Good service on airlines is subjective — not only do we all have different opinions on what constitutes good service, but there’s also so much inconsistency in the industry. One person flying a particular airline might have an amazing experience, while someone else has a terrible experience, based on who they interact with, whether there are irregular operations, etc.
When I speak favorably about my impression of an airline, there are often people who will share their negative experience with a carrier’s ground service, whether it’s during a delay, a missed connection, or whatever.
It raises an 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 easiest 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 on 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. That says nothing of the fact that so many ground agents are outsourced.
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
- Using actual airline employees at outstations, rather than largely outsourcing to third parties, where agents might not be as knowledgable, or as invested in the passenger experience
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. Then again, the whole reason I need to have those phone interactions is that too many functions can’t be performed online (like booking or canceling many partner award tickets).
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.
Japanese carriers of course consistently have very friendly service, more reflecting the country’s culture, than the industry as such. That being said, I can’t say that I’ve found them to be very flexible, or empowered, beyond just performing their specific assigned tasks.
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?
On your comment about EVA Air's website: Taiwan is neither a North Asian nor a Southeast Asian country
I have flown around 400 segments in the last decade (mostly int‘l) and while I had a lot of irrops, I never really was let down in a dramatic way. My „worst“ situations:
- A Delta gate agent once shouted at me for addressing her as „madame“. To this day I am unsure, if she was attempting to be funny.
- CX a couple of times wanted to charge a fee for cancelling a ticket...
I have flown around 400 segments in the last decade (mostly int‘l) and while I had a lot of irrops, I never really was let down in a dramatic way. My „worst“ situations:
- A Delta gate agent once shouted at me for addressing her as „madame“. To this day I am unsure, if she was attempting to be funny.
- CX a couple of times wanted to charge a fee for cancelling a ticket with a scheduling change (but always did the right thing when sending screenshots and instisting) - I flew them a lot and was otherwise very happy.
- I once was kicked out of an AF lounge which made me feel really embarrassed and a bit sad.
- I had my fair share of age discrimination with pretty much every airline I flew with when I was still looking young.
- I feel oneworld airlines (might be observation bias) are sometimes a little inflexible with award tickets if schedule changes or cancellations happen outside of the T-14d window.
Having flown hundreds of segments on UA and dozens of segments on BA since the pandemic my observation is that UA’s ground service is excellent and BA’s is diabolical in almost every respect and on every occasion.
UA’s tech is amazing and allows you to sort out most of the (few) issues yourself. If you do need to speak with an agent they are always empathetic and helpful and usually competent. Also they are super-flexible...
Having flown hundreds of segments on UA and dozens of segments on BA since the pandemic my observation is that UA’s ground service is excellent and BA’s is diabolical in almost every respect and on every occasion.
UA’s tech is amazing and allows you to sort out most of the (few) issues yourself. If you do need to speak with an agent they are always empathetic and helpful and usually competent. Also they are super-flexible in making things work for me. But I am a 1K so that helps.
As a Gold on BA, my experience is the opposite. Forget the tech: it can barely sell you a ticket and really can’t do anything else. The agents are variable in their competence but also struggle with the tech at their end. Some are friendly but policy dictates that they must be totally inflexible in their approach. It’s a horrible experience.
My one experience of LX IRROPS was mixed. Useless but friendly until you reached the transfer desk in ZRH but then helpful.
Qatar has the best service. In Doha you will found people all over place, who will assist you. World Class ❤️
I really enjoyed my check-in experience with Starlux staff flying out of TPE and back from CNX last fall. It was a simple procedure and interaction. However, they were genuinely pleasant and gave me that welcoming feeling they want my business, even if just a cattle-class passenger, FAS and onboard food was also great. If oinly their uniforms could be more fashionable, but I digress.
I fly fair amount of legs a year, but,...
I really enjoyed my check-in experience with Starlux staff flying out of TPE and back from CNX last fall. It was a simple procedure and interaction. However, they were genuinely pleasant and gave me that welcoming feeling they want my business, even if just a cattle-class passenger, FAS and onboard food was also great. If oinly their uniforms could be more fashionable, but I digress.
I fly fair amount of legs a year, but, luckily, they usually run without any glitches.
It is an anecdotal evidence, but I hafta say I was really impressed by DL staff at HND a year ago. I flew YVR-SEA-HND-ITM. YVR staff at YVR has advised me the SEA-YVR leg was delayed by five hours, due to some technical issues with the plane. They offered me to rebook me for HND-KIX leg, in order to make sure I catch the last flight of the day. However, I've decided to keep the last flight to ITM on JAL, as it was much closer to where I was staying in Osaka.
