Sometimes when you travel, you may become, well...frustrated at your traveling situation and may be sorely tempted to vent your personal frustrations on the airline employee standing in front of you delivering the bad news. This, I have learned, is not such a good idea.
I know that on an intellectual level, we all understand that the hapless person standing in front of a computer screen desperately trying to avoid eye contact with us, is merely a cog in the gear of whatever airlines we are traveling on. I do empathize with these folks, because one of my part time jobs at the DOE was, and still is, to work with people seeking employment. In my position as a certification specialist, I often encounter teacher wannabes who may lack some of the necessary requirements for the job. Those of you who know me, understand that I often shoot from the lip, and I have had to learn the art of restraint and presenting a calm demeanor when dealing with the delivery of unpleasant news.
So, I feel for those airline employees who I often see being verbally abused by irate passengers whose flights have been cancelled, or who might have missed a connection due to the late arrival of their original flight.
But it pays to be nice....let me give you two examples:
February of 2006 I took a cruise out of New Orleans to the Western Caribbean. Cruise went great, but when we got to the airport in New Orleans there were gale force winds plummeting the entire Gulf and East Coast. We could, we were told, take our scheduled flight to Dallas, but would never make it back to New York that day. My late husband was beside himself, and I am not sure why, he was retired and I was still working. I looked the rep straight in the eye and asked, "How soon can we realistically get back to New York?" She replied there was a morning flight, and this delay was considered an "act of God", but she did have one room left at a near by hotel, the airlines would pick up the tab since we were flying business class (we used points to upgrade), but we would have to fly back in coach and, we would have to take the room right now! We did, and she threw in dinner (with a decent bottle of wine), breakfast and a free rental car. She also put our unused points back into our accounts without the usual fee because we were relatively calm.
In July of 2010 we took a trip to Germany to see the Passion Play, and then took a river cruise to Budapest. It was a long trip, and we were ready to go home, but there was a glitch. The flight we were taking to London was delayed three hours. When we finally got through Hungarian customs and on the plane, it sat on the tarmac thirty minutes. Then we saw a fire truck approaching us, and discovered there was smoke coming out of one of the engines. We were all deplaned, escorted through arrivals and customs, and told to go to the terminal. Once there, the same British Airlines crew checked us in for the next flight...after another hour, we were informed that the crew had to be relieved and there would be no more flights to London that night. Could we please go through customs, again, and meet at the departure check in for hotel assignments.
On the same flight was the British Formula One team, and they were not a happy bunch. Mostly because they had been spending time in the airport bar waiting for the plane; the testosterone level was much too high. They were yelling and screaming at the BA employees at check in By the time we got to the front of the line, the gentleman at the desk was flustered and guarded.
So I said," I know this is not your fault. I am sorry you have to put up with this abuse" He replied, "Thank you, madam. Would you be interested in staying at the InterContinental Hotel on the Danube this evening? Dinner, breakfast, and any phone calls you need to make are on the airline. Oh, I see there is only room in Business Class for your flight to New York. Enjoy your trip home."
So, boys and girls, always be nice to the folks behind the counter. They appreciate it.
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