Rant & Rave UX at SFO
 

I doubt that I am the only flyer who is getting really tired of being treated like dirt by many of the UX gate agents at SFO. You can come off a long haul flight and then face the reality of dealing with the UX agents and it can ruin the entire trip. Doing this week after week, and trip after trip, you start to see a real pattern. The afternoon and evening shift agents seem to be the biggest offenders.

Many of the agents seem to be on their first job and are anjoying the authority that a name tag brings. Suddenly, they know more than even the most seasoned traveler and aren't affrait to tell you (normally in a rude) manner how wrong you are.

From being told wrong information, to a total lack of customer service, the UX agents at SFO IMO are the worst in the UA system. The morning shift is better than the afteroon and evening team where as a general rule the agents have their "I don't care" mask on and wear it proudly.

I have written letters to St. George, make remarks on the UALsurvery and even spoken to some supervisors and nothing changes. Living in a city that is a UX city, I am resigned to dealing with this on almost every flight and it is very frustrating.

Agreed. They are pretty bad overall. Unfortunately, this is not unique to SFO station UX agents only.:td:

I don't think it's fair to generalize SFO UX agents as being bad.

Many of us know of at least one agent in particular who is professional, friendly and an asset to FT.

I've never really had bad experiences with SkyWest in general - at least when compared to Mesa...

Completey agree.

And SFO Skywest is soooo much better than LAX.

Interesting. Where/when they are able, I've found the UX agents at SFO to be generally good and helpful.

However, I will certainly admit that a lack of training and coordination is evident whenever they are boarding more than one flight at gate 76, and often when they are just boarding one flight. There seems to be consistently poor coordination from GAs with ramp agents and aircraft crew about when the flight is truly ready to board. Nothing like surprising the FA when you show up at the top of the stairs of an EMB.

Something else to keep in mind: at SFO (and ORD as well, based on what was said in the Q1 conf call), UX flights bear a disproportionately large share of the hold/delay/cancel burden relative to mainline, so the SFO UX agents tend to be placed in disproportionately more difficult CS situations -- i.e. at least mainline agents sometimes have other routing/flight options to offer customers, but there's only one way to get to CIC from SFO on a commercial flight!

Fly about 30-35 UX segments through SFO per year and can't remember a single memorable foul moment there. Crazy gate changes and confusion on the ramp, sure, along with push problems and delays. Even with that, I've always found the SkyWest staff there pretty professional overall, compared to the mainline staff elsewhere in the terminal. In fact, I've chronicled a few stories here on FT where the UX staff at SFO have really saved me a lot of inconvenience and rectified mistakes I've made.

Have I jinxed myself? :D

BTW, we just flew through there today on our way home from Oz and had 3 gate changes due to cleaning crews "scrubbing the a/c parking spots" in the middle of the day :confused: but they still got us into the conga line on time....

Pat

Nope or we both are. I often find them friendly and helpful. I even got one GA once to smile ;)

Sounds like our inbound SYD-SFO crew today. More like a gritting of teeth rather than a smile... ;)

Pat

Welcome to my world!

I have flown many UX segments/flights. Overall, my experience is pleasant. However, I do notice that UX GA or TAs are usually better at the small airports. Perhaps, lower load and camaraderie in working in a small place tends to improve customer services.

and agreed as well

What kind of ill manner or bad experience with UX? My experience is generally ok with them.

One also has to look at the work condition of these UX GAs. Unlike mainline counters that often has 2 GAs, they're often alone. They go from gate to gate, close out one flight and get ready for another. On my MRs I often see travelers bug them with inane questions:

1. What are my chances of being upgraded, my flight is 2 hours from now
2. Do you need VDB? Is the flight overbooked?
3. Is my flight in 3 hours going to be at this gate? Why does it say SFO-MRY
4. My flight arrived late, can you tell me where is my connecting flight?
5. I want to standby for a flight 2 hours from now, my flight is in 4 hours.

UX GAs in my experience has less time to be pleasant than almost anyone, and I've seldom had any luck talking to them. Now agents at UA CS of major hubs, or UA GA working a delayed flight, they tend to be more chatty and friendly.

But I don't necessarily think that's an excuse for being miserable at one's job, day in and day out...