9/11 Empowers Airline Employees to stand up to Passengers was yesterday’s post on the customer service shortcomings of the airline industry. It followed two prior posts: Airlines: Worse Customer Service of any Industry by Far and “Push on by,” barked Jim.
Some airline employees relish the power granted to them in the post 9/11 world. They wear it on their sleeves. Perhaps frustrated by the woes of their job or their industry, they are determined to show passengers that they are in control.
Last week, I was sitting next to a lady passenger in first class. I caught the tail end of her conversation with a United Airlines flight attendant.
“Thanks,” said the passenger with a sarcastic anguish in her voice, “that is very helpful of you.”
The flight attendant turned back at her and with a sharp tone said, “Excuse me. Do you have a problem with me?”
The passenger just shook her head and muttered something, but was clearly looking to avoid a confrontation. The flight attendant, feeling better now, added “It wouldn’t be sanitary. That’s why I said no.”
I asked the passenger what happened. “I have a daughter in coach. She is diabetic. I wanted to get this banana to her.” The banana was sitting on her tray. I don’t know if she asked the flight attendant to bring it to her. In any case, she asked for something out of the ordinary and was immediately told no. With a tiny bit of extra effort, the flight attendant could have made the passenger feel special. Instead, the attendant kicked dirt in the passengers face, practically taunting the first class passenger to pick a fight.
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Dan,
Have you noticed if any airlines are better than others in terms of customer service?
Was the seat belt sign on/off? If it was off, the story takes a different turn for me.
If it was off, perhaps the passenger should have gotten the banana to her diabetic daughter herself. Flight attendants aren’t there to run errands for passengers. I would never think to ask such a thing UNLESS the seat belt sign were on and I knew it might make my daughter more comfortable given her condition.
I don’t want my flight attendants trying to make passengers feel special, I want them to make sure we are safe, and that the pilots have everything they need to make the flight a success.
I have a neighbor (Ed Pfrommer by the way) who is 100K+ on United and flys first all the time. He says the service up front is worse than ever. Nobody gives a crap. You hope that attitude never seeps into safety issues. Recently, my wife had to pay a $44 fee just to get a seat on the plane when she was checking in online. Of course, you have to add the $15 baggage fee on top of that.
I will go out of my way to avoid united.
My favorites right now are Frontier (if you live in Denver) and Southwest. I have always experienced great service on both.
SMS,
is making sure a diabetic passenger is taken care of making the flight safe and a success!?!?!?
If the person goes into a diabetic type 1 reaction due to low blood sugar, because they need a piece of fruit it can be mis-interpreted as hostility, anger, and even being slightly intoxicated….having high blood sugar can also be mis-interpreted as intoxication, hyperness, paranoia, etc…
the flight attendent should have been more understanding and the passenger should have disclosed to the gate her daughter has a diabetic condition, from the sound of the post I would guess the daughter was insulin dependent type 1…
My Dad has suffered through insulin dependent typ1 for nearly 40 years and because of his requirments is not able to wear a pump and has to take shots after each meal, etc…when we fly we dislose this on making reservations and to the gate attendent and flight crew…we take fruit, etc on the plane and have only had one issue, when he was taking his shot in the bathroom…somebody claimed he was taking illegal drugs and the head flight attendent tried to make an issue out of it until I demanded she check her manifest and special instructions rip sheet…
she apologized and everything was fine….at the end fo the flight the Captain got us a tram to our connecting flight, which was 2 terminals away…he then very sternly told his head flight attendent to be mindful of her special instructions sheet next time…
a lot of this crap would go away if some folks on both sides of the issue applied some common sense…
Scott, my post is my opinion ONLY if the passenger was able to get up and get her daughter the banana and not if the Flight Attendants were the only ones allowed out of their seats. Otherwise I agree with you that the flight attendant should have assisted. Let’s again say the passenger WAS able to get up. Why on earth would she waste time hitting the button to wait for the flight attendant to come over and assist? Isn’t Mom wasting precious time? And why is Mom in First while her daughter that may need medical attention has to suffer through coach? What kind of parent is she? Kids should fly first, too!
My mom was a stewardess for Pan Am in her 20s. 10 years ago she decided to go back to it, this time as a “flight attendant” (in her late 50s). The flying world had changed a lot more than her title in those 30 years, and 5 years ago she experienced another set of changes post 9-11.
Her observations of the new world of flying are these: Most business travelers fly with a sense of entitlement. Most families travel understaffed and over-luggaged. Many other travelers just don’t travel enough to have any idea what the business travelers or the flight attendants go through on a daily basis. And no one seems to have tolerance or sympathy for the others. About 50% of the flights my mom boards are filled with tired and unhappy travelers.
My mom greets every one of these unhappy passengers as a challenge. She could snap at people, but what good would that do? So she tries to keep interactions with the passengers light hearted; she’ll make jokes or tell stories to help travelers forget what’s on their mind. She holds the babies while parents get settled, and would happily deliver a banana to coach to assist a worried mother, whether the seatbelt sign was on or off. She knows her “regulars” and welcomes them back. And 9 times out of 10 the passengers leave the plane in a good mood, she gets a handful of comment cards thanking her for her spirit, and she knows she’s in the right profession. And no, she doesn’t work for Southwest Airlines.
It’s the choice of the passenger to take out their day’s frustrations on a flight attendant, and it’s the choice of the flight attendant to do the same…OR…to embrace their job and make the flight enjoyable. When you’re making less than $30k a year, you better enjoy your profession and embrace the mood of your passengers, whatever it may be. If not, there are plenty of other jobs paying $15/hr or less that don’t put you in a customer facing role.
SMS–I didn’t catch the whole exchange. The reason the flight attendant was undoubtedly out-of-line was the way she handled the communication. She literally got in the passengers face and growled at her. with bear as a nickname, I know what a growl sounds like. The “Do you have a problem with me?” was in response to the passenger simple giving a look of dissatisfaction on the initial response. Even if the flight attendant was correct in the message she delivered initially, the lack of professionalism to the passenger that I witnessed was out-of-line.
K Steele: I like the “flying world had changed a lot more than her title in those 30 years”. Clever wording. Tell your mom “thanks” for taking care of us tired, unhappy, yet entitled business travelers.