Customer Service
 

I fly a lot all over the US and Europe as a passenger. I have noticed over the last 10 years or so that the customer service with all main US carriers have gone bad. So bad that they make NY city cabdrivers look like limo drivers during the Oscars. Rude, obnoxious and plain unhelpful. I always admired Delta since they were trying to be like it was meant to be, but even Delta has gone south the last few years.

Pilots are on here whining and crying about their pay, pension and God forbid they might even have to work for a living. But they have in fact just become bus drivers (same lousy attitude and service). Make your airline better by providing better customer service, better service more passengers will fly with you, more passengers more money. And more money will eventually get you a pay raise.

With the basics not there you are not going to make it.
Why can the "other" (rest of the world) airlines do it and not here in the USA?

Respectfully, I disagree.

90% of (non-business) travelers consider one thing, and one thing only when purchasing a ticket: PRICE.

The internet has created enormous downward pressure on US airlines in domestic markets to provide cheap tickets for the masses. To try and make a profit, airlines have had to cut way back in other areas, and this includes staffing levels. Early retirements and buy-outs save the company money, but they also create the dual problem of eliminating your most experienced workforce while leaving the less-experienced personnel around to do even more work than before.

Frankly, I don't see this downward pressure ever going away, and pay at all levels in the airline industry are at best going to stabilize around current levels. There may be some room for premium ticket costs in the international market where flights are long and extra "goodies" (incl. premium customer service) might (!) cause some customers to pay more, but I doubt it.

This is EXACTLY the airline system the masses of Americans have been pushing for . . . cheap, no-frills, get-her-done travel. Be careful what you wish for, perhaps?

P.S. -- I think customer service overall is still pretty good at most US majors. Don't believe everything (or anything) you read in USA Today. It's called "Mic Paper" for a reason.

Jetcap, what line of work are you in, so we can all complain about how much better your product/service/price used to be?

I am complaining as a passenger on the airlines.

Why can the rest of the world still maintain decent customer service and with US airlines it is far far away, very few exceptions.

In my line of work customer will not only decide by price, but also reliability, customer service and overall performance of the company in the past.

Sounds like I hurt your feelings, for that I am sorry. At least I have you thinking about it and very deep down you agree. But go ahead and try to make me feel bad, if that makes you feel better :D

Again, JetCap, What do you do for a living?

and since you started this thread, by all means, PLEASE give us your professional opinion on how to fix customer service at Delta and other airlines.

Passengers are not going to travel on 1 airline anymore. Plain and simple JetCap, they look for "price"

you are a clear thinking individual, I'm sureeeeeeeee you can figure out why customer service is so bad.

Happy New Year to you

BTW, as your signature says,

If you are dissatisified with the status quo........Good!

Heres the problem, and this is just human nature, not particular to the airlines. When you work for a company that treats you like a slave and pays you little, you become angry, frustrated and an all together miserable human being, which also leads to resentment of the paying passengers. I understand people have choices in life and can opt to leave at will, however due to some circumstances, easier said then done. I have witnessed people getting off an airplane madder then hell, when we were 30 minutes early, I have also witnessed passengers happier then a pig in Sh-t after a 4 hr ground stop, the difference is how they are treated by the Flight Attendant. Its really simple, tell the truth, be honest and treat people like human beings, not cattle. It makes me sad when our Flight Attendants or Gate agents are very short with Grandma, or Mother an Child because they asked what to us may be a simple concept, but to them foreign, remember we do this for a living we know what an "update" means, or "gate checked" bag means. The demographics of large airports also leads to the "not so brightest/educated" personal working the ticket counters etc.......

I walk around Newark and some of these people have such a terrible attitude, it makes me embarrassed to work "with them", or how about when Gate agents see a person standing right in front of them and continue to just type type away on their computers, there job is customer service, its the job they chose. I heard a Gate agent tell a passenger once,"..................... I aint yo damn momma and aint gonna go chasin you when day board da plane", it was embarrassing......., I apologized to the passenger and told her if she could stay by the gate it would be beneficial to her in case we get an earlier dep time etc...

I am done talking, sorry for the grammar I am in a rush but just wanted to give my opinion.


I agree with JetCAP, Customer service needs to be improved, however not on the end of the Pilots, its the gate agents and Flight Attendants...... I am so tired of Flight Attendants complaining that they have to make coffee...........

Passengers do have to realize, "YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR", if people didnt get on the airplane dressed like a bum, and act like they DESERVE to be waited on like royalty, maybe they wouldn't get treated better

You never said what you actually do.

please allow me to give my opinion as a former csa and take it for what it is. there are alot of factors that determine why a passenger may decide to fly with xxx airline. as we all know, the main factor being $$$ however passengers also look at other things like non-stop flights/how many layovers, what airport they are laying over at(jfk and atl are generally the most hated from my experience working with pax), who had the latest accident/incident(you'll believe the amount of $h!t i've heard from pax), and customer service. there is a particular airline that i won't mention as it is my experience dealing with passengers that i used to get the most complains about and for that passengers chose to make that connection rather than the non stop flights. that is where the idea of giving amenities for the amount of miles flown with said airline comes into play. you get that passenger to fly for xxx amount of miles a year and he/she/it gets free upgrades, acknowledged as a member, a shiny card to put in there wallet and bag tag for their bag, and the right to b!tch and complain at their convenience(most members fly long enough to know the system therefore won't give csa/fa a hard time but then there are the few). so where i don't think csa has as much weight as the op may suggest, i do agree that it does have more credibility than most may think. and remember customer service is more than just the job of csa, it is for everyone.

Lots of things used to be better back in the day. Since you refuse to tell us what you do, I assume it has gone downhill as well.

How about some details? Lousy/no food? Rude gate agent/FA? Bad landing?

I admire you for choosing your airline on more than price, but unfortunately you are in the minority. Since deregulation, every time an airline has tried to offer a little something extra, for a price, the public voted with their wallet.