Ber2dca

WN fares actually are quite often significantly higher than legacy fares. Something they obscure by avoiding price comparison sites and telling everyone they're cheap (i.e. they count on people directly going to their website because it's 'cheap' and them being unaware that AA/UA/DL might be 100 bucks less for their particular routing).

But aside from that, you're talking about cumulative effects here and a cumulative loss of 4% of revenue per flight would be significant.

You also forgot the 20-25% increase in FA staffing levels that the poster also proposed. In other words, the proposals would lead to reduced revenues (due to lower seat density) and significantly increased cost (due to increased FA staffing).

Some airlines would be in legitimate trouble, others would simply increase fares. The link to this particular incident escapes me anyway. There is no evidence that more legroom or an extra FA would have made a difference in this incident or the United incident.

TWA884

Justin026

As a side note:

All companies with a front line customer service operation should have training for their employees and then have them practice how to respond when a customer asks for their name to file a complaint. Name tags, lack of name tags, first names, etc. don't cut it. AA would be justified having a special ID number that could be given out, or it could be the policy to give the last four (or so) digits of their actual ID number. A card could be handed to the complainer by another staff member when things calmed down.

Train people to fall back for a moment, recover their wits and then have a procedure to follow. I worked for the police forty years ago -- we carried printed cards with our badge number and the supervisor's name. All kinds of people demanded this, but they were respectfully given the cards -- not even 1 in 20 ever complained.

GoPhils

If nothing else it gives his lawyer some room for interpretation if the need arises, as opposed to the FA who was quite clear with his intentions and much more "belligerent" than the passenger.

Stroller woman should be thanking the other passenger, because if not for his interaction with the FA being caught on video she is likely not getting much sympathy (and far less people would know about it).

One thing I will concede against the male passenger (but still moreso against the FA), if they did actually fight then the woman and babies would have been very close to the action and at risk of further injury which of course was what the guy was protesting to begin with.

I'd like to know if the crew did actually give the passenger the FA's name per his initial request. If not (and I'd guess not judging by the fact he called him "bud"), that may have contributed to his anger.

SeaHawg

Parker's response to his employees was way better constructed. It's almost like AA might have learned something from the Dao incident.

I still maintain that all three parties (and kids) involved should have been de-planed and had a chance to cool off/make alternate plans. If the doors closed and the plane pushed back, too bad - fly standby and learn not to be so histrionic for future reference.

GUWonder

Maybe the FA wanted to punish the passenger and said he would get the stroller checked in to her final destination? That would make her transit at DFW a major pain in the neck for her. And even if he checked it in to just DFW, unless it ended up as gate-delivered baggage, the hassle may be even worse.

I've seen some GAs and FAs be entirely inconsistent compared to other GAs and FAs even when the strollers are exactly the same and the travel party and its gate area baggage is pretty much the same in the terms that matter per published rules. It's the inconsistency that is part of problem, but that problem is magnified many times over when the inconsistency is rooted in the lack of empathy (and even hostility) that some customer-facing airline employees have for some/many/most/all passengers.

Dallas49er

No fan of Parker (more of a neutral).

No fan of any union.

We have a split decision.

Since we are not allowed to identify line employees, no how repugnant their behaviour, but management is ok, here are the results:

Bob R***-APFA president-Evidently a Union stooge, in the Gladding mold, who has chosen to to defend the indefensible. But that is what is what his job entails. -10

Douglas Parker-CEO AMR Appropriate response (probably professionally written.) 1

The female FA-When the only hero(ine) in this sad tale is the female FA who kept trying to diffuse a bad situation 9, and is hardly recognized, then we have truly gone TMZ.

Captain "Oh Crap, this is going to affect my retirement"-Thanks for being a contestant. You have won the "Play at Home" game. DNP

(Sorry too much time before my next flight)(NOT)

Carl Johnson

Absolutely. Unionism destroys countries. For example, Austria has a strong union presence. Have you ever been to Vienna? I have.

Hell on earth.

Hell.

On.

Earth.

jwh212

As we learned from the UA flight with David Dao, once someone has a viral video, the rulebook is thrown out the window, its all about whether or not the airline was "a doodyhead" when they dealth with a customer.

Next up is Delta airlines having a poor customer service video, or actually, they did last year with the woman who got dragged off the flight...

Steffo

Great post Montreid. My wife and son and I are fairly frequent travelers, though not to the degree some here are. I am probably like a lot of FT'ers in that I see boarding as something to be done very promptly with thought and attention both for getting my family and our stuff safely ensconced on the plane and for doing this in such a way that we don't interfere with crew or passengers. My son who's flown with us since he was a newborn but is now 16 and bigger than me, built like a linebacker, I never have to check, he's tight on my 6 with all his stuff organized, he is scrupulous about always putting a bag under the seat even if it seems like bin space will be plentiful, he moves quickly onto the plane, gets out of the aisle and is courteous to all.

My wife on the other hand, she is typically taking a last trip to the restroom, calling somebody, doing FB, or who knows what all and I adore her but we find ourselves getting stressed with one another as she tends to drag a random collection of crap down the jetway then reorganize in her seat (of course she likes the window and doesn't like to be in the emergency exit row which we want for our legs if we're not in F). She's a sweetie and people are nice to her, or at least a lot nicer than they would be to me if I did the same thing, but for whatever reason no amount of my explaining to her "this is how you prepare to board and board an aircraft" has ever or likely will ever work with her. And it's not that she lacks social skills or anything like that, if anything I am the one with ADHD. But she just figures something like "well, there is a half hour to board right? Why be in such a rush when all it gets you is some bin space and then you are sitting there?" So we split up now, my son and I board and our speed and she and hers and we don't even try to sit together anymore. I guess after almost 20 years of marriage a few hours apart on a plane is no big deal and I enjoy the time with my son. But definitely experiencing my wife has increased my empathy with those travelers who do not do things the way I do.

Any of us who travel a lot could make a logical case for why airline boarding could be more efficient and less stressful if everyone was ready to go exactly when his group was called but didn't block other groups and then boarded very efficiently. The benefits would be huge. But by the same token we could make a case for efficient driving on crowded freeways. That will not stop the fact that many people will drive what I consider to be idiotically. Maybe Tesla and Google and company will end that by removing human driving as an option but that is not a future I desire as I love to drive, despite the imperfections (my own and those of fellow drivers). So empathy is always useful and valuable. Someone once said to me that politeness plays the role in human interactions that motor oil plays in an engine. That was a useful analogy for me to get as a young man.

Boggie Dog

Fully agree that there needs to be a means for a customer to report a service issue. I can understand not wanting to give out a name and if that is the case company wide then there has to be a company wide employee identifier to replace last names. Flight #, Date & Time, and Employee number should be enough for company tracking.

SeaHawg

What would be the problem with an airline issuing employee cards with a unique identifier- no larger than a business card for purposes such as this?

DL had the JWD cert or a WN Kicking Tail certificate - This would kinda be the opposite, I guess.

Boggie Dog

Same problem as now, not providing card when requested. Attempts to mask identity.

You see it with names tags hidden or reversed.

gizmo78

Can I get a first class upgrade if I volunteer to be whacked with a stroller?

txrus

IF they are worn at all!

I once had a baggage agent, in ORD, tell me, w/a completely straight face that he 'wasn't allowed to wear it (his name tag) in the airport'. The idiot also tried to tell me he didn't have a supervisor.

Funny thing-once his supervisor found him & dragged him out of the back room where he was hiding, to apologize to me, his name tag had magically re-appeared.