I recently shared my positive experience flying Turkish Airlines’ A350 business class, and also mentioned how I’ve found service on Turkish Airlines to be consistently good. Several readers shared negative experiences with Turkish Airlines customer service on the ground, including with Turkish’s website, and also during irregular operations.
That raises a really interesting point. Generally when I discuss service on airlines, my focus is on inflight service. That’s not because service on the ground doesn’t matter, but rather because I kind of feel like most airlines fall apart when it comes to service on the ground.
I thought that would be a worthwhile topic to discuss — which airlines actually offer consistently great customer service on the ground?
In this post:
What constitutes good airline service on the ground?
I think the reason I often focus on the quality of inflight service is because it’s easier to judge. You’re being served by a few people, and you have a sense of how your interactions with them compared to similar interactions you’ve had with other airlines.
Everything except inflight service can be much harder to judge. That’s especially true when you consider that many people have their most interactions with ground-based airline employees in situations where things go wrong, and in some cases the circumstances are beyond a carrier’s control.
With that in mind, I figured I’d share what I consider to be the key things airlines can do on the ground to provide quality and seamless customer service, and it goes way beyond employees being friendly. Here are some things that come to mind:
- A great airline website, that allows people to easily self-service their travels without having to pick up the phone
- Genuinely friendly and knowledgable employees who are customer focused, and not only seem like they want to help, but are empowered to do so
- Policies that are simple, and don’t create unnecessary friction
- The ability to easily get through to a representative on the phone, without having to wait on hold endlessly
Do any airlines excel when it comes to ground service?
The problem is that many of our perceptions of airline customer service on the ground are formed based on experiences where things go wrong. In a way, the ideal situation is to almost have no impression of a carrier’s ground-based service, because you’re able to do everything yourself without interacting with a human.
Nowadays you can sometimes board a flight without interacting with a single human, from booking your ticket online, to using online check-in, to boarding your flight through one of those biometric gates.
To generalize a bit, here’s my impression of the ground experience offered by airlines in some of the biggest aviation markets around the globe:
- US airlines largely have pretty good websites and tech that allow you to self-service a lot of things, but some gate agents at US airlines can be downright surly, unpleasant, and even threatening, barking orders at passengers as if they’re cattle; you’d never be treated this way in Japan, Singapore, or South Korea
- While the Gulf carriers are known for their great service in the air, I consistently get complaints from readers about ground employees who are clueless and not empowered in situations where things go wrong
- Many North Asian and Southeast Asian carriers offer the friendliest customer service, but employees often aren’t very empowered, they don’t have great tech, and they often have frustrating policies that create unnecessary red tape (like signing up for an EVA Air frequent flyer account online, and then having to email or fax a form to give yourself permission to manage your account online)
- Then you have European airlines, which are quite a mixed bag; I’ve dealt with my fair share of downright condescending British Airways and Lufthansa employees
As I try to think of the airlines with which I’ve consistently had the best ground based customer service experience, not that many come to mind. I mean, I guess I’ve actually had pretty good experiences with Virgin Atlantic — I’ve found their ground staff to be friendly, they typically pick up quickly on the phone, and they don’t have unnecessarily complicated policies.
Among US airlines, Delta definitely has better service than American and United. But I’ve also had a Sky Club agent try to deny me access to the club, claiming that Kenya Airways isn’t in SkyTeam. And never mind all the phone calls I’ve had with Delta over the years, where agents were confused about how SkyMiles worked.
I’m curious if there’s any airline where OMAAT readers have consensus about consistently friendly, competent, hassle-free customer service, even when things go wrong.
Bottom line
We all have our favorite airlines, and we form those opinions based on a variety of factors. A huge area where airlines could improve is with service on the ground, as it’s often where customers face the most frustration and friction.
It’s not just about whether airline employees are friendly, but also about the tech that airlines have, how much employees are empowered to help, etc.
What’s your take — which major airlines offer the consistently best service on the ground?
Always had good experience with Air New Zealand.
Airlines constantly outsource ground staff to third party companies. I use to work with Hallmark and most of my coworkers were college aged students who were were uninterested in aviation and only there for the part time schedules. Before IAH passed the wage ordinance, the wage was $8 / hour and received no flight benefits, despite handling checkin for airlines like Singapore, Turkish, and Emirates. A tacky experience through and through. I can never see...
Airlines constantly outsource ground staff to third party companies. I use to work with Hallmark and most of my coworkers were college aged students who were were uninterested in aviation and only there for the part time schedules. Before IAH passed the wage ordinance, the wage was $8 / hour and received no flight benefits, despite handling checkin for airlines like Singapore, Turkish, and Emirates. A tacky experience through and through. I can never see these airlines the same way again. Only AA, UA, DL, WN, and BA hire their own staff to work the gates and checkin.
We all have our anecdotes. I had a positive experience with TK in IST during IRROPS, but judging by the preponderance of evidence, this was likely an outlier. The only airlines I've flown consistently enough to be able to comment on patterns are AA and AC.
AC ground staff at YYZ are, on average, not great - too many bad apples, you roll the dice every time you dare to interact (Maple Leaf Lounges have...
We all have our anecdotes. I had a positive experience with TK in IST during IRROPS, but judging by the preponderance of evidence, this was likely an outlier. The only airlines I've flown consistently enough to be able to comment on patterns are AA and AC.
AC ground staff at YYZ are, on average, not great - too many bad apples, you roll the dice every time you dare to interact (Maple Leaf Lounges have a higher percentage of good ones). Phone agents are usually nice but too difficult to reach.
