Delta Airlines Hurrah

"Well done is better than well said." ~Benjamin Franklin

The humor and complaints abound out there regarding airlines and failed customer service. The airline industry takes a pretty good beating on this front each and every day. Some of it is certainly brought on by the airlines themselves. I myself have had complaints of bad customer service and very silly airline policies.

Each day there are roughly 87,000 flights in the skies in the United States. One-third of these are commercial carriers, like American, United, Southwest, or Delta. So over 28,500 commercial flights, major and regional airlines, are in the skys each day here in the United States. It amounts to a lot of people, a lot of careful routing of planes in the air as well as coordinated takeoffs/landings occurring.

The possibility of delays and other problems is very likely on a decent day. Throw in a major storm in the Atlanta area, which is a huge connection point, congestion in Chicago, or computer problems; it escalates into controlled pandemonium pretty quickly.

People will get frustrated pretty quickly at this point. Their frustration is compounded by their anxiety over flying to begin with. Many are flying for only the first or second time and trying to deal with the whole check-in process. The added baggage fees which shouldn't catch them by surprise but still does irritate. And yes, baggage fees being charged seperate from the ticket price just seems dumb from a customer service perspective.

Now that the first steps inside the airport have heightened their blood pressure, security becomes the next step. Standing in line, do I have the right or wrong things in my carry-on? Are my papers in order? My God these lines are so long, will I make my flight? How far should I strip down to go through the security machines? What if the alarms go off?

The anxiety simply builds and builds and builds.

Relax is all I can say.

There are plenty of people working for the airlines that really do try to make your experience a good one. It may not seem so and I will agree there are some airline and airport employees that really need a different day job.

For me, I have to give a 'thumbs up' to an online Delta Agent. I wish I knew her name but she came through and is an example of great customer service. A needed flight change for myself and a brother that will be travelling overseas in January had me worried. But she handled it professionally, quickly, efficiently and was just very nice about it.

These types of people do exist in the airline industry. They do exist in everyday business. We might have a lot of anxiety and not notice it, but these people do exist. And when you notice it, let them know of your appreciation.

When you are at the airport and start getting frustrated, calm down, smile and see if you can get that good nature mirrored back to you. Just understand that adding to the mayhem isn't going to make the experience any more enjoyable. By injecting a smile or kind word could turn things around tremendously for you. It can make the journey a lot better to travel.