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View Full Version : Airline Staff – Going The Extra Mile


TightSlot
12th May 2004, 09:14
This thread exists to enable customers to thank and recognise any Airline Employees who may have gone beyond the normal level of service that you expect, either on a one-off or a consistent basis. If somebody has done something for you that you feel should be recognised, then please tell others about it here.

Most, if not all Airline staff are regularly assessed by their managers, and part of that process involves feedback from customers, so please (whenever possible) feel free to copy your comments to the customer relations department of the Airline involved.

Over to you, and thanks…

P.S. - Please could you take a moment to "rate" this topic when posting, in order to provide a "quick & dirty" method of measuring how useful you feel it to be.

BahrainLad
12th May 2004, 17:47
Excellent idea.

Please extend my thanks (already posted on the CC forum) to the CSD and his colleagues on BA28 HKG-LHR 19 APR who generously allowed me to occupy a jumpseat for the duration.

God know's how long I'd have been stuck in the Fragrant Harbour otherwise!

Globaliser
12th May 2004, 18:52
BA (T4) failed to load my bag onto a bog-standard straightforward single sector LHR-OSL. But by the time I arrived there, it had been found at LHR and re-tagged onto the next flight. The only problem was that that wouldn't arrive until 1610, and I was on a cruise ship leaving at 1700. The new OSL is now a looooong way away from the centre of the city.

Servisair were BA's handling agents at OSL. They listened to my plight, and promised to do what they could. And rather than just giving up because of the tight timing, they tried. In the end, they only just "missed the boat" by a matter of minutes - and at least the bag was then in the city centre in time for it to be brought out to my ship on the pilot boat.

I wasn't looking forward to three days' worth of cruise without any of my own clothes, and it was a very pleasant surprise to find that between them Servisair and the cruise line had sorted out the problem after all.

B Sousa
13th May 2004, 19:48
Virgin Staff at LAX saved my day recently when I found out that my Zippo lighters which I take to Africa every year are now Hazardous. (Only became hazardous after the desert dwellers made 9/11 a day in History.)
They stored them for me untill a friend could get to the airport and claim them. This was way above the call of duty and save me a few hundred $$$

batninth
20th May 2004, 12:30
A couple of years ago, but worthy of mention is Virgin Airline staff out in Orlando.

Went over for a "holiday of a lifetime" but had to cut short & fly home immediately because of death of a parent. Called Virgin and got flights rearranged - we have allergies in the family so not as easy and they promised to "do what they could" and we were split over two flights.

Arrived at Orlando Airport and joined queue only to have the supervisor come over and ask if we were the family travelling etc. Took us away to one side and quietly and efficiently had everything processed on our behalf including getting us all moved onto one flight, all meals sorted out etc Kindness personified with just the right words for my wife.

Same on board the aircraft despite a busy flight.

It was the freely given time despite everything else going on that was the "extra mile" and I remain grateful to this day.

rsoman
24th May 2004, 04:59
A special thanks to the gentleman who was in charge of economy class on QR 240 DOH TRV on 14 September last year.
For your exceptional service mentality and cheerfulness (not an easy thing I know for a 0100 dep on a "horror"-atleast to some - sector!. Well done Sir - your service on that flight made the nine hour wait at LHR T3 among the shambles of the construction work as also the further six hour transit at DOH worth it and has now made QR my first choice airline (the chicken biriyani for dinner at the DOH aiport restaurant also helped - after an year of alternating between roast beef/roast lamb and roast turkey!)

Needless to say despite all these tribulations the excellent service by QR throughout helped retain my sanity when after finally reaching TRV, Indian customs kept insisting that my 20 quid Sony Clock radio looked like the latest version of the most advanced digital movie camera ever built !

Cheers

Guern
8th Jun 2004, 18:53
A few years ago my wife ended up with her leg in plaster two days before my brother's wedding in the New Forest. Doc said ok to fly. Very nice Servisair man arranged wheelchair and when Mrs Guern got to foot of steps of aircraft and found it too difficult to get up them because of weight & size of cast she was upset.