Admirals Clubs staff, as others have commented, are very good almost across the board. They are pleasant and happy to help problem solve. Best ground service I've ever received was probably in ORD Flagship Lounge (not technically an Admirals Club, I get it) during IRROPS on a OW partner flight.
I think part of the problem is that an airline has pretty much 100% control of what goes on inside its planes but the ground service is a lot more complicated because they depend on airport operators, contractors, air traffic control, etc. None of this, of course, excuses the surly behavior by some ground service employees of numerous airlines.
without question Air Canada has the worst IRROPS. Also since 50% of its flights are not on time its a huge problem. Staff that dont care management that is incompetent, is the reason. Lack of competition is how we got there.
Complaint regarding baggage handling and customer service at JFK Airport
I have always had a fantastic experience with Delta Airlines, but unfortunately, I encountered a disappointing situation last Thursday at JFK Airport. I was traveling from Boston to NYC, and the Delta lost baggage team located next to carousel 11 in Terminal 4 was not only unhelpful but also rude. There was no manager available to assist me, and the entire ordeal was filled with...
Complaint regarding baggage handling and customer service at JFK Airport
I have always had a fantastic experience with Delta Airlines, but unfortunately, I encountered a disappointing situation last Thursday at JFK Airport. I was traveling from Boston to NYC, and the Delta lost baggage team located next to carousel 11 in Terminal 4 was not only unhelpful but also rude. There was no manager available to assist me, and the entire ordeal was filled with friction and frustration.
At 10:30 am, I reported one piece of luggage missing, while the other four pieces were received without any issues. The lost baggage team informed me that my missing luggage was at the terminal and would be brought to me within five minutes. However, after waiting for 15 minutes and inquiring again, I received the same response. This pattern continued, and I eventually decided to send my wife to the hotel while I continued to wait.
The staff members I interacted with were impolite and uncooperative, and there was no manager available to address my concerns. After 90 minutes of waiting and asking multiple employees for assistance, I finally found a helpful lady who organized for my bag to be delivered to my hotel. As I was filling out the necessary form, I noticed my missing luggage on carousel 10. I retrieved my bag and left the airport, but I can't help but think that Delta may still be searching for it.
I strongly believe that Delta's management should experience these situations firsthand to understand the friction customers face and work on improving the process. As a business owner, I make sure to provide my email and mobile number to my customers so they can reach me directly when they need help, rather than relying on a website or a recorded message call center.
Delta Airlines needs managers and customer service representatives on the ground, ready to assist unhappy customers and turn their negative experiences into positive ones. By doing so, you can create lifelong customers who will appreciate your dedication to their satisfaction.
I hope that my feedback will be taken into consideration and that improvements will be made to ensure a better experience for all Delta customers in the future.
In the US unless you're CK/GS or maybe purchase a package like 5 Star Service you're pretty much on your own. Honestly, other than maybe an information desk (to tell me where to get Uber/Lyft when there's no signs) I have no real need for ground transportation.
This absolutely is where Korean Air excels. Their inflight service and lounges are just average or uninspiring, but they are the best in ground service.
Their ground agents do their best to fix any problem to ensure you get to your destination on time.
I'm sure Lucky won't like this, but the ground experience on Starlux leaves a lot to be desired. Their proprietary lounge closes at 5:00 pm in TPE, even though they have evening flights (JX 2, for example). A gate agent at my origin at NRT told me all about the lounge, but neglected the part about it not being open. She also handed me a card informing me that I was being involuntarily denied boarding...
I'm sure Lucky won't like this, but the ground experience on Starlux leaves a lot to be desired. Their proprietary lounge closes at 5:00 pm in TPE, even though they have evening flights (JX 2, for example). A gate agent at my origin at NRT told me all about the lounge, but neglected the part about it not being open. She also handed me a card informing me that I was being involuntarily denied boarding (on a paid business class ticket!). Turns out, that was also a mistake. Big gulf between what happened in flight as compared to what happened at the airport.
Qantas has some of the worst on the ground service. Employees treat you like garbage, status and class of travel don’t matter either. One positive is that they treat everyone equally.
Worst Ground Service in the world is ..........................AA at DFW!
Looks like no one wants to work at AA in DFW and only the Blacks are able to apply and you know what happens after that>
you did NOT just write that!
If I were you
Hopefully AA staff is prepared with folding chairs to deal with you next time you are around
Best ground experience and delay handling: KLM, AF, Garuda, SQ, SAS, Delta, Bangkok Airways
Worst: TK, Austrian, Air Asia, Lion Air
Worse than worst and going out of my way to avoid: AA
I'd love to see a piece on which airlines - if any - are any good specifically when things go wrong. Over two months after a flight cancellation, I'm still battling with Iberia to receive my EU261 compensation (the airline has admitted liability) and a reimbursement of my out of pocket expenses. The airline NEVER directly responds to customers once a complaint reference has been set up and has never mentioned my expenses. Next stop:...
I'd love to see a piece on which airlines - if any - are any good specifically when things go wrong. Over two months after a flight cancellation, I'm still battling with Iberia to receive my EU261 compensation (the airline has admitted liability) and a reimbursement of my out of pocket expenses. The airline NEVER directly responds to customers once a complaint reference has been set up and has never mentioned my expenses. Next stop: European small claims court procedure.
I disagree that Delta is the best of the US airlines—I once had to change something and I’ve three course of several hours and multiple attempts speaking to over ten different agents I still wasn’t able to get it fixed. Some agents told me this was possible while others said it wasn’t, which showed clear confusion in their customer service.
I was on a FC ticket from TXL LH x/FRA LH EWR UA IAH. I had purchased the tickets from the UA website. I tried to change the ticket via the ground service employees at TXL - there were 2 earlier flights and both had space. TXL was very badly designed; each gate had its own separate security lines. I had tried to change the ticket at their bag check counter, the customer service counter,...
