Kids will be kids, but one cranky 2-year-old was acting too much his age for a Southwest Airlines flight crew who kicked him off a plane getting ready to leave for San Jose.
Pamela Root says she was confident her son Adam's screams of "Go! Plane! Go!" and "I want Daddy!" would subside once the plane took off Monday in Amarillo, Texas.
But she says the plane taxied back to the gate and the pair was escorted off.
The linked story does not make it likely that other crews will emulate the move.
" A spokesman for Southwest Airlines says the carrier has apologized to a mother who was kicked off a plane along with her unruly 2-year-old earlier this week.
Spokesman Chris Mainz said the airline called Pamela Root on Friday to apologize. He says Root also will receive a refund and a $300 travel voucher."
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Quote:
Originally Posted by B1
Spokesman Chris Mainz said the airline called Pamela Root on Friday to apologize. He says Root also will receive a refund and a $300 travel voucher."
Sounds like good customer service, but on the other hand, I'm a firm believer in standing behind a call that a trusted employee makes, even if it costs a customer. I'd rather have a positive work environment and everyone knowing that I've got my employees' backs than kill morale by always second-guessing my employees (at least once they've reached the stage where I can trust them).
It sounds callous and against every mantra of customer service (well, except Dogbert's ), but there will always be more customers coming, whereas good employees are not always easy to find.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jackal
Sounds like good customer service, but on the other hand, I'm a firm believer in standing behind a call that a trusted employee makes, even if it costs a customer. I'd rather have a positive work environment and everyone knowing that I've got my employees' backs than kill morale by always second-guessing my employees (at least once they've reached the stage where I can trust them).
It sounds callous and against every mantra of customer service (well, except Dogbert's ), but there will always be more customers coming, whereas good employees are not always easy to find.
100% true...always take care of your suppliers and your employees and the customers will keep coming !!
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More context needed. Doesn't seem like "Go! Plane! Go!" and "I want Daddy!" warranted removal.
I agree. With stories such as this, we aren't getting the full picture. Was the child merely loud, or was he bouncing around on his seat? Was he over tired and hungry and the mother didn't bring anything with her to pacify him?
There are simply too many details missing to really make a judgement as so whether Southwest was correct or not in removing the child and his mother from the plane.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by anaggie
Quote:
Originally Posted by jackal
Sounds like good customer service, but on the other hand, I'm a firm believer in standing behind a call that a trusted employee makes, even if it costs a customer. I'd rather have a positive work environment and everyone knowing that I've got my employees' backs than kill morale by always second-guessing my employees (at least once they've reached the stage where I can trust them).
It sounds callous and against every mantra of customer service (well, except Dogbert's ), but there will always be more customers coming, whereas good employees are not always easy to find.
100% true...always take care of your suppliers and your employees and the customers will keep coming !!
Actually, wasn't it Southwest that put forth a policy of "Employees first, customers second, and shareholders last"?
Granted, we're operating without all the facts, here, but the more I think about it, the less I'm liking Southwest's course of action here, especially if the mother was antagonistic to the flight attendant or could clearly not control the son. (That's one thing I most certainly will not put up with—abusive treatment of my employees.) I highly doubt it was just a case of a screaming child—airlines take off with those all the time—and I'd suspect there was more involved to get the captain to pull back to the gate. If that's the case, then shame on Southwest for inverting their company values.
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Actually, wasn't it Southwest that put forth a policy of "Employees first, customers second, and shareholders last"?
Granted, we're operating without all the facts, here, but the more I think about it, the less I'm liking Southwest's course of action here, especially if the mother was antagonistic to the flight attendant or could clearly not control the son. (That's one thing I most certainly will not put up with—abusive treatment of my employees.) I highly doubt it was just a case of a screaming child—airlines take off with those all the time—and I'd suspect there was more involved to get the captain to pull back to the gate. If that's the case, then shame on Southwest for inverting their company values.
Southwest's apology and refund had nothing to do with second guessing an employee (whose action *I* would have supported), and everything to do with a front page story with picture in the San Jose Mercury News. WN needs to mitigate the chance of further media debacle - which is precisely why calling the newspaper and whining when your little snot gets thrown off a flight works
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Having sat near some of these cranky kids on flights, I say to Southwest Airlines. Good PR to give mom a phone call, but other passengers didn't have to suffer. I get so tired of kids kicking my seat, crying and screaming and just totally misbehaving.
We may not have all the facts, but I applaud the flight attendant for saying enough was enough for this kid. Been on flights with way too many of them.
The story linked to in the OP said, "The crew bounced Root and her son Adam off the San Jose-bound flight because passengers could not hear preflight safety announcements. "
), but there will always be more customers coming, whereas good employees are not always easy to find.
to Southwest Airlines. Good PR to give mom a phone call, but other passengers didn't have to suffer. I get so tired of kids kicking my seat, crying and screaming and just totally misbehaving. 
