Appeal to AA (and attempts) to bring back the SOS / SomeOne Special program [merged]
May 10, 2004, 11:56 am
#16
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Can we stay focused...
Originally Posted by hillrider
How about AA handing "three strikes you're out cards" instead? Any time a customer is subject to bad service we fill one and send it in to AA. Once an employee gets three of them, they're out.
Simple, and effective. And something that the union should be supportive of, as it would clean out the ranks of non-professional members.
[Note: the program wouldn't work in practice because less honest customers would start blackmailing employees, so don't take me seriously. But I stand by the point that although the S.O.S. program made me feel better, the average professionalism of AA's employees is still abismally behind that of CX, BA, QF, LH and LX, just to name a few recent personal experiences]
Simple, and effective. And something that the union should be supportive of, as it would clean out the ranks of non-professional members.
[Note: the program wouldn't work in practice because less honest customers would start blackmailing employees, so don't take me seriously. But I stand by the point that although the S.O.S. program made me feel better, the average professionalism of AA's employees is still abismally behind that of CX, BA, QF, LH and LX, just to name a few recent personal experiences]
May 10, 2004, 12:24 pm
#17
Join Date: May 2001
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I say we go the grassroots way to bring it back..
I just whipped this up on photoshop. Let me know how I can change the text and or make another side to it with the URL of this thread and a "Please bring it back" or something..
SOS 2004
Flipside
I just whipped this up on photoshop. Let me know how I can change the text and or make another side to it with the URL of this thread and a "Please bring it back" or something..
SOS 2004
Flipside
May 10, 2004, 12:58 pm
#18
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Originally Posted by flipside
I say we go the grassroots way to bring it back..
I just whipped this up on photoshop. Let me know how I can change the text and or make another side to it with the URL of this thread and a "Please bring it back" or something..
SOS 2004
Flipside
I just whipped this up on photoshop. Let me know how I can change the text and or make another side to it with the URL of this thread and a "Please bring it back" or something..
SOS 2004
Flipside
Thanks,
May 10, 2004, 1:00 pm
#19
Join Date: Mar 2004
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Originally Posted by hillrider
Some empirical observation: when the S.O.S. program was stopped after ten+ years, AA still had a high ration of employees that don't really care about the customer. From an analytical perspective, it was an abismal failure.
Wow! I respectfully disagree with that "analytical perspective".
My experience is completely opposite. I have run into a "high ration" of AA employees who seem to truly care about the customer. Since our empirical evidence is now a wash, does that meant that the SOS was neither a success nor a failure but rather just a neutral program that AA sponsored for 10+ years?
Sure, there are some employees with attitude problems, but how is that evidence that the SOS program was a failure? From an "analytical perspective", wouldn't it also be possible to deduce that there might be even more disgruntled, jaded employees had it not been for the SOS program?
There are always individuals who strive to excel in their duties without needing additional rewards. And there are always those who do the least amount of work necessary despite any incentives to do more. The SOS program cannot alter basic human nature. But a return of the SOS gives those of us who want to express immediate appreciation a chance to do so. And hopefully it gives employees who have earned this appreciation a little extra credit with AA.
May 10, 2004, 1:00 pm
#20
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Yes agree we need to recognize the folks at AA who are wonderful at their jobs and make our traveling with them a pleasure.
With that said good idea above we could use a few certs to weed out the bad apples too !
With that said good idea above we could use a few certs to weed out the bad apples too !
May 10, 2004, 1:07 pm
#21
Join Date: Dec 2002
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Great idea - wrong implementation.
We need ...... eSOS !
If someone does something special, just tell him you will post it in a special file on the AMR Corp website and at the end of the year, if all goes well, they will see a summary of the eSOS's.
Why kill a forest on paper?
We need ...... eSOS !
If someone does something special, just tell him you will post it in a special file on the AMR Corp website and at the end of the year, if all goes well, they will see a summary of the eSOS's.
Why kill a forest on paper?
May 10, 2004, 1:10 pm
#22
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Bring 'em back!
Count me in, Jon. This is one of the things AA should be actively looking at regardless of the cost. The excellent idea below would also work, but we would still need some means of recording the employee and base number. (I know a few of my favorite FA's have great business cards for this purpose, but I suspect not all do.) This is why the little form would still be ideal.
BTW AAFA, some of us do actually write those letters.
Originally Posted by AAFA
AA, apparently, saves millions by not printing them. Most of our fliers are e-mail and internet savvy. I think we should have online SOS's where you can go to AA.com and punch in a flight number and the persons name to acknowledge you thought they did a great job. Then the company has a way to acknowledge it and the employee will receive notification that they had good feedback. No paper, no waste.
Letter writing itself is a tedious business. Many people say they thought you were great and that they will write a letter and don't. If you have a simple, pre-written, form that you only need to punch in two things then I think more people would do it.
The SOS programs flaw was that AA management never saw the SOS's unless you photo copied it for them to put in your file. Most of us just saved them up and turned them in for INTL first class or Hawaii tickets. When you redeemed them at the ticket counter your manager never saw them.
