So I'm sitting at Orlando airport and supposed to fly back at 6.20pm. Only I'm now leaving at 10.30pm. So instead of getting home around 10.15pm, it's going to be around 2.15am.
I'm obviously pissed and the only thing that is somewhat redeeming is that my kids would have been asleep anyway (I can't tell you how often these incessant delays end up meaning I miss the kids bedtimes).
My beef is three-fold:
1) Why are more people not recognizing or exposing the fact that LaGuardia (in particular) and the other NYC airports are hopelessly inept, with technology, systems and processes that are woefully out of date and in need of refurbishment? Just come out and admit it already. When I take a wrong turn on my car's GPS route, it adjusts. How hard is that?
2) Why are the airlines not stepping up and taking this battle to the FAA?
3) From a marketing perspective, why are airlines not turning this huge negative into a positive. Take my current experience with Delta today. As a Platinum customer, I expect to be treated a little differently (I just do). Instead of taking some responsibility, they just shrug their shoulders and say, "not our problem. It's the weather"
WEATHER IS YOUR PROBLEM. You fly. You fly in weather. It's your problem, not mine.
Excuse me? Aren't you the airline that's supposed to be changing? So change already. Change the status quo by putting me up in a hotel for the night. How hard is that, especially if you have (and if you don't, go get one) a relationship with a hotel chain. Why not give me a choice? Instead of spending 4+ hours which tick over into the wee hours of the morning, give me the ability to get a good night's sleep and start afresh tomorrow.
Most likely, I'll still elect to get home and get my trip over and done with.
And then they send an apologetic e-mail with the following verbiage:
We apologize for the inconvenience. We realize you have a choice in airlines and we're working hard to ensure that Delta meets all your travel needs
This is like Cingular advertising itself as the network with the least amount of dropped calls. Come on, why be content being part of the pack instead of trying to pull away from it? There is this unspoken belief - both on the part of marketers and consumers - that ALL airlines, telco's etc are equally bad, so why bother switching or taking a stand.
I find that to be incredibly risky and perhaps it's time to call the bluff of lip-service-service.
It's time to stop sitting on the sidelines and avoiding the conversation.
Recent Comments