What could be so great about a simple morning of flying from San Francisco to Los Angeles? Well, it’s all about the people. Today I had the pleasure of meeting up with my two absolute favorite United employees. First I got to meet up with United’s best flight attendant, Frank. Some of you may remember me raving about him a few weeks ago when I flew with him from San Francisco to Chicago. He was off to the other side of the continent today, but nonetheless it was nice to catch up with him for a few minutes. He’s just the nicest, most professional employee any company could wish for, and best of all he loves his job. As Captain Denny would say, “service from the heart.”
Then as we were over at the departing gate, Captain Denny and Tom (his first officer) approach. I had the pleasure of flying down the coast with Captain Denny, and it was such a great flight, from the pre-departure gate announcement to the plethora of onboard announcements to the personalized business cards. The thing I enjoyed about this flight was that there weren’t any FlyerTalkers aboard. Hear me out. Up until now I’ve only flown with Captain Flanagan with herds of FlyerTalkers, so I’ve never really been able to observe the reactions of other passengers to his service. Today I really got to see how people respond without any distractions.
About 20 minutes before landing the flight attendants passed out his business cards to all first class passengers. I sat next to an older lady that was a 1K, and to say that she was impressed would be a massive understatement. While we hadn’t said a word to each other the entire flight, she started talking to me and couldn’t believe that a pilot would do this. I explained he does this every flight, along with the rest of the “trimmings.” I explained he even has a fan club of sorts, and she said “I want to join the fan club.” All others were equally impressed.
While basically no one was talking to their seatmate at the beginning of the flight, people wouldn’t shut up after getting the business cards.
Now, if only I could get a flight with Denny and Frank….
Just what do you mean by older? Mother? Grandmother?
The view from down below is different than the view from the middle.
Anyone had any experience with *outstanding* USSCare employees? I'm just saying...
Not to take away from how special this can be. I know that it can be. United really does have a handful of *outstanding* employees.
But they REALLY stand out because they ARE the exception.
Now, they're truly special precisely because they offer service 'from the heart' rather than out of a corporate culture that breeds it, or because the company incentivizes it, etc. But because they are outstanding PEOPLE.
So I respect them MORE...
Not to take away from how special this can be. I know that it can be. United really does have a handful of *outstanding* employees.
But they REALLY stand out because they ARE the exception.
Now, they're truly special precisely because they offer service 'from the heart' rather than out of a corporate culture that breeds it, or because the company incentivizes it, etc. But because they are outstanding PEOPLE.
So I respect them MORE for it, not less. But it's noticeable against the backdrop that is United, sadly.