I was on a FC ticket from TXL LH x/FRA LH EWR UA IAH. I had purchased the tickets from the UA website. I tried to change the ticket via the ground service employees at TXL - there were 2 earlier flights and both had space. TXL was very badly designed; each gate had its own separate security lines. I had tried to change the ticket at their bag check counter, the customer service counter, and in the lounge. Not one person would allow me to change the UA ticket. They would not even allow standby for an earlier flight - TXL had been under a weather issue and flights were departing late, and it was predicting the weather was going to get worse. Nope that didn’t change their mindset! I was forced to take the original flight -which was already late. The security line was 75+ long and included passengers for the next 2 flights leaving the same gate, I was the last to board! We sat for an additional hour waiting for the storm to pass inside the aircraft - hurry up and board - but we know we are NOT leaving. My connection was now arriving after my next flight was to depart! I worked as a airline customer service agent at LAX -years ago- and if I could move up a SFO connecting passenger we did so! No questions, no rules, no add-collection. We worked for The Airline. Did I mention, the 3 agents I spoke with at TXL, were all contracted - not once did I speak to an LH employee until the LH manager came thru the 75+ passenger security queue, to bring the passengers for the current flight that was actually at the gate to the security checkpoint. Did I mention, I was traveling on a FC ticket. What a clusterf—k of an airport! Not sad at all when they closed it.
I learned a valuable lesson, contracted agents have no loyalty to the airline they work for and certainly not to their customers.
Turkish's app and website aren't particularly helpful and somewhat archaic. Meanwhile, their call center reps are empowered to do virtually nothing.
A few months ago I was flying Turkish TLV-IST-EWR. My flight from TLV to IST was delayed to the point where I would misconnect in IST. As a result, for various reasons, I decided to stay in Israel an extra night and fly out the next day.
However, I couldn't change my ticket...
Turkish's app and website aren't particularly helpful and somewhat archaic. Meanwhile, their call center reps are empowered to do virtually nothing.
A few months ago I was flying Turkish TLV-IST-EWR. My flight from TLV to IST was delayed to the point where I would misconnect in IST. As a result, for various reasons, I decided to stay in Israel an extra night and fly out the next day.
However, I couldn't change my ticket using the app or website. When I called Turkish customer service, they also couldn't change it. I had to go track down a ticketing agent in TLV.
When it comes to Turkish, everything that happens on the plane is a step above (especially compared to US airlines), and most things outside the plane is a step below the US airlines imo.
Say what you want about United for instance (and I have plenty to say on that front), what took me hours to resolve with Turkish would have taken me minutes with United. They have an excellent app that cuts down on the need for calls in the first place.
I just flew Japan Airlines business class. There was a delay and they had to put me in a hotel in Tokyo for the night. The business class was great, but when something goes wrong, you are put in a three star hotel...
I've had absolutely horrible service (or complete lack thereof) from American, for instance, at DFW and PHX, but surprisingly good ground service at SNA time and time again. And the people in the Admiral's Clubs have always been *very* helpful during IRROPS.
The only domestic airline that consistently shines IMHO is Alaska. Rarely have I had a problem with them -- really only once with a rather surly gate agent -- and their Customer Service...
I've had absolutely horrible service (or complete lack thereof) from American, for instance, at DFW and PHX, but surprisingly good ground service at SNA time and time again. And the people in the Admiral's Clubs have always been *very* helpful during IRROPS.
The only domestic airline that consistently shines IMHO is Alaska. Rarely have I had a problem with them -- really only once with a rather surly gate agent -- and their Customer Service telephone agents are the best. Virgin America was awesome consistently as well, but "those were the good old days."
Qatar Airlines worldwide lounge arrangements are abysmal.
As the airline that seemingly flies everywhere it would be unrealistic to expect them to have a branded lounge in every port of course.
However, except for their DOH hub there are almost none.
As a Oneworld member you'd expect (reciprocal) arrangements would exist with other alliance members, but no can do.
They prefer to outsource to contract lounges such as Aspire, PP, where...
Qatar Airlines worldwide lounge arrangements are abysmal.
As the airline that seemingly flies everywhere it would be unrealistic to expect them to have a branded lounge in every port of course.
However, except for their DOH hub there are almost none.
As a Oneworld member you'd expect (reciprocal) arrangements would exist with other alliance members, but no can do.
They prefer to outsource to contract lounges such as Aspire, PP, where there are no Qatar staff to deal with questions/problems, and generally provide an inferior lounge experience.
Likewise, all other ground functions such as check-in, WCHR assistance etc. are contracted out to others, who make no attempt to do more than the minimum required.
Just as well they shine in the air*!
(*subject to aircraft type).
I agree with Paul - Air North is great! Often smaller is better, and Air North is a niche business that makes you feel like part of the family. In contrast, Air Canada (which is usually fine onboard) has horrible customer serivce on the ground, unless you're super elite.
In the U.S., the big 3 are hit and miss at best, while Alaska is usually good. They have some phone agents who really know...
I agree with Paul - Air North is great! Often smaller is better, and Air North is a niche business that makes you feel like part of the family. In contrast, Air Canada (which is usually fine onboard) has horrible customer serivce on the ground, unless you're super elite.
In the U.S., the big 3 are hit and miss at best, while Alaska is usually good. They have some phone agents who really know what they're doing and are helpful, which is refreshing in this age of really bad (to non-existent) telephone customer service.
