oc35

Not exactly what you want to hear from a ticketing agent in T6 for the elites. She was extremely frustrated as there were a number of flights delayed (last Sunday), unruly passengers and most of the other agents (mainly outsourced staff) were screwing things up.

I overheard her conversation with a man and women who were upset about something...she said that she was been working for UA for 19 years and they have cut the staff at LAX so severely that she is now embarrassed to be associated with UA.

It was a pretty big mess there with all of the cancelled flights but badmouthing your employer to customers is not very good form IMO.

aceman

yes, but could have been a way of trying to create a bond with the customer to calm them down, basically saying "i'm on your side"

oc35

Good point and I actually think she was trying to do that but there are better ways to communicate this.

Something like..."I understand your frustration Mr. and Mrs. X and if I could make all of these people happy I would, so if you would please bear with me for a second and I will do everything I can to make sure you get to your destination timely.

cielodome

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.0) BlackBerry8700/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102)

I would prpbably be just as stressed out when triple (or more!) Is being asked of me and yet my pay and benefits are not there.

I'm embarassed for UA as well!

PSUhorty

As a rep for my employer, if a customer calls me w/a complaint, rest assured, the very last thing I would say to make them happy (right after "Your momma wears army boots") would be, "I'm embarrased to be an employee of XXX."

Intrepid

Statements to that or similar effect are being heard not only in LAX.
Some months ago I was waiting at Con F in ORD - the UX CRJs terminal. A G/A made a statement over the PA system, advising pax who are about to board in a few minutes a UX flight, to go use the terminal rest rooms if they have to, because the lavatory on that about to depart CRJ is "out of order". He then went on to add publicly that "if you think that I enjoy my job making these anouncements..." He was ostensibly embarassed and frustrated while staffing alone the gate that was due to service 3 flights.
This is not the first time that a CRJ lavatory is out of order during a flight (in my experience), and I don't blame UA/UX staff having to apologize over the P/A system for this kind of a "mechanical" (what a euphemism). Nothing to be proud of your organization.
I give those folks kudos for functioning and maintaning their sanity in this work environment.

qasr

I do empathise with the employees... but really, she was out of line.

ChrisKSDF

I'd be embarassed to work for UA, too (especially in a front line position where I was a visible representative of the airline).

flyinryan

It's better than the often-seen "I'm angry to be an employee of UA, and I don't care who knows it!"
This is, what, the 100th LAX Is Way Understaffed post in the last couple of years? Sad. C'mon United, get some agents in there!

LAX UA 1K

Of course you would. But one doesn't say it out loud in front of the customers.

Charles

SFOTRAVELER

I was at both LAX and SFO last Sunday and was surprised at how busy things were.

I knew it wasn't a holiday weekend, but then I saw the delays at other airports including ORD, and with IAD completely closed, things started to unravel and the whole system was affected. When I got home, I heard about DFW closing for a duststorm. What a mess!

CApreppie

If I worked for UA, I'd be embarassed as well. As a UA ff, I'm embarassed for UA! So many things to fix. They seem to be cutting back more than in CH11.

EdisonCarter

I'm sorry, OP, but your story isn't credible: you claim to have actually seen a ticketing agent at LAX.

Ocn Vw 1K

I'm not trying to defend employees maligning UA; but haven't we as frequenters of UA, heard this admission a number of times from individual FAs apologizing for cutbacks in catering and/or other cabin service/amenities and havent we empathized with the employee for saying it as it shows the employee realizes that the level of service is below what is adequate and expected by UA's frequent pax?

seanthepilot

When employees recognize they are unable to give the service the customer deserves, they are exactly the type that UA should try to keep.

I worked for an International Hotel Chain that prides itself on Service for 19 years and 11 months, quitting in November of '06 for the same reason.

I was embarrassed that after training me so well, the 'service' had turned into a joke. They preached 5 star service but only cared about profits, shareholders, and the budget.

The embarrassment and futility of it can be surreal. From experience, I can relate. Let me predict that this, or employees like this one, may soon be leaving of thier own accord.