Monday, March 19, 2007
Sorry 'Bout It
By Mauricio Grijalva
The last time I was on a flight, it was August of 2003. I was getting ready to board a flight to Mexico at 1:45 in the morning. My eyes were bleary and I was grouchy from having to get up so early just so that I could fly the friendly skies with 100 other strangers, their destinations unknown. Seven hours later, I had touched down on Mexican soil, safe and sound. My flying experience can be summed up in a few words: dull, uneventful, and practical. For all the times I have been on a flight and gone to another part of the world, nothing has gone wrong on the plane, the plane wasn’t delayed, nor was the plane in any danger of being blown up.
Unfortunately, from talking to friends and reading the news, it seems my experience with flying is a rare one, since most people flying nowadays experience delays, becoming stranded at a strange and sterile airport, or experience worse while in flight. Just a few months ago, on December 29, 4,600 airline passengers flying American Airlines were stranded, making for an unwelcomed New Years. Then, on February 14 of this year, passengers flying JetBlue on the East Coast were stuck at their respective airports, wondering when they were going to get to fly into the air.
Mind you, in both those cases, the airlines couldn’t help that weather wasn’t being kind to them. Despite that, after the JetBlue incident, the airline announced the creation of a Passenger Bill of Rights, explaining that passengers will get more help from the airline should another storm keep them stranded at another airport in the future. Southwest, on the other hand, prefers a different approach.
In a New York Times article named “Airlines Learn to Fly on a Wing and an Apology,” writer Jeff Bailey describes how Fred Taylor Jr., Senior Manager of Proactive Customer Communications, has the job of formally apologizing to Southwest passengers in case they are delayed or wronged in any way.
In the article, Bailey explains that on average, he writes 180 letters a year, and with an average of 110 passengers a flight, he mails almost 20,000 letters of apology a year. He apologizes for things from weather delays, to mechanical failures, to passenger errors. “During the return, a customer became ill and apparently ‘decorated’ three rows of seats — and perhaps a few customers,” he said in the article.
Reading about Mr. Bailey, it brightened up my day. Everyday. I deal with good or bad services provided to me by corporations, from my MP3 player, to my computer, to the ride home I take everyday. When I read what Bailey does, it made me feel better about this world we live in. I deal with the malfunctions of people and corporations everyday, and yet I receive no apologies for it. My MP3 player won’t work because of a production glitch? Too bad. My cell phone isn’t getting a signal? Oh well. My train is delayed more than 15 minutes? Wait some more. In no case is someone there saying, “Sorry, we feel your situation,” so when I read what Southwest does, I smiled. Yes, it’s Mr. Bailey’s job to apologize, but it shows me that Southwest, possibly one of the country’s most popular low-cost airlines, knows the importance of getting in touch with customers, and relaying their deepest regrets that their flight didn’t happen or somehow went wrong. It would be nice if someone said sorry to me for some of the things that went in wrong in my life that weren’t my fault. Glad to see Southwest is at least apologizing for its errors.
By the way, if you didn’t like my blog, Sorry.
The last time I was on a flight, it was August of 2003. I was getting ready to board a flight to Mexico at 1:45 in the morning. My eyes were bleary and I was grouchy from having to get up so early just so that I could fly the friendly skies with 100 other strangers, their destinations unknown. Seven hours later, I had touched down on Mexican soil, safe and sound. My flying experience can be summed up in a few words: dull, uneventful, and practical. For all the times I have been on a flight and gone to another part of the world, nothing has gone wrong on the plane, the plane wasn’t delayed, nor was the plane in any danger of being blown up.
Unfortunately, from talking to friends and reading the news, it seems my experience with flying is a rare one, since most people flying nowadays experience delays, becoming stranded at a strange and sterile airport, or experience worse while in flight. Just a few months ago, on December 29, 4,600 airline passengers flying American Airlines were stranded, making for an unwelcomed New Years. Then, on February 14 of this year, passengers flying JetBlue on the East Coast were stuck at their respective airports, wondering when they were going to get to fly into the air.
Mind you, in both those cases, the airlines couldn’t help that weather wasn’t being kind to them. Despite that, after the JetBlue incident, the airline announced the creation of a Passenger Bill of Rights, explaining that passengers will get more help from the airline should another storm keep them stranded at another airport in the future. Southwest, on the other hand, prefers a different approach.
In a New York Times article named “Airlines Learn to Fly on a Wing and an Apology,” writer Jeff Bailey describes how Fred Taylor Jr., Senior Manager of Proactive Customer Communications, has the job of formally apologizing to Southwest passengers in case they are delayed or wronged in any way.
In the article, Bailey explains that on average, he writes 180 letters a year, and with an average of 110 passengers a flight, he mails almost 20,000 letters of apology a year. He apologizes for things from weather delays, to mechanical failures, to passenger errors. “During the return, a customer became ill and apparently ‘decorated’ three rows of seats — and perhaps a few customers,” he said in the article.
Reading about Mr. Bailey, it brightened up my day. Everyday. I deal with good or bad services provided to me by corporations, from my MP3 player, to my computer, to the ride home I take everyday. When I read what Bailey does, it made me feel better about this world we live in. I deal with the malfunctions of people and corporations everyday, and yet I receive no apologies for it. My MP3 player won’t work because of a production glitch? Too bad. My cell phone isn’t getting a signal? Oh well. My train is delayed more than 15 minutes? Wait some more. In no case is someone there saying, “Sorry, we feel your situation,” so when I read what Southwest does, I smiled. Yes, it’s Mr. Bailey’s job to apologize, but it shows me that Southwest, possibly one of the country’s most popular low-cost airlines, knows the importance of getting in touch with customers, and relaying their deepest regrets that their flight didn’t happen or somehow went wrong. It would be nice if someone said sorry to me for some of the things that went in wrong in my life that weren’t my fault. Glad to see Southwest is at least apologizing for its errors.
By the way, if you didn’t like my blog, Sorry.
# posted by [X]press Staff @ 12:22 PM 