entilzhaFT

I only saw from Top Ten onwards and no Captain Flanagan.

TradingFiend

Oh, was that KABC at fault? I thought it was Time Warner Cable, as they regularly mess up the KABC signal. I tried turning on the closed caption feature, but wasn't able to do it before the correct sound came back on. Ugh!

TonySCV

It was TWC... I have DirecTV and the ABC7 LA feed went right on uninterrupted.

SkiAdcock

I had heard about him being on The Today Show so I taped it on dvr & watched it last night. He was great. Jeanne Wolf who was doing the piece came across as an airhead. Thanks for posting the links to the other coverage; will watch those in a few minutes. Cheers.

vsevolod4

I'm lucky enough to have two Flanagan and one McFadden card. Wonder how many pilots make a complete set. Wouldn't be surprised to see these showing up on eBay :-)

It's nice to see these guys get some credit and recognition. However, the cynical side of me thinks hmm ... Wall Street Journal, Good Morning America, this is beginning to smell like something being concocted by UA's PR department ...

Also, wonder how long it is going to take before the pilot's union and/or United management quashes these guys going "above and beyond" the rules. These are two organizations that are not exactly supportive of independent thinking, customer service or going the extra mile.

FLYINBELLS

Also, wonder how long it is going to take before the pilot's union and/or United management quashes these guys going "above and beyond" the rules. These are two organizations that are not exactly supportive of independent thinking, customer service or going the extra mile.[/QUOTE]


I can't speak for management, but this is a HIGHLY offensive statement to members of any union. Yes, there still may be some dinosaurs out there, but by and large most union leaders and rank and filers know that if they don't give their best effort every day, the union movement is DOA instead of on life support currently. If you enjoy overtime premiums, weekends off, paid time off, vacation time, a pension or retirement plan, sick time, family or medical leave, etc, etc, etc, you can thank the unions.

Rant over.

lucky9876coins

LOL!

That explains why SQ has awful service and UA is ranked number one in customer service.

Sorry, but what are you talking about? United consistently ranks last in customer service and you're saying it's the unions that cause people to "give their best effort." Sorry, but that's just funny! If that's offensive to the union then I have no problem offending them.

FLYINBELLS

Are you saying SQ has no unions? I found 2 on a google search.

Did you not see my statement that there are "dinosaur" unions still in existence?

Where did I say unions CAUSE people to give their best effort?

To further clarify, any enlightened labor union knows that its' members must go "above and beyond" on a regular basis to merely survive, and give extraordinary service by a majority of its' members to have any hope of expanding. If this type of effort is not made, it will CAUSE the union to whither away.

Any union would be overjoyed to have members like Capt. Flanagan.

lucky9876coins

Over the weekend many of us had the pleasure of hanging out with Captain Flanagan, and all I can say is that anything I’ve heard so far doesn’t do him justice. This man simply has an incredible love for his company, his industry, his guests, and just the world. He joined us for the maintenance tour first, where he was giving out and signing “Age of Flight” books for probably an hour, addressed individually to each person. He is the most humble, yet at the same time most amazing and outstanding person I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.

Captain Flangan joined us back at the hotel for a bit, and some FlyerTalkers actually showed him the thread about him on FlyerTalk, since he hadn’t seen it before. That was pretty cool!^ A picture of that will be posted shortly.

He then agreed to join us for dinner at Thirsty Bear on Friday, where we really just wanted him to be our guest and relax so we could thank him…. not Captain Flanagan though. He was busy signing copies of “Age of Flight” books most of the night, and was handing out the full set of United trading cards to anyone who wanted them. Not only that but he still found time to mingle with everyone and make them feel like his guest.

This guy is simply amazing, and I can only hope that I see him again real soon!^

iluv2fly

lucky pretty much sums up the comments that I have (and I am sure everyone else who met Capt. Flanagan this weekend would have) about this outstanding person. He is indeed larger than life. The personification of United Airlines. Whatever you have heard. read or seen about him doesn't even beigin to come close. He truly is one of a kind - larger than life.

We were honored to have him join us.

davidsfo

I was fortunate enough to be at the table with Capt. Flanagan for dinner at the TB on Friday. We had a great conversation about aviation and his passion for not only flying, but making sure that everyone on his plane feels welcome and comfortable. If even a small number of his colleagues in the cockpit and, in particular, the cabin, approached their job like he does, people would be falling all over themselves to fly United.

cepheid

Indeed he is, although by his own words, he's trying to make sure that he doesn't remain one of a kind. Near the end of the night at Thirsty Bear, Capt. Flanagan disentangled himself from the dinner table where some FTers had been holding him captive ( ) and came over to "share himself" with our small group (iluv2fly, SeeYa, myself, and 2 other FTers whom I regrettably forget - apologies to you!).