Recently we flew business class on United from PHX-IAH-MEX. The ticket counter was kind enough to confirm that we could use the United Club. However when we arrived at the Club, the United employee at the main desk would NOT let us in, said that we might be able to enter the United Club in IAH but NOT PHX as it was NOT the gateway city to Mexico. I too had called reservations ahead of...
Recently we flew business class on United from PHX-IAH-MEX. The ticket counter was kind enough to confirm that we could use the United Club. However when we arrived at the Club, the United employee at the main desk would NOT let us in, said that we might be able to enter the United Club in IAH but NOT PHX as it was NOT the gateway city to Mexico. I too had called reservations ahead of time to confirm entry would be allowed and was told by 3 different agents that we could us the club room since we were flying business class. Anyhow this employee would not budge on her stance. She seemed to enjoy denying us entry.
Can’t speak for the best but can certainly say that United, American, Delta, Iberia, British, Air France, and Alitalia (former) have terrible ground services and belong towards the bottom of the list. Not surprising since their soft product on board are lacking too.
I consistently have a good experience with Delta. The App is great, and the phone agents are accommodating when it comes to trouble shooting. Cathay Pacific also provides an excellent customer experience on the ground imho. Absolutely worst experience was with Etihad. They bumped me and treated me like they were doing me a favor by rebooking me on a different flight.
I love analyzing airlines holistically from first touch to post flight. I too have found them to be all over the place before getting on the plane and little follow-up afterwards. But Singapore did well with an organized website, amazing app that when you are registered for a flight you can begin making playlists or order your food, and I found ground staff in Japan and Singapore respectful and courteous. That said, not sure how...
I love analyzing airlines holistically from first touch to post flight. I too have found them to be all over the place before getting on the plane and little follow-up afterwards. But Singapore did well with an organized website, amazing app that when you are registered for a flight you can begin making playlists or order your food, and I found ground staff in Japan and Singapore respectful and courteous. That said, not sure how it would be if flying from the US.
The only way to fairly judge a holistic experience is to have people along with professional experience analysts score experiences the same.
I am happy to pay a fee that covers any irregular operations. I use travel insurance.
My perspective is that my trip is from A to B. I am not interested in the cause of the delay or cancellation. Sorry about the crew with food poisoning, of course, or the ground staff who tore off a door, or the engine being retired as a flock of birds flew into it.
I think airlines...
I am happy to pay a fee that covers any irregular operations. I use travel insurance.
My perspective is that my trip is from A to B. I am not interested in the cause of the delay or cancellation. Sorry about the crew with food poisoning, of course, or the ground staff who tore off a door, or the engine being retired as a flock of birds flew into it.
I think airlines can calculate what these events cost, and include stellar service to make things right in their pricing.
Imagine the PR win, “here at Air A, we will get your there comfortably” instead of, “ Our horrors are your horrors.”
I have flown almost all American, ME & Asian carriers multiple times in long haul over the past few years. None of them have perfect ground service but the closest are Virgin and Singapore. I could write for days how the supposedly perfect ME3 messed up my ground experience. But the ME3 do have an awesome inflight experience (in business and first). Turkish is so-so on the ground. JAL is great to a point. BA,...
I have flown almost all American, ME & Asian carriers multiple times in long haul over the past few years. None of them have perfect ground service but the closest are Virgin and Singapore. I could write for days how the supposedly perfect ME3 messed up my ground experience. But the ME3 do have an awesome inflight experience (in business and first). Turkish is so-so on the ground. JAL is great to a point. BA, AA, Lufthansa, United, Delta etc. are good to so-so depending on their whims. US Airlines especially United have great technology features for the consumer though.
Forgot KLM - very friendly and helpful service both in the air and on the ground. Air France is not bad either.
Linate is worse.. the handle AF and KLM.. morons!
I was very disappointed by the FRA gate crew for my Condor flight. The flight itself was great, with attentive and gracious flight attendants. However, the gate agents at FRA seemed more like they were grandchildren of Gestapo agents, plus the gate scene was chaotic. In contrast, the SFO ground crew on my outbound flight were polite and efficient.
My dad got into a scuffle with a gate agent at FRA in the 70s while flying Lufthansa. Apparently my father had a simple question, which he asked in fluent German, and the gate agent gave him a snide reply and then scoffed to his colleague, "these brown men don't use what little brains they have," or something to that effect. My dad said very little about it when he was alive but my mom...
My dad got into a scuffle with a gate agent at FRA in the 70s while flying Lufthansa. Apparently my father had a simple question, which he asked in fluent German, and the gate agent gave him a snide reply and then scoffed to his colleague, "these brown men don't use what little brains they have," or something to that effect. My dad said very little about it when he was alive but my mom confided once that he grabbed the dude by the collar and the guy immediately apologized. Lol. I'm surprised they made their flight. If you knew my pops, you would realize how insanely out of character that would have been for him.
Without a doubt Alaska Airlines is at the top of my list for favorite airline ground service. I've had plenty of delays, lost baggage, and irregular operations over the years. But in each case Alaska treated passengers like humans, had easy to use tech to try and problem solve or made staff available.
International goes to Singapore and Emirates
Domestic goes to a 3 way tie for the bottom.
Aegean gold line really seems to go the extra mile and Flying Blue’s platinum line also seems to. I also find that if you become friends with the GM of Ethiopian airlines in the city you fly out of they can make stuff happen.
Ben it would be interesting to have a post about how the top 5-10 airlines treat their upper tier frequent flyers. I was reading this post and thought about how different the experience is for me as a Qantas Platinum, vs a couple of my friends who are Bronze (or when I was Gold/Bronze). They have reached out to me several times to help them since they couldn't get through to customer service or weren't...