The Servisair member of staff (not being rude but an older gent) said "no problem madam can't have you missing the wedding!" and proceeded to pick her up and carry her up steps. He also made sure that there was someone at the other end to carry her down the steps and stayed with us right to the hire car.

We made a point of writing to them on our return to thank him for his assistance and his colleague in Southampton. Hopefully it was passed on.

Certainly made our day.

pcgavaghan
9th Jun 2004, 21:15
Aer Lingus FAO-DUB 26th April 2004, CC were highley efficient and very friendly especially with the yougnest member of our family (4 years old so a handfull at the best of times).

an-124
14th Jun 2004, 10:12
I had an incident on Garuda in Sep 98 when (during a quiet moment on a long haul flight) a very good looking stewardess came and sat next to me for a chat. We spoke for about an hour and at the end of the hour she gave me a blank postcard that she said she would mail for me when she got back to Denpasar. This was great for me, as I had forgotten to send any when I was there.
So I wrote out the card to my mother and gave it to the stewardess. What great service!!!!!

Only thing was - mum never got the postcard. I have this vision of the stewardess's bedroom wall covered in Garuda passengers' post-cards to their mothers....

Animalclub
27th Jun 2004, 03:25
The response on this thread is, to say the least, disturbing.

Since May 12 there has been just 8 messages. Is this because no one goes that extra mile or that no one bothers to pay compliments any more?

I've been in the airline industry for over 40 years and I used to see my staff do that little extra to please a customer (both at the airport and city ticket office) or indeed to get more business. I've driven a 10 hour round trip with a passenger delayed on our flight - thus missing her connection to her destination - to maintain an urgent appointment. It was a weekend and there was no other way than by taxi... and with the state and cost of taxis nowadays???

I'm not saying that we all should go to this extreme... but I didn't want to blow my budget by too much.

My staff files contained many letters of praise... and my revenue climbed with the number of letters.

Is it that old adage... the boss looks after the staff who then look after the business?

shabda
13th Jul 2004, 10:27
I'd like to extend this to non-airline staff, for example the staff of Bahrain Airport Services (BAS), who do the checkins at BAH. In 13 years working in Bahrain I've never come across such a polite, well-mannered, efficient and downright friendly bunch of people - without exception.

As an example, checking in for GF148 BAHSIN on 28 June, my wife and I thought we were early (arrived 2 hours before scheduled departure), only to find that the flight was overbooked and that there were no seats left - flight full of transit passengers, hence already checked in. No fuss, no drama - just a reassuring smile, a discreet check with the supervisor and before we knew it we were upgraded to J.

It's not the upgrade which makes me say this - it's the the way that the service is consistently exceptional - and has been for years.

Well done BAS.

eal401
20th Jul 2004, 09:46
A lovely lady by the name of Angela (I think) at LHR, working for BA. After our inbound flight arrived very late, she battled to get us on the next available flight and succeeded. Then, after walking away from the desk, she chased after us having noticed I'm quite tall, and asked if I wanted a seat with extra room. After a hassled inbound flight, that little touch cheered me up no end. :ok:

Evening Star
21st Jul 2004, 11:40
Thanks to a couple of BA captain's on Monday 19 July for two what were very minor things that made a tremendous difference.

First was captain of the flight to form BA873 while arriving at DME. Was with my 5 year old stepdaughter watching, from the lounge, the arrival. Encouraged her to wave at the flight crew and the captain waved back. She immediately ran to tell her mama that the captain waved and she talked excitedly about it the whole flight. Minor thing maybe, but it made her day, so thank you.

Second was captain on delayed BA1338 for a really good PA announcement concerning the delay. Good natured approach with information pitched at a good level. Went a long way to remove the irritation of a delay after, at that point, 19 hours travelling.

Irish Steve
25th Jul 2004, 02:26
The response on this thread is, to say the least, disturbing.

Problem is, with the way the industry has gone in some parts of the world, if an individual does go out of their way to help out, it can result in serious hassle.

I got fired recently for doing exactly that, for details see the "headset gone astray" thread in Questions.

