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.

I am loving United Airlines right now……

OK, it’s a love/hate relationship, but right now it is definitely love.

Due to my visa troubles (explained previously), I had limited options for flights when rescheduling on short notice.  My client was not willing to pay any more than necessary, so I was stuck with a really tight connection in IAD, if missed, would cause a 1 day delay in getting to my destination.

Part of the problem is that I didn’t trust United Express to be on-time.  They have their difficulties on a good day, let alone in the thunderstorm season of the north east.  Storms were predicted every afternoon for the upcoming week, and my flight was scheduled to leave Hartford around 5pm.  I had a 45 minute connection in Washington for my Frankfurt flight – miss that and I am stuck for a day – either in Washington or Frankfurt.

So I called the Global Services desk the night before, explained the situation and asked to be rescheduled on an earlier flight thru Chicago.  They explained to me that this option would cost an additional $1400 – not something I could pass along to my client.  I was advised to go to the airport early the next day because flight changes could only be done at the airport on the same day.

I decided to call the desk again that morning to see what the possibility of changing to go thru Chicago was, and thankfully this agent was able to put me on an earlier Washington flight (which previously I was told was sold out).  It did happen to be sold out and they were asking for volunteers for later flights, but I got my seat and I was happy with that.  The earlier flight (which also happened to be delayed slightly) afforded me peace of mind and plenty of time to make my connection.  This was positive number 1.

Positive number 2 was a gate agent named Claus who totally made my day.  I asked him if it were possible, to give me a free upgrade to first class since I wanted to try it for the newly configured United planes and since I am global services.  My ticket was booked in business class, which is great, but my philosophy is that it never hurts to ask.  So I asked, and I received!  Claus came through for me and I am sitting in 2C as we speak.  This is one of the newest compartments on the international flights.  I have been in the newly configured business class before, but first has several advantages:

1. the passenger to bathroom ratio is 5:1
2. the compartments are very private – no one next to you waking you up because they need to go to the bathroom
3. lots of overhead storage space because there are so few people up here
4. more personalized attention
5. chocolates

I don’t know that I would pay for these extras…..much of the other things are the same. Same video/audio selections, same in-seat power, same food basically (the short ribs I had tonight are the same that I had in business a few weeks ago), but for a freebie it is great and I am extremely thankful!!!!

Maybe on the way home I will try this again…..maybe another agent like Claus will be sweet and kind and upgrade me again.  Thanks Claus!!! Thanks United!!!

ADDENDUM

Just a note to follow up - I did try this on my return trip and United delivered again!!  At Frankfurt airport I was invited to go to the first class lounge due to my GS status even though I wasnt flying first class at this point.  When I got to the gate, my name was called and I got another free bump up to first.  Thanks again United!!!