Ugh: Misdirected Delay Frustration In The Lufthansa First Class Terminal

For the return portion of our Good Morning Milan, Goodnight Moon trip, my dad and I flew Lufthansa first class from Frankfurt (FRA) to Boston (BOS). Arguably the best part of the experience is being able to use the Lufthansa First Class Terminal Frankfurt (FCT), so that you can skip the main terminal altogether.

While in the FCT, we witnessed an interaction that couldn’t help but make me shake my head, particularly for a frequent flyer…

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Lufthansa passenger furious after learning about misconnect

The Lufthansa First Class Terminal has little seating “clusters,” and my dad and I were visiting mid-morning, when the lounge tends to be fullest. So we shared our little seating cluster with a German business traveler, who was a HON Circle member traveling in business class to Chicago (this is Lufthansa’s top tier status, and grants First Class Terminal access).

Each passenger in the lounge is assigned a PA, who looks after their travels, lets them know when it’s time to board, etc. This man’s PA came up while he was sitting there, and explained that unfortunately his flight to Chicago had just been delayed by two hours, so he’d miss his connection to Minneapolis.

The PA was prepared, and explained the three alternative connections he could be rebooked on to Minneapolis, with options on American, Delta, and United, along with specific times. I was impressed by the number of options she provided!

The guy basically lost it upon learning this information, claiming that he had a very important meeting that night, and there were 15 people waiting for him in Minneapolis. This conversation took place in German, and he was really angry, and went on and on and on.

He spoke to the PA in an aggressive tone with an elevated voice, saying how outrageous it is that the flight is delayed on such short notice, and how this was unacceptable, and they needed to find an alternative. The FCT is usually so quiet that you can hear a pin drop, which made his tone all the more surprising.

I just kind of looked down during this time, while my dad was a little bit less subtle, and was watching the commotion. The passenger then turned to my dad to get him to agree with him that it was ridiculous that the flight was delayed.

I felt really bad for the PA, since the conversation eventually ended with the passenger suggesting that the PA go off and find a better way to get him to Minneapolis sooner, even though I suspect options were limited to non-existent. Our flight was ready for boarding soon, so we didn’t see how this all concluded.

A few thoughts came to mind:

• I can certainly empathize with the passenger’s frustration, and disappointment in having his plans ruined
• If you have a very important meeting and 15 people waiting for you, and you absolutely can’t miss it, it probably makes sense to leave a buffer; that’s especially true when you’re relying on an international connection at O’Hare in winter, in order to make it there on time
• I was confused by his confusion over the flight being delayed at the last minute; often that’s when flights are delayed, as it’s when maintenance issues are discovered, or other operational considerations come into play
• No matter how frustrated you are, taking out your anger on frontline employees isn’t fair, because they’re not in any way at fault for what happened

I was just surprised to see such a reaction for an otherwise mild-mannered German business traveler, since it’s not necessarily the culture where you’d expect someone to respond so aggressively. Sadly it was the second time this trip I saw someone act out of line, as an Emirates first class passenger on my outbound flight also got really mad at the crew over something outside of their control.

I make a point not to act like this when traveling (or in general)

There’s no denying that it’s super frustrating when things aren’t working out as you had hoped while traveling. That being said, I think it’s always important to separate the frontline worker who is trying to help you, from the actual policy or situation that’s frustrating you.

When I encounter an issue while traveling, or if there’s something I’m not happy about, I make a point of being polite to the people who are trying to help me. If there is some frustration I want to express, I explicitly say “I know this isn’t your fault and you’re doing your best, but…”

Nobody likes to be yelled at, or feel like they’re being blamed for something that’s completely outside of their control. When I’m interacting with a frontline employee, I always try to consider what I’m hoping to accomplish, and go from there:

• If the goal is just to vent, then email someone in customer relations or a manager at the company to express your frustration, and explain how that situation may impact your purchase decisions in the future
• If the goal is simply to have the best outcome possible, then being polite but firm, and explaining the importance of something, should accomplish that goal

I’m reminded of a situation I witnessed some time back in the club lounge at the Renaissance London Heathrow Airport, where a guest was chewing out the club lounge attendant for how bad the beer selection was.

He was totally correct that the beer selection sucked (and the overall lounge food and drink selection wasn’t good). Then again:

• I can assure you that the lounge attendant has zero say in what is served
• If you do think it makes sense to share feedback with the attendant, you can do so politely
• Really you should be expressing your displeasure to a manager, or someone who can potentially do something with your feedback
• Then again, I doubt they care anyway, since this is a Marriott, and I suspect most guests are actually just getting free access on account of elite status

Bottom line

Unfortunately people letting out their frustration on frontline employees in the travel industry is nothing new, though it does always disappoint me. Frankly, I’m more understanding of the frustration from those who rarely fly than from those who are frequent flyers, and should anticipate these kinds of things.

It’s totally fair to be frustrated when things don’t go as planned, though I think it’s important not to misdirect that frustration. All too often, people can’t separate the employee trying to help them from their frustration with the actual issue.

What do you make of these kinds of interactions?