Ben it would be interesting to have a post about how the top 5-10 airlines treat their upper tier frequent flyers. I was reading this post and thought about how different the experience is for me as a Qantas Platinum, vs a couple of my friends who are Bronze (or when I was Gold/Bronze). They have reached out to me several times to help them since they couldn't get through to customer service or weren't able to get an award redemption so I called on their behalf. Not ideal to have to do, but kudos to the QF agents, they didn't seem to mind at all. Not to mention preferential treatment when it comes to upgrade clearance, baggage allowance, priority check in and boarding and action taken when travel is disrupted.
Having status can erase much of the stress and frustration of travel, but proportionally few travellers have it. I'm not referring to how airlines treat the super elite tiers but more so the platinums/golds of the better airlines out there.
I was thinking along these lines also. For my husband and I (he’s platinum I’m either platinum or gold) Qantas is amazing. Once we flew back from New York with far too much luggage (shopping when AUD was at parity what can I say) and a Qantas rep met us at baggage claim to help us with our luggage, totally unrequested. I doubt that would have been the case if we were silver or bronze....
I was thinking along these lines also. For my husband and I (he’s platinum I’m either platinum or gold) Qantas is amazing. Once we flew back from New York with far too much luggage (shopping when AUD was at parity what can I say) and a Qantas rep met us at baggage claim to help us with our luggage, totally unrequested. I doubt that would have been the case if we were silver or bronze. I’ve dropped back to gold since the pandemic so we always book using his membership, knowing that the platinum service if anything goes wrong will be better.
Qantas is all about money, status and unswerving loyalty. They only give you the love if you're spending bucketloads of money with them, and consequently have P1 status. This has been a constant theme under the outgoing CEO's reign.
Speaking as a modest ex-Gold, and now Lifetime Bronze (haha) I can assure you that Bronze members, or worst still, blow-ins with no status, are pond scum and treated accordingly.
Will rate the Shenzhen airline in the olden days (2017) number 1, free Chauffeur service on any business class ticket within China, both ways. Yes, your 150 USD CAN-WUX will get your free pick-up both departing and arriving within 70km of airport, and they will also factor in IRROPS as well. Furthermore, no standing check-in, VIP check-in and welcome lounge at one of the side space at CAN T1 hall, which meant everyone get a...
Will rate the Shenzhen airline in the olden days (2017) number 1, free Chauffeur service on any business class ticket within China, both ways. Yes, your 150 USD CAN-WUX will get your free pick-up both departing and arriving within 70km of airport, and they will also factor in IRROPS as well. Furthermore, no standing check-in, VIP check-in and welcome lounge at one of the side space at CAN T1 hall, which meant everyone get a seat like in a executive lounge, even those waiting in-line.
Too bad the Chauffeur was dumped for discounted business class ticket.
Qatar Airways ground staff when originating at DOH are great. Tons of folks standing by to point you in the right direction or ask questions too. Their customer service reps via phone and web chat on the hand are not great. They seem to be hamstrung by the same limitations of the website that I am when I try to change an award flight.
Delta lounge agents in ATL are consistently friendly in my experience. Delta gate agents, absolutely not lol.
Oh hell to the no!!!
Qatar Airways in Doha is at the absolute bottom of my list.
My most humiliating experience ever was with QR in Doha back in 2007. Our A340-600 from DOH-LHR went tech and aircraft was swapped to a 2-class A330. That meant a bunch of involuntary downgrades from First to Biz and Biz to Econ. I was one of the latter group unfortunately.
However, to add insult to injury,...
Oh hell to the no!!!
Qatar Airways in Doha is at the absolute bottom of my list.
My most humiliating experience ever was with QR in Doha back in 2007. Our A340-600 from DOH-LHR went tech and aircraft was swapped to a 2-class A330. That meant a bunch of involuntary downgrades from First to Biz and Biz to Econ. I was one of the latter group unfortunately.
However, to add insult to injury, they then came around the Premium Terminal calling out the names of all passengers who had been downgraded, ordered us to pack up our luggage and put us in a bus back to the main terminal.
"This terminal is only for Business Class and First Class, but you are now in Economy Class so we cannot allow you to use it", was the explanation provided.
Qatar Airways ground service in general is absolutely awful everywhere. They make even Turkish look good in comparison.
That’s awful but is a flight in 2007 something to be judged on?
I totally agree , still waiting over 6 months for a response to q- suite debacle and the treatment on the ground with their “buses” for business class and their appalling lounges at out stations especially the “cafe” they use in Amsterdam, useless phone agents who don’t have a clue with regard to their own rules & regulations
I would say KLM. Always good service both by phone, at the airport, lounge and onboard for me as an FBG. Expect of AMS sometimes beeing a bad hub due to bad weather and big loads of passengers. KLM also have a big network in Europe.
Any attempt to argue for service quality is meaningless esp. when it is based on anecdotes and personal experience.
The US big 4 serve well over 100 million customers per year. Any single person's experience with any company out of that many customers is statistically meaningless.
While other airlines are not as large, they still are far too large for any single customer's perceptive to be worth anything.
The only unbiased statistical measure of airline...
Any attempt to argue for service quality is meaningless esp. when it is based on anecdotes and personal experience.
The US big 4 serve well over 100 million customers per year. Any single person's experience with any company out of that many customers is statistically meaningless.
While other airlines are not as large, they still are far too large for any single customer's perceptive to be worth anything.
The only unbiased statistical measure of airline quality in the US is the US DOT's Air Travel Consumer Report which includes consumer complaints. While consumer complaints are the inverse of a positive experience and do not necessarily mean anyone is good, the measure is indicative of how well airlines do in delivering their service.
