AmAir on the horizon?

[Blaise (imported)]

I am retired and would love to work for an airline. I assumed that no one is hiring! I don't require much money and I am great at customer service. I am excellent at it.

I would like to apologize for the awful experience you had. I work for a major airline, and regardless of what's going on with the company you work for, there is never an acceptable excuse for providing your customers with bad service. It is unfortunate, however, that not everyone feels this way. Personally, I do whatever I can to help out my passengers. Unfortunately, due to the rules we are restricted by, sometimes there's not much we can do.

I don't know why your original flight was delayed, but the circumstances determine whether or not the airline will pay for your hotel/meals. If the flight delays or cancels due to an uncontrollable circumstance, such as Weather, No. We will not pay for a hotel or meals. However, should the aircraft be broken, or if we had a crew member show up late, or what have you, and we cannot transport you to your final destination same day, then yes we would offer at least hotel accomodations.

I understand that customer service in the airline industry is on a downward spiral, and fast. A big part of that isn't that we aren't treated well as employees, but that the selection of potential employees really sucks. In the past three months, we have hired seven people. Of those, we have one left. It really irritates me how people lack work ethic and the general common sense ideal to treat others the way you'd like to be treated. It's just so hard to find quality customer service employees. It bothers me, because I do work hard, and I do care about what happens to people, and it makes me look bad when others don't.

Anyway, I'll not harp on.. Just know that there are those of us who do care. We too have been in your shoes.

[Lesley (imported)]

Plix,

Try rail travel in India where the idea of time table does not exist.

I did one rail trip and it was great, with buying local food at the stops and haveing great conversations with the Indians on the train. India a greatly underated country.

But as Paolo has said the main thing is to bring back the service, and for my part to act in a civilised way to one another.

[Gil (imported)]

I would like to apologize for the awful experience you had. I work for a major airline, and regardless of what's going on with the company you work for, there is never an acceptable excuse for providing your customers with bad service. It is unfortunate, however, that not everyone feels this way. Personally, I do whatever I can to help out my passengers. Unfortunately, due to the rules we are restricted by, sometimes there's not much we can do.

I don't know why your original flight was delayed, but the circumstances determine whether or not the airline will pay for your hotel/meals. If the flight delays or cancels due to an uncontrollable circumstance, such as Weather, No. We will not pay for a hotel or meals. However, should the aircraft be broken, or if we had a crew member show up late, or what have you, and we cannot transport you to your final destination same day, then yes we would offer at least hotel accomodations.

I understand that customer service in the airline industry is on a downward spiral, and fast. A big part of that isn't that we aren't treated well as employees, but that the selection of potential employees really sucks. In the past three months, we have hired seven people. Of those, we have one left. It really irritates me how people lack work ethic and the general common sense ideal to treat others the way you'd like to be treated. It's just so hard to find quality customer service employees. It bothers me, because I do work hard, and I do care about what happens to people, and it makes me look bad when others don't.

Anyway, I'll not harp on.. Just know that there are those of us who do care. We too have been in your shoes.

Thank you. Your comments have broadened my perspective. Hadn't considered the lacking work ethic in the candidate pool, although I should have. I see it all too often in my business. The basic issue as I've perceived it is that the problem occurrence frequency has risen while the number of agents available to deal with those problems has remained static at best. I see the airline organizations themselves malfunctioning. Most of the agents I encounter really try. They're simply overwhelmed. Maybe there are fewer of them now. Maybe many are not of the caliber that filled those shoes 30 years ago.

[Arab Nights (imported)]

Hey Gil. Try hanging in the unnamed major business at the corner in Hawthorne. The town really has small town charm if you take the time to observe. But there is another thing you will see. Older people that are obviously running to do two jobs at once. You will see it repeatedly and the explanation is always the same - a young employee did not even bother to call in.

[Gil (imported)]

Hey Gil. Try hanging in the unnamed major business at the corner in Hawthorne. The town really has small town charm if you take the time to observe. But there is another thing you will see. Older people that are obviously running to do two jobs at once. You will see it repeatedly and the explanation is always the same - a young employee did not even bother to call in.

