At the risk of turning my blog into a rant against American Airlines, I have to say that the old saw holds true. Firms will succeed by providing customer service that's better than expected, and setting the right expectations from the start.
I've flown enough that my expectations are pretty low, so it's a sad commentary on most major airlines that they can still disappoint. However, given the last few days of air travel on American, I am strongly considering moving to another airline.
Here's my beef this time: no information or poor information about flights, and constant overbooking and the use of small aircraft. First, let's look at the poor information aspect.
I arrived early at O'Hare yesterday to try to catch an earlier flight than I was booked on. All the flight displays showed the flight leaving on time, in approximately 15 minutes. I ran to the gate, where I was told the plane had not left the runway at the airport where the flight originated. Given that the plane takes 40 minutes to fly from its originating airport, and probably 30 minutes to unload and clean, it should have been clear to someone at least an hour earlier that this plane was going to be delayed. Or, use another example. On the same day, the plane making up my flight out of Chicago was delayed. I know that American and the other airlines don't control the air traffic into the airport, but constantly shifting back the departure time of the flight by 15 minutes leaves most of us with no belief in the information we are getting, and increased dissatisfaction.
Better, more timely information would be helpful!
Second, while I was in the airport, at least six planes on my concourse were announced to be overweight, and some passengers would have to agree to take another plane. This is because American and other airlines have moved toward the regional jet model, and these aircraft have very specific weight requirements. So, in many cases the boarding process is held up and people have to volunteer to give up seats, creating more distress in all of the passengers.
Next, while boarding my particular flight (which was overweight and had to seek people to agree to fly later), a family boarded a tiny regional jet with five or six oversized carry ons. These items could not possibly fit into the overhead compartment, yet the family had made it through check in and by the gate attendant with these large bags. In addition, one woman got on the plane with what appeared to be a small branch from a tree that she was using as a walking stick - over five feet long - that did not fit either. Where are the people necessary to check these items as they progress toward the plane? So our boarding process was hampered by the fact that people all along the way did not do their jobs well.
Finally, we were airborn and informed that the lavatory did not work - the second flight in a week that had a malfunctioning lavatory. This must be due to overuse or poor maintenance.
When we landed at our destination, we were one of the last flights coming into the airport, yet there were no gates available for us and we had to disembark by stairs. Yet, it took the ground team almost 15 minutes after we got to the gate to bring stairs to us, and no other plane was disembarking at the time. Is there any communication and effort to get people off the plane in a speedy manner?
These problems denote a consistent set of failures to meet basic expectations. When this happens ocassionally people may complain but don't act. When you constantly fail to live up to even low expectations, you can expect that your consumers will have the motivation to try something else.
American, shape up or a lot of your customers will ship out.
How much more are you willing to pay for your ticket? (Assuming the extra dollars went to resolving these issues.)
Posted by: Fred | August 09, 2007 at 12:27 PM