We asked some smalltalk questions for a while (see below), and after an interesting progression of topics he mentioned that whenever he flies in the Examiner's seat (see below for an explanation if you don't know what this is), he tries to subtly spread his philosophy of customer service to the FAs and the other pilots, whether they're working for UA or some other airline. More on this below.

During our conversation, Capt. Flanagan shared the following with us:

• He has been with UA for 21.5 years (22 years in May).
• He is rated to fly the 757 and 767. The two cockpits are apparently identical; in his words, the 757 "handles like a sportscar," while the 767 "handles like a Cadillac" - it rides incredibly smoothly.
• He is domiciled out of Chicago, and his work schedule is generally 4 days on, 2 days off - that's a lot of time away from home!
• He pilots mostly domestically, although he can pilot to Europe and other 767 destinations.
• He doesn't read FlyerTalk (yet! )... although he has a computer at home, he's also got teenagers at home, so in reality, he never sees the computer. Pointing to his head, he said, "This is my computer," then pulled out a pen and finished, "and this is my printer."
• When commuting, he often deadheads on other airlines, not just UA. A seat in the back costs money, apparently, but the FAA allows pilots to deadhead in the cockpit, in the so-called "Examiner's Seat" (named such because it is used by the FAA examiner when required). When in the cockpit, he must remain vigilant even when deadheading... he can't just read a magazine or go to sleep.
• When he's deadheading in the cockpit, especially for other airlines, he tries to subtly spread his philosophy. When the purser comes to greet him in the cockpit, for example, he asks if there are any UMs on board, and if so, he asks for the list so he can call their parents and let them know their children are safely aboard. The FA and the pilots will often say that this is a wonderful idea and they've never seen such a thing before... opening the door to a conversation between Capt. Flanagan and the pilots about how to serve as a role model for customer service. He mentioned another example that he'd mentioned on his TV interviews: using a camera phone to take photos of cargo animals and showing them to their owners so that they know their pets are safe and sound.
• He mentioned that he also corresponds with these "born-again" (my words ) pilots by email to continue to discuss customer service ideas and issues.
• He is very aware that pilots aren't there just to haul people around, but are an integral part of the customer-facing team and that even small, easy touches by the pilots can make a significant difference in the passenger's experience before, during, and even after a flight. A lot of these little niceties are just that - little - and yet they can turn a bad flight into a good one. Capt. Flanagan said that every passenger deserves to get where they're going in a safe and enjoyable manner; he knows that they're not just passengers, they're people, and he clearly wants every pilot to share this outlook.

Through our conversation, it was apparent that Capt. Flanagan doesn't just think of this behavior as part of his job... he lives and breathes this philosophy of kindness, generosity, and respect. It was incredibly refreshing to spend time with a person who embodies the very meaning of service.

And iluv2fly's statement, coming from him, is very high praise. I think he was a bit skeptical of all the "hype" before he met Capt. Flanagan, but after our conversation, I could see that he was genuinely impressed and saw that it wasn't hype... it was just the way Capt. Flanagan lives his life.

Mega-kudos to Capt. Denny, and I hope his philosophy spreads far and wide.

(To the other FTers who were there, feel free to add to any interesting information... and let me know if any of the above details should be edited, in case I've said too much. )

boxo

Didn't attend the Do, but reading the threads I wondered who this guy was. Thanks all. Enjoyed the video clips. I'll be on the lookout for Captain Denny.

PS - I met NW's version last month.

FlyinHawaiian

After the Q+A session, we were broken into three color-coded groups. Capt. Denny happened to be near me and was asking one of the UA organizers which group he was in; using my Padawan skills, I employeed the Jedi Mind Trick and said "you are in the blue group" (what a coincidence; I was in the blue group as well!).

It was a small thing, but I noticed several line workers approach Capt. Denny during the tour and intruduce themselves and he was just as generous with his time and his appreciation for what they did to contribute to the company. He also walked into work areas and intruduced himself to the employees there to thank them as well.

Capt. Denny seemed genuinely interested in FlyerTalk and was in awe with the size and scope of what I described to him; the size of the community, the popularity of the UA Forum, and the thread dedicated to him. I explained to him that if there was a way to know a flight he was going to be flying in advance, I predicted it would be full of FTers who would travel on that flight for no other reason than to fly with him.

mlasser

Denny Flanagan is an amazing employee, but he is certainly not the personification of the airline. Not to be too much of a wordsmith, but that would mean he embodies the character of the company, which I think most FTers would agree, he does not. If in fact he did personify United, there would be unequivocal accodales and rows of Freddies adorning someone's office. Maybe at some point he will be acknowledged by the airline.

When I asked other UA pilots about him, after the WSJ article came out, they grumbled, often refering to how he acts against company policy. They especially felt he'd be in trouble for raffling off the wine inventory. I think the airline should be making him the figurehead of customer service, but to say he is representative of the majority of employees certainly runs counter to many of our experiences.