CLE check-in....welcome outsourced help!
 

What are the current feelings regarding the new farmed out check-in at CLE? Checking in tonight for my flight to MDW I had a ticket issue (i.e., reissued ticket requiring agent help), the new rent a clerks couldn't help, no agents around, etc. The problem really is that there were only 5 agents at the counter, 2 - 3 of them working international leaving 2 to deal with both regular and EA. While I can appreciate the effort to reduce costs, the rented employees can do almost nothing but smile and say "Let me get someone for you sir", "I promise I let them know you are still waiting". There were several others in a similar situation and a whole lot of frustration going around....not a great way to start a trip.

Outsourced help at a hub :eek: I can understand at smaller stations... but if they are doing it at a hub...what's next? Dare I even say it...outsourced called centers in far away lands :eek: :( :eek:

Unfortunately these are outsourced Huntleigh (sp?) employees behind the counter, backed-up by a couple of CO agents who I am guessing spend a fair amount of time scrambling around especially during morning and evening rush...

OLCI is great as long as your ticket does not require "special attention"....

Are you SERIOUS!?
 

Wait... pardon my disbelief, but Continental Airlines has farmed-out its front-line customer service staff in Cleveland? That must be the dumbest move I've ever heard! Don't take my word for it... just look around at the airlines doing well these days... any LCC chief will tell you that customer service is the core of their product. WestJet, JetBlue... even Delta has absorbed some of the SONG features that have earned the airline surprising praise as of late.

That CO would even consider such a move is a disturbing LEAP in a HORRIBLE direction.

How much less expensive can it be for CO to outsource check-in employees? It's not like check-in agents were making $100k a year or whatnot. Is the savings realized by hiring a bunch of $8 an hour people really worth the number of potentially irate customers that can result from incompetent and/or poorly trained outsourced employees? UA's outsourced check-in agents are awful, for example.

:confused:

Again this topic comes up. Perhaps CO Insider will offer some insight as to the details of this decision.

Anyway, why can't FlyerTalker's just check ourselves in? After all, we know what were doing so why can't we just simply walk around the counter, tell the agent (if any) to step aside and then bend Shares to our will. :D

too bad CO INsider is on vacation...

I can't wait until my next trip to Asia when I try to link my CO flights to my EVA flights so that my bags can be checked through. With CO employees it took at least two people to do this. I'm thinking I'll need a whole team of outsourced employees.

Maybe the Asian airlines will out-source to American workers. That'd even things out.

Yes, CO Insider, you've got to level with us on this one... I just cannot comprehend the rationale for this decision. I am sure there was one, but I'm damn curious to hear it!

Nine times out of then the OLCI or Kiosks do just fine... but then there's that one time and everything goes to hell. Plus, since I frequently check bags, even with OLCI I'm stuck behind the one guy who starts an argument with the agent and holds up the entire line for an hour...

I was at CLE this afternoon and asked a few ticket agents about the supposed outsourcing of check-in agents. The 2 I spoke with stated that they are merely "bag handlers" and not check-in agents. They are supposed to be there to help during the peak seasons (summer/holidays) and have limited duties. They also said FSS (the current skycaps' company) is being phased out and Huntleigh is taking over. Can anyone else confirm these?

That makes sense -- many airports (not airlines themselves) around the country have employed (or contracted) additional sets of hands to help facilitate the TSA and airline processes (i.e., lifting bags so TSA screeners can focus on screening...) to pick-up the slack and improve customer service. Wouldn't surprise me if CLE did so in Cleveland... but why were they behind the ticket counter? And, why was the CO desk so short-staffed?

does it matter?
For the most part 90% of people will use the automated kiosk, and if they can use that, all is good. Every time i've flown its a matter of swiping my credit card, and waiting for the baggage ticket. If the person that hands me the claim is wearing a macdos uniform i could really care less. On the other hand if they're the one entering things and ensuring that i get the right seat etc, i'd rather see them employed by the corporate parent instead of a subcontractor.

I agree for the most part especially for us here at FT - we can handle ourselves just fine - unless we (1)need to make a change to our plans or (2)need to make a change to our plans and all the agents are attempting to help civilians (read non-FTers) who travel once a year and are all over the airport this time of year. That's when having outsourced help or too little experienced help at the ticket counter could really hurt.
On the normal day, you print your boarding pass at home, go thru the elite security line, no problem. On the one bad day a month, with a cancelled meeting, no taxis, and a traffic jam on the way to the airport, the last thing you need is to have inferior service once you get to the airport.

can someone provide any more details on thsis arrangement? If it's outsourcees handling my bags after the CO counter rep checks me in, thats one thing. But if its the whole check in process, that's another.