According to the DOT, Delta had the best consumer complaint ratio in 2022 of the large jet airlines (excluding regional airlines). The DOT is way behind in reporting consumer complaint data for 2023. DL's consumer complaint ratio in 2022 was half of AA and UA and even better than WN. B6 and NK were 3X worse than DL while F9 was 6X worse.
Then explain why I've never in my life had a good experience with Delta, either in the air or on the ground. Their employees tend to be lazy, hostile, or both, and they seem uninterested in things like helping with rebooking or drink service. Delta at MSP seems to be a torture test.
I think you kind of unintentionally proved his point about anecdotes versus data
Tim-
While I agree that stats are the way to determine this, your analysis is too simplistic. I would agree that the vast majority of experience with ground service is during IRROPs. So what you need is a measure of consumer complaints *per IRROP*, not just an overall measure of complaints per passenger trip. Otherwise, the complaints rate just becomes a proxy of your overall flight reliability.
To take an extreme example: let's say...
Tim-
While I agree that stats are the way to determine this, your analysis is too simplistic. I would agree that the vast majority of experience with ground service is during IRROPs. So what you need is a measure of consumer complaints *per IRROP*, not just an overall measure of complaints per passenger trip. Otherwise, the complaints rate just becomes a proxy of your overall flight reliability.
To take an extreme example: let's say airline A has atrocious flight reliability with 100% of customers facing delays, missed connections, cancelled flights, etc. But their ground service is really good, to the point that only 1% of those customers file complaints.
And then you have airline B that has sterling flight reliability, with only 1% of customers facing IRROPs, but god help you when you do because they're so incompetent on the ground that 100% of those customers file complaints. Both airlines will have a gross 1% complaint per passenger trip. But it says nothing about their ground services and everything about their flight service.
So *if* you believe, like Lucky does, that most of someone's experience of ground service happens during irrops, you'll need to use rate of irrops to correct those stats on consumer complaints.
From fantastic to hopeless:
KLM
Cathay
Singapore Airlines
..
(many here)
..
Malaysia Airlines
AirAsia
TAP Air Portugal
Saudia
Cathay in my experience has been very Jekyll and Hyde, on the ground and in flight. You can get some employees who are just wonderful human beings, and then some that are just abjectly rude. Very little middle ground.
What language do you speak, sir?
It's really a hard topic and there's not the "one good" airline.
I had quite some good experience with Lufthansa (letting me get on earlier flights with available seats at the gate, helpful staff in the lounge etc.), although that's not consistently the case and online support as well as handling of cancellations is simply awful.
Similar with EVA Air. Trying to contact their Munich office was a very bad experience (office unstaffed all day,...
It's really a hard topic and there's not the "one good" airline.
I had quite some good experience with Lufthansa (letting me get on earlier flights with available seats at the gate, helpful staff in the lounge etc.), although that's not consistently the case and online support as well as handling of cancellations is simply awful.
Similar with EVA Air. Trying to contact their Munich office was a very bad experience (office unstaffed all day, Vienna support was easy to reach but they didn't care about Munich-issued tickets). Also their website and computer systems are rather poor. Plus I hate it that they often have boarding delays but only annouce them after the official boarding time.
On the other hand, during a transfer I had someone waiting for me half way on the transfer route just to tell me that there was an issue with the seat of my onward flight and I'd need a new seat assignment. Other airlines would just issue a new seat during boarding, without giving you any choice of available options. So that was really great.
Also their lounge staff is amazing in case of minor problems.
At Singapore Airlines check-in, when I told them I chose the last row seat because at the time of selection the neighboring seat was unoccupied, they quickly blocked that seat for me. Pretty nice service, although probably easy on a not fully booked flight. Didn't have any problems with them, so can't tell about problem handling.
China Airlines in the meantime comes to memory for refusing compensation for broken luggage (took me several complaints to finally make them pay), and for pretty chaotic boarding procedures.
In the end, I think you can simply hope not have anything unusual happen to you, as that comes with a high chance of problems at pretty much every airline. Highly complex and optimized systems often lack flexibility.
An interesting approach would be if you would make a list of all different kinds of irregularities, like broken/delayed/lost luggage, seat changes, flight delays/cancellations and whatever else has happened to you in the past.
Then you could for each type tell which airlines it has happened at and how they handled it. Might be a good approach to a fair rating of ground service, although you could only rate airlines which had to solve problems.
I’ve found the American Admirals Club agents to be amazing in helping me solve issues during IRROPS - and they’ve always been friendly in each of my visits no matter what station I’m at- even before I had status and was buying day passes. Gate and checking agents have been a mixed bad but never had any real issues with them. The EXP desk has always been amazing at resolving any issue, once you get them on the phone.
It sounds like employees being "empowered" is direct correlation to how many nasty and surly some of them can be. But if you get a nice person, they can maybe interpret the "rules " a bit more liberally to help you out, if, say, you're in an IRROPs situation and you have to take a certain flight. Or let you in a lounge a bit earlier than you're technically allowed to be
I don't fly...
It sounds like employees being "empowered" is direct correlation to how many nasty and surly some of them can be. But if you get a nice person, they can maybe interpret the "rules " a bit more liberally to help you out, if, say, you're in an IRROPs situation and you have to take a certain flight. Or let you in a lounge a bit earlier than you're technically allowed to be
I don't fly JFK very much, I heard they have some of the surliest ground situations. As a DL flyer, I find DTW and MSP having the nicest folks over ATL.
