I'm writing this post from my apartment in DC, instead of sight-seeing in Madrid as I should be at this moment. Weather-related travel delays made me miss my USAirways flight to Madrid. I vented about my disappointment in a thread on the US Airways forum.

Anyway, time for some philsophical musings. Sometimes I wonder if the airlines realize what the value of good customer relations (especially these days, in the face of cutbacks in other services) truly means. Recently I've been shifting my airline travel to USAirways from Delta, because I've been frustrated at the product from Delta (specifically, my inability to get upgrades). USAirways has a much nicer upgrade policy for the type of flyer I am.

But it's my interactions with USAirways, both in person and online, that might drive me back to Delta even in the face of what (to me at least) is a 'poorer product'. When I think of USAirways I think of the delayed flights I've had with no status given, the web site that never reflects changes to my itineraries, phone agents who give me flat out wrong information on the phone, and yesterday's mini-fiasco at DCA.

(Quick summary: travel delays made every international traveler from DCA miss their connection, and US's handling of it involved a confusing lack of information and later relegating all affected travelers to a line where the one lone gate agent helping us walked off after helping only one customer. We had to flag down someone 10 minutes later to come help rebook us. Their phone agents didn't even see in the system that our flights were delayed when I tried to get one of them to rebook me.)

When I think of Delta, well, I'm sure I've had a flub or two, but they don't stand out as much. I remember the phone agent working for hours to get me award travel to Europe over the summer peak season. I remember getting reaccommodated on another airline the one time I had a significant travel delay (also weather-related). I remember the information boards they're putting in that are, actually, informative, and their web site where you really can see everything about your account and itineraries in real time.

So do airlines truly realize the importance of good customer relations? To US's credit, their agents have all been friendly, and attempted to be helpful. It's just that they either flat out had the wrong information (i.e., telling me a fare was ineligible to upgrade when it really was) or had no idea how to control the situation (like in DCA last night). But friendly and helpful and wrong, or friendly and helpful but completely overwhelmed so that customers are ignored and uninformed, just doesn't cut it.

And further complicating this is the fact that customer service really is related to one person's dealings with the airlines. I'm sure that there are people who have had wonderful experiences with US, and miserable experiences with Delta. Some of it is just luck on who you interact with and the situations you're in. I've vowed not to fly National Airlines again (despite having a $200 voucher from them, since expired) because their ability to keep customers updated in the face of delays was absolutely miserable in the one flight I flew on them. Is it fair to condemn them on the basis of one flight? Probably not, but you know what they say about first impressions.

So that's my philosophical wonderings and quasi-vent. Come next year I'll need to decide who to put my airline business: USAirways or Delta. The upgrade potentials on USAirways are very tempting (I upgraded a $330 international flight -- there's no way on god's green earth you can do that on Delta), but for me, I'm missing the sense of consistent service that I at least experienced at Delta.

[Edited since I can't type.]

[This message has been edited by ebell (edited 11-30-2001).]

It is a vicious catch 22 cycle.

Companies do not spend $ to properly train customer service personnel. Most customers do not expect good customer service (they want it, but they do not expect it), so as a result most customer service departments don't need to do a good job, just enough.
Then more $ is cut from customer service.
etc. etc.

Too many decisions are being made by bean counters.

Advice/input should be provided by bean counters but not be the end all to the decision making process.

Its nice to co-miserate. Isn't it?
Well I sometimes think that the passenger on United is considered as the this airlines' enemy. Further, I some times think that most of the employees/owners of United show up to work at United to use the passengers as an outlet for their personal bitterness.

I am completing my 3rd year as 1-K on United. Going into the fourth year. Six weeks ago my wife had emergency surgery. I had to stay with her two days. I called the "friendly skies" and asked to re-book my return leg by 2 days. "You have to pay $100 fee on that change." It didn't matter if I am an accidental traveler or 1K. It doesn't matter that the occupancy rate is always below 90% and the seats are there. After begging for compassion the fee was waived. In other words - first make the passenger beg, on his knees, then throw him the bone.
have a fun trip road warriors.