I have been wondering whether air travel will ever be
pleasant again. After eleven years of
heightened security with a series of increasingly humiliating restrictions—confiscate
your liquids, take off your belt, put your hands over your head, submit to pat
down—I am afraid of what will happen next should there be (G-d forbid) another “event.” Of course there has been little improvement
in the usual and customary variables of travel.
The airlines still lose baggage, overbook, and understaff the ticket
counters. I try to avail myself of all
the new technologies that are designed to streamline travel. Despite advance check-in and barcodes on my
iphone, I still find endless lines at the “bag-drop” while agents insist on
issuing a paper boarding pass.
Today I was pleasantly surprised to board a Jet Blue plane
for the opposite coast only to find that my low expectations were vastly
exceeded. The head flight attendant
greeted us with an extemporaneous outpouring of enthusiasm and welcome. Rather than the expected vapid airline script,
he just spoke to the passengers. He let
us know that there were two other airlines with planes leaving for the same
destination at the same time and that he was glad that we chose his airline. Furthermore, he indicated that it was his
personal goal that the 150 passengers on this flight would never choose to fly
those other guys.
How did he expect to earn our loyalty? With fabulous service and an array of
amenities. He described the entertainment
system, including the wide range of movies and TV shows. He indicated that most of the food items on
board were free, and that we were entitled to as much and as many of the choices
as we pleased. To facilitate this they
would serve us in the early hour of the flight, and then he would set up bar
carts at either end so that we could simply help ourselves. He made these announcements while making
strong eye contact with passengers throughout the cabin.
As the flight attendants passed through the cabin to ensure
that personal items were properly stowed, they were pleasant and personable,
carrying on conversations that brought passengers together in a convivial
way. It was infectious. Late boarding passengers were polite,
apologizing when they required an aisle passenger to stand to allow them to
squeeze into an interior seat. My
neighboring passengers, as well as those in the rows ahead and behind me, were all
exchanging pleasantries as they helped one another to stow items safely and
comfortably.
I contrast this with other flights I have taken lately. I am a Million Miler on Delta, which tells
you something about my allegiance to that airline—particularly in their
non-unionized, pre-9/11 glory days. But
my last Delta flight horrified me. They
have replaced the human touch with video deliveries of all pertinent
information, allowing the flight attendants to busy themselves with paperwork
and other administrivia in the cabin.
The passengers all but ignored the video, which starred a sad looking
botox-and-collagen-injected creature of indeterminate age.
Maybe I am just slightly elated because the serendipity of strong
tail winds has our flight arriving a full hour early. Maybe the inconvenience of air travel has hit
such a low that any ray of sunshine seems like a meteor shower. Or maybe we are so starved for real customer
service these days that any effort to make a human connection is a salve to the
spirit. All I know is that it feels good
to be treated like a valued customer. The
next time I need to go somewhere I will start with Jet Blue. And if they don’t go where I am heading,
perhaps I will consider a different destination.
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