Imagine the disposition of a lounge greeter who has been asked by a dozen people every hour of every shift to be admitted to the lounge earlier than "technically" allowed. Gimme, gimme, gimme. Their surliness is the result of entitled individuals. And, if they let one person in the lounge early, they'll let everyone in the lounge early. Imagine the over-crowding. So, how about they "technically" make everyone pay and jack the price up to...
Imagine the disposition of a lounge greeter who has been asked by a dozen people every hour of every shift to be admitted to the lounge earlier than "technically" allowed. Gimme, gimme, gimme. Their surliness is the result of entitled individuals. And, if they let one person in the lounge early, they'll let everyone in the lounge early. Imagine the over-crowding. So, how about they "technically" make everyone pay and jack the price up to relieve over-crowding? Then, there wouldn't be a time restriction.
My home airport's lounge doesn't get ever crowded, so I've always been able to get in. I'm not sure if I can do that in ATL Sky Club B at 11am, for example.
My point is that "empowered" employees do have some benefits, YMMV. Your sermon was unwanted and unwarranted.
Lee's sermon is a sorry excuse for poor performers with bad moral character -- they think it's appropriate to behave badly because their job involves some challenging aspects.
As it turns out, all over the world, in all sorts of jobs, employees deal with challenges. Good employees rise up and maintain a professional disposition, which is a published job requirement. Bad employees use the challenge as an excuse to forgo their manners--assuming they ever had...
Lee's sermon is a sorry excuse for poor performers with bad moral character -- they think it's appropriate to behave badly because their job involves some challenging aspects.
As it turns out, all over the world, in all sorts of jobs, employees deal with challenges. Good employees rise up and maintain a professional disposition, which is a published job requirement. Bad employees use the challenge as an excuse to forgo their manners--assuming they ever had any in the first place.
They're an easy target, but AA's recent changes to what phone agents are empowered to do with award tickets is very distressing.
Most just emphatically insist they can't touch an award reservation, without even bothering to understand what the request is. Almost all of them don't know what still is or isn't allowed after the program changes, so they just say nothing is allowed.
I recently had an international award reservation with AA where the...
They're an easy target, but AA's recent changes to what phone agents are empowered to do with award tickets is very distressing.
Most just emphatically insist they can't touch an award reservation, without even bothering to understand what the request is. Almost all of them don't know what still is or isn't allowed after the program changes, so they just say nothing is allowed.
I recently had an international award reservation with AA where the international leg was operated by AA, and the domestic leg was operated by a foreign partner. My plans changed and I needed to drop only the domestic leg operated by the foreign partner.
It took me 6 calls over a week to find an agent who knew how to make this change. During that time I really began to question my own understanding of the program more and more, as agents vehemently insisted that wasn't possible without cancelling the entire reservation, even though I knew it was allowed by the program's rules. I finally got lucky with an agent who knew exactly what to do and made the requested changes in 5 minutes.
AA phone agents weren't perfect, but they used to be more far more empowered and knowledgeable about awards before the 2023 program changes.
Being flying a lot with them on longhaul business class, I concur that Turkish Airlines customer service is .... hopelessly bad..
On the other hand my experience with Air France customer service is consistently very good, including with irrops.
It depends what you mean by good service on the ground…
For me nothing beats Aegean Airlines’ call centre when it comes to efficient servicing of their own flights. Knowledgeable, fast and courteous! However, they fall very short when it comes to servicing anything to do with Star Alliance especially on award bookings! Zero effort there!
In my experience, Alaska is the best domestic for ground services and phone service. Swiss is the best for international - just pleasant and efficient = lower stress.
Worst is Air Canada for phone service; it is always a very long wait, no matter what time of day you call. United has the best App. Delta has the most employees that seem to enjoy their jobs.
I have to say across the board I’d go with BA. I never have an issue reaching someone on the phone and they can resolve what I need to be resolved - even more complex stuff. And while they’re nowhere as polished or service oriented as SQ, their IT is so much better. Booking lap infant partner awards - try that one with SQ. Or LH, where they seem to hate their own miles…
In my personal experience I find that most European Carriers work depending on your status, they bite you if you have no status and they kneel if you show your Gold card. At least mostly.
The most unhelpful I'm when in/on African Carriers. Not that much experience with American ones. In Europe IB and AZ are the worst you can have. But again, that's my experience.
In Europe, unless you’re at a hub, it’s third parties who have no loyalty and do everything by the book. Some handle multiple airlines,often with different policies and they obviously get confused. They also mostly lack any experience and knowledge, so when a flight is delayed or cancelled have little clue as to how to rebook or reroute. I am aware of one who was travelling to Vancouver and their connection was delayed. She had...
In Europe, unless you’re at a hub, it’s third parties who have no loyalty and do everything by the book. Some handle multiple airlines,often with different policies and they obviously get confused. They also mostly lack any experience and knowledge, so when a flight is delayed or cancelled have little clue as to how to rebook or reroute. I am aware of one who was travelling to Vancouver and their connection was delayed. She had an ESTA so there were multiple options and was told they can book her to Boston and she can take a taxi from there. She had to argue with them until they eventually rerouted her via Seattle. She was showing them a North America map as the staff had no clue about geography. Something you would think was was essential in the travel industry.
@ Icarus;
Completly true about those third parties! Even when it comes to overweight which in most cases are handled by Piece Concept most of the times they never know what to charge, luckely at my home airport due to their unknowledge I tend mostly to tell them the (my) prices and never had any issues and I never remeber paying the correct prices applied by the Carrier. Unless those Carriers where I have...