Also, yes you are right, there is also a problem that people don't recognise good service any more, and when they do get it, it's not always recognised as such

Not sure that there's anything that can be done, given that unfotunately, there are too many managers that don't see things the way you seem to. Too often, someone that does go the extra mile only gets abuse, so the attitude then becomes something alog the line of "up ...." Pity, life was so much easier when it was possible to get recognised for doing a good job.

Earthmover
29th Jul 2004, 00:08
Well, it can do a bit of good to write a note to the airline occasionally. Some years ago, as I was approaching a major UK airport in fog, a major part of the approach lighting failed. This precluded a landing and I was compelled to divert to another airport (about 40 miles away.) We were advised that the problem was soon going to be fixed so we waited, with the passengers on board. Being a communicative type, I relayed every bit of information I received about how matters were progressing, over the PA system, to the passengers. We departed and got to the original destination after about an hour on the ground.

A week or so later I was passed a copy of a letter from a passenger to the airline demanding compensation for the disastrous loss of business he suffered as a result of missing his meeting. In this missive he declared that "not one word of explanation was forthcoming from the Captain, who remained silent during the entire period we were 'kept prisoner' on the aircraft" I was stunned (a bit naively, I suppose) that someone could write such a black lie - but how to prove the truth? Well, to my absolute delight, another letter arrived from an elderly couple thanking the Captain "For being so informative" - and it continued " My wife and I are not keen on flying, but the Captain kept telling us what was going on and this greatly reassured us." This (dis-identified) letter was forwarded to the original complainant with a request for comments. We never heard another word.

This couple are on my private list of people nominated for sainthood.

MrSydney
30th Jul 2004, 23:37
In 2000 I was flying DL ATL LAX with on onward connection to LHR on NZ. I somehow managed to lose my domestic ticket and DL wanted to charge me $1000 to fly to LAX. The CSR was brillant and really went out of her way to assist me. I ended up paying $75 and getting to LAX on time.'

I wrote to DL and lavished praise on the CSR and got a wonderful letter back which I still have!!!!!

She really did go that extra mile!!!!!!

takenthe5thamendment
4th Aug 2004, 23:24
We got a road traffic report from the flight deck just prior to landing at Liverpool warning of continuous roadworks etc.

Good onya the crew of EZY from Malaga to Liverpool.:ok:

ChrisVJ
6th Aug 2004, 06:32
Thank you Diane at Westjet. Great service.

B Sousa
8th Aug 2004, 09:05
On the Dark Continent, its sometimes confusing to get things done smoothly. A recent trip on Air Mozambique became a real pleasure with the help of a young lady named Celia at JNB. Our round trip from JNB to Pemba went very good and Im sure only as a result of her help.

Nigerian Expat Outlaw
23rd Aug 2004, 12:55
Steve, couldn't find your "headset gone astray" thread in Questions at all. Has it been moved ? I think if you were canned for going the extra mile, the employer probably wasn't one worth working for anyway.
The only drawback I can see in repeatedly giving an individual staff member a lot of praise may be that their boss wouldn't want to move/promote them as they are doing too well where they are !!
I fly on Virgin to/from Nigeria a fair bit and although it sounds unfair to generalise (and therefore not give any specific person the credit), I have never encountered anything less than cheerful, helpful and chatty (at the right times) cabin crew members. They are far and away the best on that route, particularly since it's a night flight out of LHR and night both ways out of LGW.
The cockpit feedback is good too, pitched at the right level, just enough (but not too much) information.
No, I don't work for Virgin !! But this was the original idea of this thread wasn't it ??

TightSlot
23rd Aug 2004, 14:41
Yes, it was Cheese - and it's nice to see that it's functioning as I'd hoped - Thanks all for your feedback! I know that many Crew do check this thread from time to time, and are heartened by the various responses.

SLFguy
26th Aug 2004, 11:24
Have to go to Aberdeen a lot, always Big Airline...yesterday for some reason the 'Travel bint' at work booked us on BD674 out & BD677 back...F***ING BRILLIANT! I will ONLY fly bmi in future..great staff, great attitude to the customer.