I hear Hawthorne is a nice town. Never been there. HQ is going to stay in Vegas until the young turk takes over from me and decides otherwise. I'm too damned old to go through another move. Major pain in the arsse

[Blaise (imported)]

Capitalism cannot solve the coming problems of the world!

Capitalism is unable to respond to global warming except in a token way.

In France and Japan they built super fast trains through the state railway system and those two countries have the best public transport system in the world.

I cannot imagine the U.S.A. investing in public transport on the same comparative scale. The current mindset of the U.S. congress is incapable of taking that in, as it would mean having governmental regulation over the airlines.

The same is true of the current credit crises, can you imagine re-regulation of the banks even with a President Obahma

Republicans were not always the way they are now. For example, Eisenhower built a massive public transportation system--the interstate highway system. It is public transporation on a massive scale.

[Arab Nights (imported)]

I hear Hawthorne is a nice town. :

It really is, but you probably will not know it driving thru. All you see are the red, white and blue whirlygigs at the north entrance made from bomb casings. Depending upon the exact time, you might hear the time hour chimed out followed by a patriotic song. And, of course, if you are there after dinner, you might see the older guys pulled up into the vacant lot at the major intersection in town pull out their lawn chairs to watch cars go by {as Hank Hill (King of the Hill) said, 'Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep."}. It is really charming to see the different generations interact. They all know each other and are friendly. It really is like dropping back to the 50s to an ideal that probably didn't exist much - except in Hawthorne.

[Kortpeel (imported)]

I recently switched where I buy my gas and smokes, etc., and it's because of one thing - service. The station is owned by a family from India, ... the staff is soft-spoken, polite, and they stock what I want. Their gas prices also run about 10 cents/gallon less than anywhere in town. I can get service there when I can't at the other stations.

Off topic but an observation worth mentioning. All Indians I have ever met have always been cheerful. friendly and courteous. They seem to be naturally optimistic.

I suspect it must be something genetic because even the Indian Moslem fanatic I once talked to, who believed that Islam had a sacred duty to rule the world by conquest, was also friendly and courteous. I couldn't help liking him even though he scared me to death.

Indians tend to run small family businesses, work hard for long hours. Personally I'm inclined to support such businesses

[Gil (imported)]

It really is, but you probably will not know it driving thru. All you see are the red, white and blue whirlygigs at the north entrance made from bomb casings. Depending upon the exact time, you might hear the time hour chimed out followed by a patriotic song. And, of course, if you are there after dinner, you might see the older guys pulled up into the vacant lot at the major intersection in town pull out their lawn chairs to watch cars go by {as Hank Hill (King of the Hill) said, 'Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep."}. It is really charming to see the different generations interact. They all know each other and are friendly. It really is like dropping back to the 50s to an ideal that probably didn't exist much - except in Hawthorne.

I've also heard that, like Tonapah, Hawthorne can get pretty rough on weekends when the miners come in from the hinterlands to "recreate" - as in get bagged, laid, and start fights. Any truth to that?

[Arab Nights (imported)]

I've also heard that, like Tonapah, Hawthorne can get pretty rough on weekends when the miners come in from the hinterlands to "recreate" - as in get bagged, laid, and start fights. Any truth to that?

Being one of them, all I can say is that I hit the sack at 9 (or 10 or 11 unless having webcam sex with R in which case it could be 12 or 1 AM). I've spent weeks in Hawthorne and Tonopah without being in the bars. Of course, both towns have slowed a lot since the 80s. I lived in another Nevada mining town in the 80s when I did spend times in the bars and I never saw a fight. Granted there are guys in bars you don't want to be around. But that doesn't mean they are miners. Most companies now are pretty strict on drug and alcohol which has cut down on accidents, but also reduced the asshole factor. That means those people are now working in lower paying jobs in other industries. Hmmm.