@ Icarus;
Completly true about those third parties! Even when it comes to overweight which in most cases are handled by Piece Concept most of the times they never know what to charge, luckely at my home airport due to their unknowledge I tend mostly to tell them the (my) prices and never had any issues and I never remeber paying the correct prices applied by the Carrier. Unless those Carriers where I have Corporate fares where I don't have to pay anything. Lucky me it's in their system or I would have to show them everytime my contract or have a call with the Carrier itself, imagine the hassle.
In general, I think the best service is when the ground crew work for the airline and not for a contractor. They have more "skin in the game," and tend to be more informed about policies whilst being empowered to make changes.
Among US carriers, I have found that American is far preferable to United in this respect. United at SFO, for example, is overwhelmingly staffed by Prospect. United is contracted-out in São Paulo and...
In general, I think the best service is when the ground crew work for the airline and not for a contractor. They have more "skin in the game," and tend to be more informed about policies whilst being empowered to make changes.
Among US carriers, I have found that American is far preferable to United in this respect. United at SFO, for example, is overwhelmingly staffed by Prospect. United is contracted-out in São Paulo and Buenos Aires; American has its own staff. American has some extreme monsters, but I have had more American staff go out of their way to be kind, informed, and helpful.
Southwest is decent about 80 percent of the time, also because they have their own people. Their IT and operational problems, however, are making a good airline into a catastrophe.
Delta is entirely unpredictable. I just dealt with a Delta employee screaming in Detroit, but the agent who checked me in was above and beyond cheerful and knowledgable. At the gate, it was another screamer. Go figure.
Although everyone has their own good and bad examples, I have had the best experiences worldwide with Air France/KLM. They have come a long way in terms of IT and ensuring polished, friendly, and professional staff.
The consistent low point for me is Air Canada. They are nice in the "Signature" lounges, but their check-in and gate staff? It is as if you ruined their lives by daring to want to fly on their airline. This is especially true at Pearson Airport. They are consistently bitter and unhelpful.
Recent contact with KLM via WhatsApp regarding rebooking a complex itinerary was outstanding. Follow up via the same channel to rebook the seat was a completely different and poor customer experience.
Maybe because Southwest doesn’t have to deal with alliances, lounges, etc., I’ve found their ground employees and phone agents to be consistently the most knowledgeable and willing/able to help within the parameters of the program. Whether over the phone or in person it’s very rare that I encounter any Southwest customer-facing agent that I’d call surly; just monotone or disinterested at worst. Maybe they won’t bend the rules for people but at least they know...
Maybe because Southwest doesn’t have to deal with alliances, lounges, etc., I’ve found their ground employees and phone agents to be consistently the most knowledgeable and willing/able to help within the parameters of the program. Whether over the phone or in person it’s very rare that I encounter any Southwest customer-facing agent that I’d call surly; just monotone or disinterested at worst. Maybe they won’t bend the rules for people but at least they know what the rules are.
Furthermore, I’ve found changes/cancels are exponentially easier on their app than on other US-based airline apps. Whether it’s executing an A List same-day change, or in advance for any other reason.
(Oh, and as regular A List, I almost always get directly patched through if I ever do have to call.)
Agreed, Kevin. It might be that they have a simpler operation (no interlining, lounges, business class, etc.) I think I've only had about three Southwest employees be really awful. The rest have at least been normal; many have been great. They can also be hilarious.
An observation I have had is that often an airlines' own employees are more knowledgeable than contract employees. For example, the Singapore Airlines Business Class counter agent in JFK did not know what lounge to use in JFK. She had to call an SQ Supervisor for help.
Overall, I agree that Virgin Atlantic has the best ground employees and helpful Reservations staff. I have also never had an issue with Korean Air "if things go wrong".
I disagree that Delta has better phone/ground agents. They are less empowered since they're not allowed to reissue tickets. Many make up rules as they go along and few understand upgrade certs and rules regarding those (and there are many glitches with those so they constantly require agent intervention).
"Red coats" aka supervisors at the airport are generally clueless and dumber than the frontline employees and many skyclub employees are clueless as well.
As I was reading the post, I immediately thought of the Delta Red Coats I encountered in my travels during the 90s, and wondered whether they still existed -- I generally found them to be very helpful and attentive. I guess they still exist but not necessarily providing the same level of service:-(
One of the biggest problems with US airlines is that, especially in smaller cities, they have outsourced their ground support teams, both customer service and ramp. The problem with this is that these employees have less experience and are paid considerably less than actual airline employees. These outsourced companies also have a much higher turnover than the airlines. This can definitely leads to a less than positive experience.
I've had Singapore Airlines agents on the ground in Singapore go find a camera I'd left on board a previous flight, and meet me on the jet bridge of my connecting flight with item in hand.
And they flag my boarding pass so that when I board a flight they let me know that my entertainment system might not be working and would I like to change seats?
They've also assisted when I misentered data...
I've had Singapore Airlines agents on the ground in Singapore go find a camera I'd left on board a previous flight, and meet me on the jet bridge of my connecting flight with item in hand.
And they flag my boarding pass so that when I board a flight they let me know that my entertainment system might not be working and would I like to change seats?
They've also assisted when I misentered data on my wife's Australia ETA, so she didn't have permission to fly, they worked the phones in real time to correct it.
I've had good service in Lufthansa's first class terminal :D and in Osaka a United rep met me on the jet bridge to let me know my bag didn't make it. (Of course they did very little *about it* but it was still a kind gesture so I didn't wait longer than necessary at baggage claim.)
U.S. airlines *can* provide great service on the ground, certainly my experience as an ex-CK on AA was excellent during irrops, and the staff at the AUS Admirals Club recognize regulars by name and perform miracles during frequent delays..
Halfway through reading this, I thought this sounded like a post from Gary. And it was!
Air North! I thought you loved them too Ben?