My Example of the Week
Several years ago I was flying on American Airlines from Albany, New York, through Chicago’s O’Hare Airport to Phoenix. The flight out of Albany was two hours late because of a mechanical problem, which meant I would miss my connection on the last flight of the evening to Phoenix and have to spend the night in Chicago. As the plane taxied up to the gate, I asked one of the flight attendants what kind of treatment I could expect from American Airlines: would they treat me with a sense of appreciation as I had just gone the extra mile for American Airlines, or would they give me a meal ticket for the employees’ cafeteria and tell me to wait at the airport until the next flight left in the morning? The flight attendant’s response was, “I don’t know. That’s not my end of the business. But good luck.” Needless to say, I had visions of a long and uncomfortable night in Chicago.
I got to the American Airlines ticket counter at about 10:30 P.M. expecting the very worst. A very sympathetic and pleasant ticket agent greeted me and when I told him my name, he immediately gave me my boarding pass for the morning flight, handed me a voucher for the Westin O’Hare, pointed to where the limousine would pick me up in two to three minutes, and said, “I am very sorry for any inconvenience this has caused you.”
Talk about a pleasant surprise! I was absolutely shocked. The whole transaction took forty-five seconds and the treatment was strictly first class, as the room at the Westin was incredibly expensive. I learned that American Airlines enjoyed a substantial discount rate for a block of rooms at the Westin O’Hare that was set aside for passengers who missed their flights. Because it was nearly Christmas and Chicago was jammed with people, all the hotels in town were full, with people waiting in line to get in. As a result, the Westin O’Hare had been calling American Airlines and begging them to release this block of rooms so they could rent them out at full price. But American Airlines refused to do so until all their inconvenienced passengers were taken care of.
During the past several years, I’ve told more than 10,000 people about this incident. I’m probably one of American Airlines’ best sales people and they don’t pay me one cent in commission or bonus—American Airlines capitalized on its moment of truth!
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