Letter writing itself is a tedious business. Many people say they thought you were great and that they will write a letter and don't. If you have a simple, pre-written, form that you only need to punch in two things then I think more people would do it.
The SOS programs flaw was that AA management never saw the SOS's unless you photo copied it for them to put in your file. Most of us just saved them up and turned them in for INTL first class or Hawaii tickets. When you redeemed them at the ticket counter your manager never saw them.
May 10, 2004, 2:54 pm
#23
Join Date: May 2001
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Originally Posted by Sagy
Looks good. I would like to see a place (maybe on the other side of the card) to print the name & AAdvantage # of the FTer as well as the name of the employee (similar to the original S.O.S).
Thanks,
Thanks,
Flipside
May 10, 2004, 3:33 pm
#24
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Cool idea and form, Flipside & Jon. An "e" version might save AA some bucks compared to the old program. I'm all for this, I miss the heck out of giving those out to really good FA's, GA's & CSR's. I'm going to print out Flipside's form and bring it with me tomorrow, I have a 4 segment SEA-DFW-FLL-DFW-SEA on AA...think I'll run it by the troops and see what their reaction is. Does Randy possibly have any issues with the FlyerTalk logo beiong associated with this possible member movement?
I'd love to see a grassroots movement to bring this back, but somehow at a really low cost so AA's beancounters couldn't refuse it! Man, I love positive posts and ideas like this....
I'd love to see a grassroots movement to bring this back, but somehow at a really low cost so AA's beancounters couldn't refuse it! Man, I love positive posts and ideas like this....
May 10, 2004, 3:34 pm
#25
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Originally Posted by flipside
!I like the idea, but I do hope AA will take an official look at bringing back the SOS themselves. I love the idea of the flyertalk.com on there-- it looks great.
May 10, 2004, 3:48 pm
#26
Join Date: Feb 2003
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As an EXP newbie, can someone explain the SOS program?
Like what the pax and the AA agent got in exchange for the SOS Cert?
May 10, 2004, 4:41 pm
#27
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Originally Posted by unitedbusiness
Like what the pax and the AA agent got in exchange for the SOS Cert?
For the employees, my understanding is that they could trade them in for "prizes," such as free travel (must somehow have been different than their usual free travel benefits).
May 10, 2004, 4:57 pm
#28
Join Date: May 2001
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Originally Posted by unitedbusiness
Like what the pax and the AA agent got in exchange for the SOS Cert?
May 10, 2004, 5:05 pm
#29
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Nashvegas
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I never had the benefit of this program, but from what I have read think it was/is a great idea.
I have a vote for storing SOS data on your AA elite card, say 14 for EXPs, 8 for PLTs and 6 for GLDs. With a software tweak you could enter the SOS in the kiosks when you next checked in, or at a terminal with a card reader in the AC while you had nothing better to do. You would get a screen with your last 3-5 flights, a field to check for SOS, then a keyboard for the FAs name and any comments you'd care to make, and the AA processing systems would automatically zing the employee an e-mail and cc the appropriate supervisors. I know it would be more sensible to do it as you left the flight, but those kiosk probably cost too much to dedicate them to that use. Just another option to kick in, although I like the grassroots version too.
I have a vote for storing SOS data on your AA elite card, say 14 for EXPs, 8 for PLTs and 6 for GLDs. With a software tweak you could enter the SOS in the kiosks when you next checked in, or at a terminal with a card reader in the AC while you had nothing better to do. You would get a screen with your last 3-5 flights, a field to check for SOS, then a keyboard for the FAs name and any comments you'd care to make, and the AA processing systems would automatically zing the employee an e-mail and cc the appropriate supervisors. I know it would be more sensible to do it as you left the flight, but those kiosk probably cost too much to dedicate them to that use. Just another option to kick in, although I like the grassroots version too.
May 10, 2004, 5:16 pm
#30
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Originally Posted by eamus
I never had the benefit of this program, but from what I have read think it was/is a great idea.
I have a vote for storing SOS data on your AA elite card, say 14 for EXPs, 8 for PLTs and 6 for GLDs. With a software tweak you could enter the SOS in the kiosks when you next checked in, or at a terminal with a card reader in the AC while you had nothing better to do. You would get a screen with your last 3-5 flights, a field to check for SOS, then a keyboard for the FAs name and any comments you'd care to make, and the AA processing systems would automatically zing the employee an e-mail and cc the appropriate supervisors. I know it would be more sensible to do it as you left the flight, but those kiosk probably cost too much to dedicate them to that use. Just another option to kick in, although I like the grassroots version too.
I have a vote for storing SOS data on your AA elite card, say 14 for EXPs, 8 for PLTs and 6 for GLDs. With a software tweak you could enter the SOS in the kiosks when you next checked in, or at a terminal with a card reader in the AC while you had nothing better to do. You would get a screen with your last 3-5 flights, a field to check for SOS, then a keyboard for the FAs name and any comments you'd care to make, and the AA processing systems would automatically zing the employee an e-mail and cc the appropriate supervisors. I know it would be more sensible to do it as you left the flight, but those kiosk probably cost too much to dedicate them to that use. Just another option to kick in, although I like the grassroots version too.