Some thoughts on service
 

I've been hanging around the United forum for some time now, and one of the recurring themes is onboard service. Many of these threads are negative, but a good number of them are praise. One thing that caught my eye in a recent trip report by alliance was the p.s. purser who really seemed to "get" the little things after spending some time flying other carriers.

Extrapolate that p.s. F experience to the average United flight, whether it's the TED A320 from DEN-LAS, a mainline SFO-SEA hop, or a UX feeder flight from CHO-IAD. The question at hand: Can United's FAs consistently provide good service regardless of the resources the company gives them?

I say, "Yes!" Good service can be provided whether the airline is catering USDA Prime filets mignon and Dom, or the service is a humble cup of water and some soy nuts. It's all about the attitude of the service providers (FAs).

I withdrew $20 in quarters (laundry day!) from the bank today, and got fantastic service from the teller. Did she give me $5 extra? No. Did she polish the coins before giving them to me? No. What she did was smile several times during the transaction, have a courteous and friendly demeanor, and do her work efficiently without carrying on conversations with her co-workers. Meanwhile, I asked her a question about a specific bank product which she didn't know the answer to; she very promptly went and asked a co-worker, and then relayed the answer to me. It was a totally enjoyable transaction and guarantees I will continue to return to that branch.

My conclusion: There's no excuse for poor service. The product (or lack thereof) should not affect the FA's attitude.

Anyone here think that United's management (lower, middle, and upper) have any clue on how to implement this customer-centric model?

There is a downside of consistency...

You get those scripted responses... such as those by the ICC.

Those are the epitome of consistency. :td:

You need consistent service, while maintaining the knowledge that each situation is different and warrants service customized/tailored to that situation.

It's true that most ICC agents give consistently poor service. If those agents gave consistently good service, nobody would be complaining.

Now why would anyone think of the ICC when the word consistent service is the topic is beyond me :D :D :D

The problem is the people. One thing that UA could learn from WN is to hire friendly people for customer service. You can't teach people to be friendly; they just are. You can train friendly people to do any job, but you can't train experts in their fields to be friendly.

I disagree with you to some extent. Many of the bad FAs were friendly at one point. No reason they can't be reinvigorated by a fresh attitude from management.

As I ride mostly in goat class I think I have quite a different view than most here. I have been treated very well every time I've been in the front of a UA plane, but "Customer concentric" is not a term I'd often use in the same sentence with UA service in the back. Nope, the perception from the back of the bus is that it's all about getting what's required done then getting to the galley for magazine reading.

Slightly OT, and one thing that I find a bit surprising is that other than a single op-up IAD-LGA, I have never been treated any differently on a UA plane than before I had any status (I realize I don't have much status, but 1P is a bit above GM). I've never been thanked as others report here. I've never been offered a second bag of whatever that crap in tiny bags is. I've never been offered a free drink. I've never been asked if I wanted a pillow or a blanket (yuck!). Not that any of these things are expected, let me make it clear - they are not, but in some 3 years and 100+ segments I would have thought that status would have at least garnered an extra smile.

That said, I have had a couple of nice experiences with ground staff that I did supply GTEMs for.

As much as I like the idea, let's be realistic here. First of all, pilots and FA's have very little incentive to provide decent service thanks to the union. UA can only taken any type of action in very rare circumstances, so that gives a lot of employees the "I don't give a crap attitude." Some employees love to provide good service, even if it does not mean a greater reward- they are just great people. On the other hand, with the pay cuts and all you have the employees that are disgruntled and honestly could not care less. In a company as large as United it is difficult for them to weed out all the bad ones, unfortunately. It really is sad when such pathetic service as we read about here sometimes happens in a customer service position.

A difference here is that the bank has never given you the impression that they will give you $5 for every $20 you withdraw, or will polish the quarters they give out.
One of the many problems of the majors is that they promise things they can't deliver. The marketing programs want you to think that flying is a joyous, flawless experience. Dedicated check-in lines for you, the elite member! (oh, and the other 500,000 other elite members, who you will share those check-in lines with. Generous upgrade possiblities for you, the elite member! (oh, and you'll be competing with the other 50 elite members on your flight for those 8 seats). Priority standby for you! (again, competing with the other elites).

I know that most F/A's want to give everybody good service. That's probably one of the reasons they sought the job. But when they (or other front-line employees) can't deliver the promised flawless travel experience due to the airline no longer offering certain amenities because of cutback or due to uncontrollable weater/ATC delays, those front-line employees are the first ones to hear the compliants. After hearing those complaints for years, I can understand why some employees may feel beat up when they go to work.

Not that it's a very good excuse, but Southwest makes very few promises, but they are promises that are realistic....cheap fares, frequent flights. No promise of open seats next to you, no upgrade possibilities, etc.

True, but people go through changes in attitude as they age. When I was young, my Grandpa had a hilarious sense of humor. He could tell a joke like a pro. Now he's 83, having mobility problems, and is just mad at the world. I don't think it's humanly possibly to get his "old personality" back, and in UA's case, I don't think it's management's job to try and pull a 180 on some of their employees' attitudes. You either work for your employer and be on their "side," or you find employment elsewhere.

You said it yourself: it's absolutely management's job to change their employees' attitudes! If the employees won't shape up with the proper motivation, then they should be transferred to a different area (where they are not customer-facing), or they should be shown the door.

You're a much nicer guy/girl than me. ;)

If somebody is "built" with a bad attitude, I would not waste my time trying to change it. Attitudes are attitudes and without some sort of psychiatry expertise, it's almost impossible to effect a change. I'd skip your suggestion of "transferring to a different area" and lead them right to the door. But that's just me.

I'm not being a nice guy, just observing the realities of an entrenched bureaucracy like United's. It would be easier to remove the bad apples from the FA corps through internal transfers than job termination, since the former requires jumping through countless union hoops. Of course, I'm sure the union would find a way to gripe about that, too.

Another solution: an adaptation of the GE way. Conduct an intensive performance review of every single FA out there based on 8-10 metrics. Offer a "golden handshake" to the bottom 20%. It will not be a job termination, but rather, an offer so good they cannot refuse. :) In their place, hire only the best. After a year or so, rinse and repeat. It's an ethical, legal way to weed out the worst performers.

The above will never be implemented, but it's fun to fantasize about a well-run legacy carrier.

Its funny you say that, I watch one episode of Airline (OK I watched it a few times, its entertaining :p ) where two royally obnoxious women went postal on a GA because they were bumped from a flight as NRSA, funny thing was they were returning from an INTERVIEW for positions as WN FAs, the airport supervisor came over explained how NRSA travel worked (essentially the SPACE AVAILABLE part) and they got mad at her too, cut to 5 mins later same supervisor "yeah well they pretty much just ruined any chance of working for WN, we only hire nice, friendly people, we know we cant make them so after hiring them"

I think you are giving the union WAY too much credit on this one. AFA is pretty useless.