What makes a great Flight?

With all the airlines cutting costs, every little thing the airlines do or don’t do is very noticeable.  Also, having flown over a million miles in my career doesn’t hurt either when it comes to noticing things.  Lately, I have had some outstanding flights right along side the disappointing ones.  So I started to ask myself, what is the key to an outstanding flight?  It turns out, it’s the flight attendants.

Sure the Captain and First officer need to get the plane to the destination on time and in one piece, and sure the gate agents can be pleasant and give you a better seat, but with online check-in now, I rarely have to deal with gate agents.  (It sure is nice when they give you an upgrade though).  And other than an occasional voice on the speaker, I never see the captain or first officer.

For the flights that were outstanding, the flight attendants made all the difference.  Think about it, the plane is the same, the meals are the same (if you get one), the movies are the same, the seats are the same…..it’s the service that is unique on every flight. The primary interface to the passengers is the flight attendants and their job is so important to customer satisfaction.  I’ve tried to identify some key characteristics of what I consider to be a great flight attendant:

1. They know your name.  Nothing beats personalized service.  The flight attendants in first/business class have a list of the passengers.  The great ones will greet you by name, and some of them will even thank you for your business. The average flight attendant with that list doesn’t bother to greet you by name. The ones that do make the passengers feel more welcome and attended to.
2. They are aware of your needs before you have to ask.  The flight attendant who sees that your drink is low and offers a refill, or sees that you are done with your meal and clears your tray so you can work, these are the ones concerned with providing the best service possible.  Nothing is worse than having to ring your call button for every little thing.
3. They apologize for problems and offer reparations, even when they don’t have to.  It seems on almost every flight these days, something is not working correctly.  Whether the reading light is out, the video monitor isn’t working, there is no audio, when you let the flight attendant know about such a problem, they should offer to give you something to make up for it.  The great flight attendants offer vouchers for discounts on future travel, or additional miles in your account.  The others offer a “thanks for letting us know”.
4. They remember to pick up service items, return your jacket, and check all the bins to make sure they are closed.  I know, this should be a no-brainer, but the past few flights of mine have been terrible along these lines.  In one case, the flight attendant failed to pick up my seat-mate’s glass for landing.  This is not only irresponsible, but highly dangerous.  In another recent case, the flight attendant failed to return jackets that he had taken to hang up for passengers.  Having to fight the crowd to get your jacket after parking at the gate is difficult.  In this last case, the flight attendant also failed to stow the video monitors, which could pose a head-banging hazard as passengers get up from their seats to deplane.
5. They like their job.  It’s very easy to tell the level of satisfaction of someone in their job.  The happy flight attendant is cheerful, energetic, and eager.  They are truly interested in the passenger and may engage in polite conversation. The unhappy flight attendant rarely smiles, gets the job done with a minimal amount of effort, and doesn’t do any more than they have to.

It is my opinion that the flight attendants hold almost all the power when it comes to passengers having a good or bad experience.  Granted, there are some passengers that will never be satisfied.  But even in this case, I think a great flight attendant will be able to soften even the hardest of passengers.