My post from yesterday spurred an off-line response from a frequent reader of the FlyingColors blog.  This reader is a national IT director for a multi-billion dollar, multi-national company and he flies American Airlines a lot.  Here is his email to me in whole:

Friday, while boarding in Chicago for a flight home after a very exhausting week,three flight attendants decided to begin grousing about the trouble they have every flight finding overhead bin space for the final passengers.  As they were standing less than two feet from where I was sitting, I decided I needed to interject in to the conversation that I would be fine with charging for carry-on luggage (not a personal carry-on bag which can fit under my seat) as long as AA stopped charging for checked baggage.  I went on to state that AA could not have it both ways and that the problem with a lack of overhead bin space was a result of exorbitant checked baggage fees.  The three stopped their conversation, looked briefly at me and then marched off to the back of the plane.

Later, during beverage service, they asked both passengers to my right what they would like to drink and served them without ever acknowledging me.  After serving both passengers, I quietly stated, “I would like a coffee please.”  The attendant never acknowledged me but unlocked the wheels on the cart and moved further down the aisle.  I leaned out into the aisle, raised my hand and repeated my request only to have her turn her back on me again.  I asked one last time slightly louder and was, yet again, ignored.  At this point, the lady across the aisle commented on my being ignored, as did the gentlemen sitting to my right.  At no point during the flight would any flight attendant acknowledge my existence.

I contacted AA via their website to complain.  I received a response in less than two hours.  I received a vague e-mail stating my complaint would be addressed and I was credited with 5,000 AAdvantage miles.  I was not looking for miles but was looking for someone to address the bigger issue.  Baggage fees and the problems they create along with poor employee relations with the rank and file.  In 14 years of flying regularly with AA I have never complained before but could not let this go unaddressed.

A lot of enthusiasts would call this a one time or occasional incident.  I don’t.  This kind of behaviour is exactly the reason I work very hard to stay away from AA flights now.  There are really two issues at play here.

First, employee morale, lethargy and hostility.   For what was probably 3 very senior flight attendants to adopt that attitude towards any customer, much less an extremely frequent flier, for any reason short of illegal behaviour is bad.  It’s bad that the flight attendants feel they can get away with it.  It’s bad that the other customers have to see that appalling display of behaviour.  It’s bad that management lacks the will to make that the exception rather than the rule.

I won’t make excuses for their behaviour but I will point out that this has a lot to do with not establishing a cooperative relationship with your front line employees and not coming to a timely agreement on their contract.  There is, quite simply, nothing to lose (from the employee perspective) when these employees behave this way.  

However, it is inexecusable to behave this way in any job where you are the front line service provider.  I don’t care what problems the flight crew has going on with management.  This isn’t just a small morale problem, this is an extreme lack of professional conduct.  If you are going to do a job at all, do it right. 

Second, let’s take a look at AA’s response to the complaint.  It stands in stark contrast to the post I made about another frequent reader’s experience with Delta just weeks ago.  You can read that post HERE.  Go ahead, click the link, take a few moments to read that experience.  I’ll wait.

All done?  Great.  Ultimately, the “compensation” response was quite similar.  Let’s pay the customer something for his trouble.  I’m not entirely against that although I do believe the best response is to not let those experiences happen in the first place.  But there is something that stands out in stark contrast.  It’s the difference in how the customer was addressed with the problem.  In the earlier post, the Delta customer service people investigated, indicated that the investigated and provided a satisfactory response to the complaint as well as a sincere apology for the experience.

In this new case, AA managed a timely response that was entirely canned and vague and which has had no follow up. 

Lazy, lazy, lazy. 

Ultimately, the points or other compensation don’t matter nearly as much as providing a sincere response of some kind when it comes to making a customer feel satisfied. 

So I’ll ask the question again:  American Airlines, is that really the best you’ve got?

Filed under: Airline Service by ajax