The SEA-HND was delayed even slightly more, but my connection was still theoretically safe.
However, it wasn't the case for many other domestic destinations. Local HND DL staff was ready with rebooked boarding cards and hotel vouchers, and was waiting for the incoming passengers.
My suitcase was delayed and nowhere to be seen... Minutes were passing, and my last connection was at risk... Mind you, I needed also to clear immigration and customs, and go to another terminal. I flagged the issue to the ground staff. No suitcase in sight. Suddenly, I see another employee wheeling it from some side door. Then another lady employee grabs me, points me towards the immigration, and asks to look for her on the other side. As a matter of fact, once I have cleared the arrival, she has met me with a train ticket to the domestic terminal in hand. She has escorted me to the station turnstiles. I started running up to the platform, but I picked the wrong direction towards the city. She has noticed it, and she screamed my name alerting me to the mistake. I made to the domestic terminal, rechecked my luggage, and got to the gate when the last JAL flight of the day to ITM was being boarded!
I flew Starlux in economy and HATED their food. Among the most undersalted dishes I’ve ever had in my life
JAL is actually an amazing airline when it comes to making sure things happen for their customers.
One time going to London, and then having a separate ticket to Copenhagen later in the day, the JAL flight had a 5 hour delay. For various reasons I came early and asked to be moved the Paris flight instead. The first remark was, 'But you do not have a connecting flight, so it should be fine' when...
JAL is actually an amazing airline when it comes to making sure things happen for their customers.
One time going to London, and then having a separate ticket to Copenhagen later in the day, the JAL flight had a 5 hour delay. For various reasons I came early and asked to be moved the Paris flight instead. The first remark was, 'But you do not have a connecting flight, so it should be fine' when I explained about my separate ticket on SAS, all the agent said 'Do you have your SAS ticket, I can rebook that for you'. Not a second's hesitation.
I get your point about good ground service not being noticed. I've flown Delta for numerous trips over the years. They seldom blow me away with anything particularly special, but they've always had their act together. Flying Delta has just meant "show up at airport on time, get on plane on time, arrive at destination a few minutes early, get bag, leave airport". It's easy to take for granted, but I flew American recently and...
I get your point about good ground service not being noticed. I've flown Delta for numerous trips over the years. They seldom blow me away with anything particularly special, but they've always had their act together. Flying Delta has just meant "show up at airport on time, get on plane on time, arrive at destination a few minutes early, get bag, leave airport". It's easy to take for granted, but I flew American recently and after a couple of frustrating reschedules, it feels like an airline that will.. uhh.. probably get me to my destination on the day I planned. The American employees I dealt with were perfectly friendly, but everything felt more "you get there when you get there, buddy". Delta isn't perfect and I'm sure there are other folks who have had a bad run-in with them, but they've been consistently reliable for me.
Unpopular opinion but I'll take any US legacy carrier on the ground over their foreign counterparts. I don't need staff to kowtow and apologize to me, I need them to solve the problem. US carriers have self- service tools that can solve most problems and the remaining employees are empowered to solve the rest.
My interactions with with foreign carrier staff when there is an issue have generally been bureaucratic nightmares with them have...
Unpopular opinion but I'll take any US legacy carrier on the ground over their foreign counterparts. I don't need staff to kowtow and apologize to me, I need them to solve the problem. US carriers have self- service tools that can solve most problems and the remaining employees are empowered to solve the rest.
My interactions with with foreign carrier staff when there is an issue have generally been bureaucratic nightmares with them have to call 86 different back offices and special desks. My favorite was when seven different Finnair employees over a five week time span insisted that I couldn't travel another day or get a refund when I was downgraded me from PY to Y. My only option was to travel Y and accept their compensation no matter how reasonable my request was. I ended up having to book another flight and do a chargeback (which I won).
A US carrier would have solved that issue in five minutes instead of the five weeks I was dealing with AY.
I had a similar issue with AA this month with totally bureaucratic responses and a point blank refusal to fly me on a partner airline in the booked class when there was availability and insisted on downgrading me onto a different partner airline. Ignorance, incompetence and unhelpfulness were the trademarks.
I must disagree with DL being better than AA and UA. I've had really good luck with UA, so I'll focus on the other two. AA and DL both have terrible customer service over the phone, but I have found AA's gate and counter personnel to be all business, generally knowledgeable, and usually helpful. Yes, a smile once in a while would be nice. (In the air DL is the clear winner as AA's FAs...
