Delta’s New Feedback System Is a Forum for Abuse
Jackie Reddy May 23, 2016
Some of the carrier’s cabin crew have been subjected to degrading customer comments via its Delta Pulse survey program. The airline says that it is a useful tool, but needs improvement.
It was intended as a tool to help Delta Air Lines improve its customer experience, but it seems that Delta Pulse, a tool that allows passengers to send real-time feedback on their flight, has instead become a medium for abusing the carrier’s staff.
While the majority of travelers have used Delta Pulse for its intended purpose, some are using the facility to make inappropriate comments about cabin crew.
Gailen David, himself a former flight attendant and co-creator of the website Savvy Stews, commented on the situation earlier this week and even posted some of the comments received by crew on the site. These may be varying in their viciousness, but everything from crew members’ weight, age, appearance and sexual orientation appeared to be under scrutiny.
One passenger wrote, “You have too many old, worn out and overweight flight attendants on this flight. There are also a few who are clearly ‘alternative lifestyle.'”
Another said, “The aisles are too narrow … and my elbows kept getting bumped by the pudgy flight attendant who couldn’t control the movement of her ass.”
“The flight attendants on this flight were fabulous,” began another more positively, before continuing, “What a nice change to have young, fresh, exciting crew on board instead of the old washed up ladies who are bitter.”
David believes that Delta is facilitating the harassment of employees by neglecting to ensure that messages are filtered.
The carrier, he says, should “suspend the system until the filters have been thoroughly tested.”
Allison Ausband, Senior Vice President – In-Flight Service, Delta Air Lines addressed the situation in a recent e-mail, excerpts of which have been shared by David. There’s no doubt, she said, that Delta Pulse will help the carrier improve its service.
But, she added, “what doesn’t help us … are inappropriate and degrading comments.”
Ausband explained that while Delta did scan comments, it’s not always possible to catch them. She also apologized to any employees who had received hurtful comments and said, “This is a new system and we’ll continue to work together to make it the best feedback mechanism for all of us.”
[Photo: Delta]
I couldn't disagree more with the comments above. Everyone has the right to complain about bad service. In fact, someone should do so if a FA is rude and/or arrogant, but no one has the right to attack the physical appearance of anyone. Moreover, an intelligent pax should be able to register a complaint without being an obnoxious, insensitive fool.
I have to say, flyers are paying for a product. How about the management flies their product? All that aside, the comments are nasty. But nobody cares about appearance anymore. Do whatever you want. Look at the pigs that fly ! Clipping their nails on the floor in first class. I could go on and on...The world truly is slouching toward Gomorrah.
While some of the comments may be offensive, so are some of the very bitter "flight attendants" who now work for Delta. I now fly Delta only when there is no other choice after many years of being a satisfied customer, but the Delta-Northworst merger has injected a cancer into a good company that will kill it. The good thing is that the mega-carriers who now control most of the airways will eventually die because they are too big to succeed, just like GM did, but hopefully the taxpayer will not be on the hook for billions as they were when Washington pols bailed GM out.
Where's the abuse? I see travelers providing feedback on a product they're paying money for. Restaurant goers aren't likely to want an unkempt waitress/waiter who looks (and smells) like they've not had a bath in a week. Similarly, the airline cabin is a very tight space compared to most public spaces. There's a reason Pan Am (and Delta) at one time had specific standards for cabin crew, and they weren't there entirely for appearance. I've fortunately had great service from the DL stewards & stewardesses. Some of the older, almost matronly-type stewardesses on DL have been some of the most helpful. If someone can't perform their job, they can't perform their job. It doesn't matter why. Would you want your eyes operated on by a surgeon with a physical disability such as a chronic muscle spams of the wrist? Would you want a childcare worker with mental illness, such as serial pedophilia? Of course not. Going down the aisles safely requires being under a certain size. In an emergency, do you really want two flight attendants attempting to play Tetris with their bodies to get past each other in the aisle? Same goes for having a bad attitude -- Sorry, but you're working a job where you are the public face for your company. Take a page from Disney -- the actors at the theme parks get paid terrible wages, crappy conditions, and take a ton of abuse from parents and kids, yet they don't break character.
While the comments may be inappropriately worded, it still gives feedback about the feeling of the customers. If multiple customers are using this type of language, it probably just shows how unhappy they are. Aisles are narrow, FA's can use more care walking down them to avoid running into people. There seems to be a feeling that older FA's have a poor attitude as compared to new ones. Probably means some veteran FA's are unhappy with their jobs and management should do something to improve their company. However inappropriate, they shouldn't be discounted completely. That would just skew the survey results to be more positive. I hope "filter" just means filtering out language and not the entire message.