NYT image of a Delta Red shirt assiating customers
Travel just stinks. While airlines thought that we didn;t want to talk to a person, and set before us phone trees and incomprehensible kiosks. This NYT story is about bringing the personal back to airline customer service, such as Delta's revival of the Red Shirt program which previously was b. 1969- d.2005
Cue mobile checkin, print at home boarding passes. With merger after merger creating a mess of backend systems that won't talk to each other, and the overloaded ATC systemwe're stuck with. Sometimes, automated customer service either can't keep us happyor can't keep up with the problem. Or it IS the problem.
Very exciting to see airlines realize that by focusing on the customer experience in total and attacking the morass of air travel with people and love rather than phone trees, something brilliant could be happening.