I must disagree with DL being better than AA and UA. I've had really good luck with UA, so I'll focus on the other two. AA and DL both have terrible customer service over the phone, but I have found AA's gate and counter personnel to be all business, generally knowledgeable, and usually helpful. Yes, a smile once in a while would be nice. (In the air DL is the clear winner as AA's FAs are just the absolute worst.)
I once asked a DL gate attendant in MIA why my seat was changed at boarding time. He told me to step aside and then threatened to ban me from the flight! When I tried to explain that I paid a small fee to choose a seat closer to the front of the plane, and I had checked my seat in the app 5 minutes before boarding and it hadn't been changed, he threatened me again. I decided to get on the plane and as I turned to walk away he shouted that he would be happy to ban me from the flight one last time. Once I was in my seat I decided to check my seat assignments for my 2 remaining flights of the day, and discovered the SOB had changed my seats to the last row, middle seat, on both flights! (I was able to change them back in the app.) Anyway, every time I fly DL I run into a DL employee that is either completely clueless or on a power trip.
While Qatar Airways has what I consider to be the best inflight experience in business class, better pray that you never have to deal with them should anything go wrong.
Runner-up position goes to Turkish (where I am convinced there are passengers still stuck in Istanbul airport years after missing their connecting flight).
Ground service in outstations is much like catering - to get the contract, you win on price so airlines get what they pay for.
I also wonder how much choice airlines have at some airports. Can you pick any company other than dnata to run ground service at DXB? Dnata is part of Emirates Group.
PSA///
Southwest/////////
Alaska… sorta kinda, most days?
It’s entirely down to the individual in front of the passenger. Some are helpful, some rude, some just can’t be bothered. All airlines have good and bad apples.
“Which travel bloggers Have Good articles On Their site? Are There Any?”
The answer to this is the same.
I think it is a tricky one as an airline can only control so much of the ground experience at an airport and it can vary widely from airport to airport.
So whilst an airline might have great tech and friendly efficient ground staff and nice lounges if the airport authority does not facilitate a speedy security/immigration process including priority access (GRU for example) it is a bit of a dud.
I would submit to you that I have yet to run into a bad Alaska Airlines employee on the phone, on the ground, or in the air. Everyone has always put an effort into being kind and helpful. People do make mistakes, but I have yet to receive a bad response when I point something out.
That said, it's not all roses: LAX ground service tends to be more indifferent (LAX-based crews are great though),...
I would submit to you that I have yet to run into a bad Alaska Airlines employee on the phone, on the ground, or in the air. Everyone has always put an effort into being kind and helpful. People do make mistakes, but I have yet to receive a bad response when I point something out.
That said, it's not all roses: LAX ground service tends to be more indifferent (LAX-based crews are great though), and the phone agents, while always helpful, sometimes struggle with fixing international award problems. But I've never had what I would call "bad" service from AS.
FMBWI,
Good point on AS, although my experience has differed with outstations.
The phone staff, "Hi, I'm XYZ in Boise", have always been great. However, recently I have noticed a trend of slight disgruntlement with their internal technology and process. Also, the ground staff in bases (SEA, PDX, SAN, LAX) have always been professional with me. Cabin crews up until five years ago were also consistently kind and helpful, too. Lately, it's been quite...
FMBWI,
Good point on AS, although my experience has differed with outstations.
The phone staff, "Hi, I'm XYZ in Boise", have always been great. However, recently I have noticed a trend of slight disgruntlement with their internal technology and process. Also, the ground staff in bases (SEA, PDX, SAN, LAX) have always been professional with me. Cabin crews up until five years ago were also consistently kind and helpful, too. Lately, it's been quite the mixed bag of great, "meh", and a considerable amount of horrible.
Where AS has consistently fallen apart with me is with ground service at smaller outstations (looking right at you AS @ DFW with a big stink-eye). I recall speaking with someone at AS and many of these are staffed by contractors, and that might explain some things.
I have seen a few comments that for some airlines the Twitter/Facebook teams are the one way to get anything done?
So if including apps and websites, worth including them in scope too?
There's no point in trying to assess airport services outside of hubs/focus cities. Most airlines use outsourced staff at most outstations. Some of those employees are absolutely amazing, some aren't very good, but it basically boils down to luck as it doesn't make financial sense for the airlines to invest in training and empowering them.
