How Just One Comment Can Change a Day..And Image.

I was recently reading an article by Shaun Rein posted on Forbes.com entitled "United Airlines Shows How Not To Run Your Business" detailing some of the complaints and challenges that United Airlines is having with customer service issues and their overall image. It certainly was a eye-opener on not only United Airlines but got me to thinking about an altogether different experience I had last week with another airline, Allegiant Air.

My adult daughter was flying back to her home to Grand Junction, Colorado, last week from my home in Las Vegas and Allegiant is the only air service we use due to their flying schedule and reasonable pricing. I have never thought much about customer service with Allegiant Air, it has always just been a convenient airline to get from "A" to "B". I confess that while service was always adequate I considered Allegiant Air to be a "discount airline" and did not expect anything above the ordinary.

I was wrong. My daughter flew out on a Monday early evening flight and I had anticipated the usual airport hassles, long lines, impatient ticket agents, you know the drill. What I found instead was that Allegiant Air had a full counter of ticket agents and absolutely no lines. That in itself was a surprise, but what impressed me was just one comment by the ticket agent who checked my daughter in. After completing her check in and seat assignment the agent turned to me and said, "it's hard letting them go isn't it." That one personal comment made my day. The agent had taken the time to acknowledge my distress at saying goodbye.

I have thought about that statement a lot lately and came to the realization that Allegiant Air has gone that small extra step on more than this one occasion. When I've had other concerns the ticket agents in both Grand Junction and Las Vegas have both taken the time to listen and help with the problem. The flight attendants have been polite, friendly, and efficient. In fact every flight with them has been pleasant and mostly on time.

After reading the whole article regarding United Airlines I was disappointed to see so many negative experiences regarding them. I have flown United/Ted for many years, though not lately, from Las Vegas to Denver and have always found United to be most efficient. That they seem to be willing to let their good name go is a sad commentary. After all, with so much competition out there, airlines or not, what can make a difference in a business's success can be customer satisfaction and your 'good name'.

Allegiant Air has my 'good name' stamp.

Thanks for listening,
Lindy