A couple of nights ago, I randomly stumbled upon an American Airlines training video from 2000, intended specifically for newly hired customer service representatives. It goes without saying that in recent years, morale among American employees is about as low as it has ever been. So this video was quite the throwback... A fascinating American…
Was American considered a quality airline back then?
@ Aaron -- Yes! Honestly, before we saw Delta and Northwest merge (and kick off a round of mergers that would form the "big three"), American absolutely was considered a quality airline, and by many metrics, was among the best. Things have only gotten substantially worse in recent years, as Delta and the United improved, while American was left behind.
Never viewed AA as an elite airline even way back when. Always go with an Asian airline for international travels as much as possible. Just tough it out if need to travel domestically although Virgin America was the airline that was actually ‘Going for Great’ and so not true with AA. Its merger with U.S. Airways was going for great lengths to make customers hate them as much as possible or going for the great dollars.
Yes, absolutely in premium cabins - I used to fly UA back then, but on the occasion I flew AA it was different enough on International Business and First to be noted. Way better meals than UA, cabin service was good and the soft product for the time good for a US carrier.
This was all on Robert Crandall who retired a few years before the video but his influence was still there at the time. Now that changes post 9/11 and onwards to be way less so.
Ben wrote: ‘ It goes without saying that expectations of customer service have evolved over the years, especially in the United States (and not for the better).’
Yes, this is basically what the U.S. and European airline and hotel industries have been saying and doing for years now. We have listened to our dear customers and we have surely evolved. By popular customer feedback, we must charge sky high prices for the most minimal return of products and services thus we need to eliminate even the most basic of things such as customer affairs/relations departments.
Ben has not mentioned this but IHG eliminated its Ambassador email which was surely useful for those who do not want to call or message and having to deal with automated responses before being able to talk to a real customer service representative who may or may not be all that helpful. The Ambassador email generally was very helpful and professional especially to loyal long term IHG Diamond Ambassador elite members.
But it's not all bad today. Airlines are moving away from the mindset that consumers just want a cheap fare and nothing else. More premium seat and more affordable premium fares (upsells). Premium economy and Economy Plus. Pre order BOB. Free wifi.
Real food (or at least of Wawa quality) in airline clubs.
Technology that avoids standing in a line. Back in 2000 you had to stand in a line to get a seat assignment and boarding pass. Even the elites lines to get to an agent could be long and slow moving. I'd rather skip the smiling agent, pick my own seat and download my own boarding pass and head right to the gate/club instead.
I don't think we can use an internal-facing training video designed for new hires to accurately reflect on what the perception of the airline is at the time
Few really talk about this, but the traditional public stock ownership model is absolutely terrible for service-based industries.
Joint stock companies were designed during the early modern period for trading companies and manufacturers. The owners are impersonal and absent, and that works just fine when the product is a commodity. When price is the only consideration, impersonal ownership can actually be an advantage.
However, service-based companies get their business from face-to-face interactions. Relationships arguably matter more than price to up until a threshold. The investors who own a public stock company do not share in those relationships and care nothing for them. This is why virtually all service based public companies periodically have to be merged or split off into something else to reset all the damage in public relations they build up over time. It is a natural tendency for impersonal owners of a public company to attempt to turn the business into a more easily traded commodity over time.
The best ownership model for a service company is probably a version of employee ownership, with more customer oriented employees getting more ownership. It creates well-aligned incentive structures to maximize customer relationships and thus entrench long-term success. I say "probably" because there's so few examples; I'm sure there's a right way and a wrong way to go about it but there's little data.
Unfortunately, an employee ownership model can never compete against the rapid fundraising abilities of the public stock ownership model, so up-and-coming entrepreneurs almost always pick the public stock ownership, choosing a quick cash out over maintaining a long term vision.
"The best ownership model for a service company is probably a version of employee ownership, with more customer oriented employees getting more ownership. It creates well-aligned incentive structures to maximize customer relationships and thus entrench long-term success. I say "probably" because there's so few examples; I'm sure there's a right way and a wrong way to go about it but there's little data."
Actually, there's a LOT of data if you use as exampes law firms, (traditional) accounting firms, (traditional) consulting firms, etc. - those that were/are created and run as partnerships with equity as the motivator.
That's the purest example of "well-aligned incentive structures to maximize customer relationships and thus entrench long-term success" there is, probably, of what you're laying out (and laying out quite well, I'll add). While some airlines have some level of limited employee ownership (stocks, profit sharing, etc.), it's more of a bonus structure than a mattering equity holding. I cannot for the life of me envision an airline structured as a traditional partnership (and no, employee stockholding is not a partnership in any sense other than the most abstruse), but that may be due to my own lack of knowledge or imagination vs. anything else.
I agree, and Asian carriers still do better. I recently flew from CGK to SIN, a 2 hour flight, with Singapore Airlines in Economy. And the service was actually much better than in North America and Europe in the premium cabin.
Wow, how far AA has fallen from grace....
Those beautiful polished silver fuselages with that sleek, classic striking AA logo...( NOT today's modified flyng 'Greyhound Bus' on many levels ).
And then there was the 9-11 cataclysm and the painful descent began...
How times have changed. Yep, all gaslighting, all the time.
Thank You Ben. Very enjoyable video.
Back in 2000, while I was def a Continental customer, if I found myself on American it was not a bad thing and I remember the really good meals one could pre-order. Imagine a cold seafood meal on a Tampa-DFW flight !!
I know there are a lot of great folks in every company that want to give customer service their all. i just wish American would support their customer facing employees and really encourage and provide the tools to provide excellent customer service.