The real difference in terms of ground service is around handling IROPS. I've been surprisingly fortunate to have avoided major...
There's no point in trying to assess airport services outside of hubs/focus cities. Most airlines use outsourced staff at most outstations. Some of those employees are absolutely amazing, some aren't very good, but it basically boils down to luck as it doesn't make financial sense for the airlines to invest in training and empowering them.
The real difference in terms of ground service is around handling IROPS. I've been surprisingly fortunate to have avoided major disruptions over the past few years, with the exception of two instances of spectacular mishandling of delayed luggage. However, part of my good fortune does stem from avoiding airports and airlines with iffy records or complicated processes- e.g. I will not do connections at AMS or flights on BA unless there are no other viable options.
JAL is a mixed bag for me.
Their gate agents seem to go out of their way to make things difficult for me at least (been "randomly" selected for additional screening a few too many times with no explanation whatsoever, downright ignored for boarding even though I was first in the First Class line...) while on the other hand the First Lounge agents are unbelievably good. One Lounge agent actually ran after me as...
JAL is a mixed bag for me.
Their gate agents seem to go out of their way to make things difficult for me at least (been "randomly" selected for additional screening a few too many times with no explanation whatsoever, downright ignored for boarding even though I was first in the First Class line...) while on the other hand the First Lounge agents are unbelievably good. One Lounge agent actually ran after me as I was leaving because the flight boarding was delayed by 5 minutes and the gate was just outside the Lounge. She insisted I relax in the Lounge until the 5 minutes had passed lol.
Air Canada Super Elite concierges - I realize that service only applies to those with the status, however for a lot of people, it is the number one motivation to requalify. The level of service on the phone, through the concierge email, or with the concierges at the airport is unlike any I have seen in the industry, and consistently outperforms my expectations, especially during irregular operations. So big kudos to them.
Seconded! If the slightest thing goes awry there will be a nice lady in a black jacket right there proactively looking for you to offer the solution they have already arranged. The vast majority of my flights go off without a hitch, but a number of times I've received a phone call to ask if I can be moved to another flight due to an impending delay, or met on the jet bridge with new...
Seconded! If the slightest thing goes awry there will be a nice lady in a black jacket right there proactively looking for you to offer the solution they have already arranged. The vast majority of my flights go off without a hitch, but a number of times I've received a phone call to ask if I can be moved to another flight due to an impending delay, or met on the jet bridge with new boarding passes at a connecting airport before I even knew there was a possible issue.
Air Canada concierges are gold, and worth requalifying year after year.
A lot of ground staff are not employees of the airline even though they are often in the airline uniform , they are not empowered to do muchas we have experienced at LGW with BA during a cancelled flight.
Had a cancelled BA flight at LHR last year (storm, so not their fault).
We were travelling Business.
Outside the secure area they now have no staff (at their main hub!) to do ANYTHING let alone be empowered.
It is all done by the systems, and for anything different.one can call (and hold)
Funny, your article shows a picture of Turkish Airlines. That carrier, truly, has the worst ground customer service in the World.
I've heard that from a lot of people, but I've flown with them a ton over the years and never had an issue. I've misconnected many times, and always just gone straight to the lounge at IST, gotten new boarding passes, and then onto their hotel desk, where I've always gotten a private transfer to a good hotel within 15 minutes or so.
I once saw a turkish airlines check in agent physically attack the customer he was checking in, in Istanbul. Absolute chaos ensued....
After the chaos finished, they allowed him to go back to his job and he continued to check people in!
ME ground staff can be outsources more than most.
THOSE employees are azzhats who seem to go out of their way to say no to even the simplest request.
I know this is a recycled article from before, but I would implore you to expand this category to include all ground services like airport experience.
For example, the Delta One check-ins at LAX/JFK are quite seamless from how it takes you from check-in, to expedited security, to the lounge directly. Or the Virgin Atlantic Upper Class Wing at LHR, JAL First Class entrance at HND, etc.
Agreed. Delta One at LAX is essentially like entering a fancy hotel. Only thing missing is boarding straight from the lounge but this isn’t Europe/Asia so nobody really cares anyway.
Boy I wish SEA would get something similar but I just don’t see that happening.
JAL First entrance at HND was hilarious. "Please sit down in this beautiful lobby lounge while we take care of your check-in" 0.5 seconds later... "Okay time to stand up" and then you go through security with everyone silently staring at you because you're the only customer lol. I loved that experience, 10/10 would recommend.