THE FLYING GORILLA LIVES IN A CASTLE IN THE SKY

For those of you who have read my American Airlines pieces, here’s a follow up story. As always, if I say that I’m going to do something, I do it. After having written the AA storIes, I wrote to the executives at AA. Here’s what I wrote:

Re: American Airlines issue

To: sean.bentel@aa.com Cc: kerry.philipovitch@aa.com, maya.leibman@aa.com, robert.isom@aa.com, doug.parker@aa.com

Good Afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I live in the Philadelphia area, where American Airlines is the dominant carrier. On my main travel routes, Los Angeles and Paris, there are no direct flights on competing airlines. Of course, this makes those of us in the Philadelphia area captive consumers. I  have been trying to address some of the passenger issues that have made flying American unpleasant, including seat pitch, delays due to missing crew, higher costs, eliminated perks on the AA card. I have spoken with Beth and Vicki about these issues and also about a signifiant customer service problem on our last flight. They were very responsive in addressing the customer service problem. However, although Vicki and Beth spoke a little bit about the larger issues, they weren’t able to address the  other concerns as substantively. I expected that this would be the case, since you are the decision makers on those fronts. 

I am a consumer advocate, as well as a not too happy passenger. I published The Consumer Playbook. Although I did not name companies in the book, the chapter, “Flying Under the Radar” is an American Airlines customer service  story. On my blog, I do name companies, and have published two pieces about American, which clearly point out the issues. “The Flying Gorilla”, 11/3/17, and “The Return of the Flying Gorilla”, 2/13/18. You can view them at consumerplaybook.com

At this point, I am asking you to experience the passenger point of view by spending a few hours riding in your Coach seats. The best way for companies to be responsive to their customer base is to experience what the customers experience. I would  appreciate your thoughts on this and would love to hear that one or all of you are willing to take on this small request.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Mauree Miller

**************************************************************************************************************Did I receive a response from any of the executive staff? Of course not. I decided to wait until after a trip to Paris before I followed up. Here is the follow up email, sent on May 18:

Good Afternoon, again, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Of course, I haven’t heard from any of you regarding my concerns as an American Airlines passenger, and especially regarding your thoughts about taking on the role of passenger in order to better understand the passenger experience.  However, I am writing  to you today, having just returned from a trip to Paris with my husband. Because this was a transatlantic flight, we were able to fly in Premium Economy seats, which were infinitely more comfortable than the regular coach seats available on the transcontinental flights to Los Angeles. We wish that you had some way of making the transcontinental experience more similar to the transatlantic experience.

As a consumer and as a consumer advocate, I am asking you to consider a way to recognize that, while a flight to LA is not as long as a flight to Paris, it is still a long time to sit in a cramped seat on a cramped plane with all of the discomfort in the planes that you fly cross country. And, once again, I am asking that you spend a few hours flying in Coach seats so that you can experience what passengers experience and consider ways to rectify the resulting problems.

While my expectations have been low, and I wasn’t surprised that not one of you responded to my last email, common courtesy and even a minimal concern for customer experience would dictate that at least one of you would take the passenger issue seriously and reply. I’m guessing that I’ve been generous in addressing you as “Ladies and Gentlemen”, when your lack of response and the American Airlines standard is more in line with the term “Suits”.  Please prove me wrong and respond to this email with respect to any efforts that American Airlines can make to enhance the transcontinental passenger experience, perhaps starting with your taking on that experience in order to fix it. Although you may be “King of the Skies” now, remember, things change. And if  you invest in your customer base, when business changes, you have a greater chance of staying on top.

Thank you.

Very Sincerely,

Mauree Miller

**************************************************************************************************************

Of course, no reply again. While my expectations have been very low throughout the process, I still think that it never hurts to try. American Airlines did step up when we had the customer service issue in LA. But bigger problems require bigger solutions, not to mention executives who are committed to their customer base. Obviously, American Airlines steps back when the bigger issues are front and center.

So, what now? For the time being, I’ll take a step back unless a specific travel experience requires that I reach out to the contacts who have been helpful in the past. As far as the airline is concerned, I believe that “Every dog has its day”. This applies to the 2000 pound gorilla, too. While the executive staff may live in a castle with a moat—and a drawbridge—and an electric fence—and a team of body guards—they aren’t impervious to the consequences of a consumer onslaught, whether it be government oversight, the unanticipated appearance of competition, Flyer's Rights, etc. Consider the case of Wells Fargo. After years of shady dealings, they’ve been slapped with all kinds of penalties, totaling over $1 billion. And, there’s been a shakeup in their leadership. Executives who allow the company to abuse their customer base eventually get pushed out of their castles. Take a look at the chapter in The Consumer Playbook, “Mortgage Sleight of Hand”. It’s a story about my experience with sleazy staff at Wells Fargo. So, I’m now seeing that dog having its day. Unfortunately, it often takes too long for that to happen. But I believe that it does happen. And I'm guessing that American Airlines will have their day, too.

THE 2000 POUND GORILLA MAY LIVE IN A CASTLE, BUT EVENTUALLY THE     WALLS WILL COME TUMBLING DOWN