complaining about stuff that is not a big deal (not the right soda, someone was a little short with you).

2- Calling instead of writing: there is no record and normally nothing good comes from it.

3- Making a laudry list: too many complaints will just make you look like a complainer and people will stop listening.

4- Wasting their time: make sure it is worth they time to make a right from a wrong.

5- Writing long: keep your complaint short and sweet.

6- Not offering a solution: let them know what would make you happy to solve this problem.

7- Being impolite: you get more flies with honey than vinegar.

8- Threatening: saying you will never fly with the airline again will do nothing.

Just know that sometimes when you complain, you will be treated well and things will be made right. Others you will be ignored.  Show how you feel by not flying that airline again!

Source: CNN Image: Schmidt-Family

And it happens again. The lovely situation where people are left sitting in a plane that is going no where for hours and hours. Add to that they only get water and crackers (yummy).

This is just another incident that is re-sparking the debate about passenger protections.

The flight today is [...]]]>

Taca Airlines Airbus

And it happens again. The lovely situation where people are left sitting in a plane that is going no where for hours and hours. Add to that they only get water and crackers (yummy).

This is just another incident that is re-sparking the debate about passenger protections.

The flight today is a little more difficult, since it is an international airline, Taca. Even is the US government had regulations about this, they would be immune.

I know the idea of a Bill of Rights for passengers, but I don’t know how it could be enforced. Normally a free market should exist, but it seems passengers quickly forget their multi-hour wait on the tarmac, when they see they can save $150 on choosing the same airline versus another.

Source: MarketWatch Image: code20ph