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This
letter was featured in the October, 2008 ErikHastings.com newsletter.
Open Letter To American Airlines
October 1, 2008
Gerard Arpey
Chairman & CEO
American Airlines
Dear Mr. Arpey,
I
am writing this letter to inform you of an American Airlines employee’s
outstanding customer performance not just for me, but for about 1000
other passengers.
On September 28, 2008, I was scheduled to
depart 6:55am PST on an AA flight from Reno, NV to Dallas, and
then on to New York. Upon my on time arrival at the gate for boarding
(70 minutes prior to departure) I started to hear some chatter about a
mechanical problem yesterday which caused my flight to be very full.
The gate (C10) was slowly filling up and that’s when I saw Bobbie for
the first time.
Bobbie, arrived on time to get my flight
boarded. From my vantage point, there were a few passengers that were
visibly annoyed at being delayed (due to yesterday’s issue). The
tension began to build, but Bobbie never let it faze her. She smiled
and was efficient in accomplishing her tasks at hand. It was then, she
was forced to ask for volunteers. I gave up my seat to help ease the
pain of those passengers who REALLY needed to be on that flight. It
also didn’t hurt that the volunteers were given a 300 dollar voucher as
well as being booked on a one o’clock flight that same day. That’s when
Bobbie REALLY kicked it up a notch.
I arrived back at the gate
at about 11:30am. As boarding time grew near, it was obvious we were
not leaving on time. My flight had been delayed until 2:15pm and that’s
when tempers started to flare. Other passengers were going to miss
their connection and they let Bobbie have it! Yet, she never faltered.
She was kind, sympathetic, apologetic and professional. She treated her
job as though it was HER company. I was amazed. Again, I gave up my
seat due to being oversold. To add insult to injury passengers of a
Dallas flight (that were supposed to leave at 1:50pm) had been told
they weren’t leaving until 12:30am because of a mechanical issue. How
annoyed do you think THEY were? Bobbie’s actions almost seemed
effortless. At this point AA did send up some reinforcement gate
agents, but as far as I am concerned, Bobbie is the employee who
deserves the accolades.
Bobbie the gate agent at C10 on
September 28, 2008 exceeded my expectations in the way she handled a
very tough situation. In the short time I had the pleasure of being a
fly on the wall, she treated the nine hundred passengers with respect
and humility…even the ones that were not very nice to her. The best
part of this tale is I bet Bobbie’s outstanding performance is
representative of a pattern…I just got to see in action for one day.
Gerard,
give her a promotion, a wage increase, extra vacation time or whatever
she wants for her unbelievable dedication to American Airlines on
September 28, 2008 in Reno, Nevada.
Sincerely,
Erik Hastings
Host-The Travel Show
WABC-NY
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