Romeo Delta
4th Sep 2004, 20:28
I fly every week on business, and 99% of the time on Delta. So I have to give a shout out to Leo in Ft. Myers, who is helpful to just about EVERYONE, not just those of us he sees every week.

RD

EDDNHopper
13th Sep 2004, 09:55
Thanks a lot to the Cpt and FO of LH 573 yesterday (12 Sept) CPT-JNB (744) for departing 10 minutes early in order to take us on a sightseeing flight over Cape Town, the Cape peninsula, Cape of Good Hope and False Bay before continueing enroute to JNB. With seat belts signs switched off 90 secs after departure, and leveling off at 3000 ft., everyone, including those not having a window seat, were able to wander around and get a phantastic view of the Cape, and even doing some whale watching from above. I am sure it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many to catch a glimpse from above of one of the most remarkable landmarks on earth, and in clearest weather.

I am posting this because sightseeing detours like this one have become so rare these days. The beancounters out there don´t like a single minute´s fuel being "wasted" - so thanks again to the Lufthansa flightdeck crew!

(And you have even brought back a tiny bit of the true spirit of aviation, which pax on a 747 so rarely experience these days...)

Earthmover
19th Sep 2004, 23:17
I do hope you haven't dropped them in the guano!

Ckin Gal
3rd Oct 2004, 09:18
i'm sure this has cheered many staff up as people do not seem to say thank you as much as they used to.

2 weeks ago my colleague was pushing a gentleman's wheel chair and once coming through arrivals found that there was no-one to meet him. on his behalf she phoned the travel company(no rep in arrivals) and the hotel to see if anyone should be there or was running late and eventually after about half an hr with him helped him into a taxi.

This gentleman travelled back a couple of days later and i was collecting him to take him to the gate for boarding. I explained to him that i had to drop something off at another gate on the way and he was quite happy with that.

As i was helping him into a trislander (with the captain's help - new meaning to lift on) he handed me a letter to be given to the station manager.

Later we were told it was a long thank you letter to my colleague and myself for all our help.

it made a long stressful sunday all worthwhile and we had big cheery smiles when we left.

sometimes it's the little things...:D

Skylion
16th Oct 2004, 11:42
LH have long done the scenic tour on departure Capetown if possible, so good to hear its still done.
For me, Easyjet 0630 departure Luton- Berlin Saturday 25th September was probably liveliest cabin crew ever. Brilliant number one and arrival announcement into Berlin by the steward that they recognised that they owed their jobs to the passengers is something Ive never heard before in over 3 million miles of flying. Superb.

lexxity
25th Oct 2004, 17:05
Big thanks to AA in FLL, great job :ok: thanks for getting us out of a 4hour wait. Cheers!!

rej
1st Nov 2004, 19:34
Delta Airlines on flight DL964 on 20 Oct 40. The entire crew, front and aft, were first class. Same goes for the Delta Airlines chap who checked us in for the Orlando-Atlanta flight on 28 Oct 04.

The airline obviously is working damn hard to get through this time, when many US airlines are experiencing financial difficulty, by providing genuine customer service.

Good luck to all at the airline and may you all enjoy success.

Sausagehead
2nd Nov 2004, 11:55
If anyone on here was operating on the above flights (LGW-MCO) I would like to pass on my thanks for a wonderful in-flight experience.

The cabin crew on both legs (in particular outbound which had some partricularly nightmarish kids on board) were a credit to Virgin Atlantic.

northwing
5th Nov 2004, 19:50
Coming back from Ibiza with Britannia, early hours of a Saturday morning at the end of October, daughter started to feel unwell on the bus out to the aircraft. Cabin Service Director, Ian (sorry - didn't catch the surname) was quietly and efficiently ever so helpful in avoiding a potentially very messy situation and could not have been more helpful throughout the flight. I thought he was a credit to the airline and to his profession.

So, Ian, take a bow.

TightSlot
6th Dec 2004, 17:51
I've decided to let this thread sink or swim on its' own merit, so it is now "un-sticky'd"