When I started reading, I honestly thought where the hell is he going with all this story telling. Then it finally all made sense and I'm very happy I read it! Your story telling ability is really what makes this post sparkle. A simple paragraph or two wouldn't have done it justice.

Excellent post! I'm glad that the actions of the pilot (or whomever was responsible) was able to turn a sour situation around for you and your fellow plane-mates.

I'm curious (and maybe BoeingBoy Jim can tell us)---

Do the pilots or senior crew in general get any sort of expense account or reimbursement for doing something nice like this?

I really do think some discretionary spending can be leveraged to help smooth things over when they go wrong. Everyone knows flights will be delayed, diverted or cancelled, and it's how the airline employees handle it that make or break the customer's experience. Win a customer with a gesture like this, and they're yours for life. But if the employees are covering the costs themselves, then these will continue to be isolated, exceptional events.

Is there a "slush fund" for these unexpected expenses? If so, who can access it?

If not, maybe the OP would be kind enough to blast his story out to Facebook/Twitter etc and perhaps the powers that be would see that their $200 spent on pizza is winning them thousands in customer goodwill (and free publicity).

Flight crew doesn't have an expense account - they get per diem for their trips and of course hotel rooms are supplied. My guess is that it either came out of the pilot's pocket or from the station budget.

Jim

This is a good example where a small expense can go a long way in terms of goodwill though. Intangible value to the brand, but people remember these sorts of things.

I recently filled out US survey and had only nice things to say.

Don't wanna jinx it, but someone in senior management seems to be doing things right.

One of the interesting things about this is that we diverted to an airport without a US Airways presence, so there was no "station" and certainly no "station budget."

It looked like all the servicing was done by an FBO there in Abilene.

ABI is certainly a routine storm diversion station for AA, so maybe they have a standard procedure or "package option" for anyone else diverting there. Regardless, good to see they handled everything well.

Great story and a fine example of how to be a good passenger... and how to be a good airline. Thanks for writing!

This exactly!
And it's why Jim's answer about no one having power to authorize small purchases (because, face it, $300 of pizza is a tiny tiny expense to a massive business like an airline) makes me sad. It's pretty rare to find an employee who would be willing to cover that expense from his/her own pocket. Probably even rarer to find one willing to fight an internal SOP-machine to get it done. There are some situations where you don't really have a choice but to spend a little money to keep your customers happy. More people with the ability to spend a little money, and the face time with the customers, could translate to a huge publicity win.

There is a segment of the public that will always, always shop by price, and unless you're cheapest, you're not going to win that segment. But you can convert some away from only shopping by price if you handle these bad situations gracefully, and genuinely show your customers that you care. If just 1 passenger on that flight switched from price shopping to being brand loyal, then they've made money on the total deal.

Abilene, Abilene
Prettiest town I ever seen.
Folks down there don't treat you mean
In Abilene, my Abilene.

;)

"Disarm the door, it's Dominos!" Sorry, couldn't resist :)

Great pizza report - wow - just an amazingly surprising story (and sort of depressed that it is such a rare occurrence)

Should know the answer by now, but what's the best method for commending staff for service above and beyond the call? Had an outstanding FA in F the other day and would like to recognize her.

For US Preferred members the best way is an Above & Beyond certificate, but in lieu of that a note on the compliments/complaints form on the US website indicating your flight number, date, and relevant information will let them identify the FA and make sure she gets recognized.

Great story!

If this had been on UA, this thread would be full of people figuring out the compensation for cheese instead of pepperoni. :)