xyzzy
Nov 17, 03, 12:56 pm
The NY Times today has an interesting article about self-service kiosks. Some interesting airline-related bits follow:
More Consumers Reach Out to Touch the Screen (http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/17/technology/17MACH.html?ex=1069650000&en=f2376847b30f7862&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE) (no reg!) <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">... Airline employees say they often have to soothe passengers after a frustrating kiosk encounter....
Navigating a Delta kiosk for the first time at the Indianapolis airport, Cathie Franklin, 52, yearned for the days when someone else at least pretended to be happy to press the buttons for her. "I deal with computers all day at work," said Mrs. Franklin. "I don't want to have to deal with them when I'm traveling on vacation."
Many service employees are now being told to train people to use the technology that will ultimately replace them.
"The managers tell our people to tell customers to use those machines," said Bobby DePace, president of District 143 of the Machinists Union, which he said had already lost jobs at Northwest Airlines directly as a result of the kiosks. "If you don't tell them to use the machines, you're going to be disciplined."</font>
More Consumers Reach Out to Touch the Screen (http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/17/technology/17MACH.html?ex=1069650000&en=f2376847b30f7862&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE) (no reg!) <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">... Airline employees say they often have to soothe passengers after a frustrating kiosk encounter....
Navigating a Delta kiosk for the first time at the Indianapolis airport, Cathie Franklin, 52, yearned for the days when someone else at least pretended to be happy to press the buttons for her. "I deal with computers all day at work," said Mrs. Franklin. "I don't want to have to deal with them when I'm traveling on vacation."
Many service employees are now being told to train people to use the technology that will ultimately replace them.
"The managers tell our people to tell customers to use those machines," said Bobby DePace, president of District 143 of the Machinists Union, which he said had already lost jobs at Northwest Airlines directly as a result of the kiosks. "If you don't tell them to use the machines, you're going to be disciplined."</font>