William S. Ayer
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
Alaska Airlines and Alaska Air Group

Dear Mr. Ayer,

I recently took a flight from Anchorage, Alaska to Seattle, Washington on Alaska/Horizon. I can only begin to imagine how difficult it is to run an airline in the current economic and security environment and at the same time create satisfied customers. You have a difficult challenge indeed, but that said, the buck stops with you. Before I tell you what part of the customer experience failed miserably, I would first like to tell you what went well. The pilots and supporting staff got everyone to their destinations safely and on time. The flight attendants did their duty and the staff at the gate did a great job. The automated boarding pass kiosk worked perfectly.

Now for the Alaska Airlines customer service belly-flop. My 91 year-old father and I stood in line for about 40 minutes just to check in two bags. There were a number of lines that were just not moving. The lines were not that long. They just weren’t moving. It was the most miserable baggage check-in experience I have ever had. Travelers were in disbelief. Granted, there were a few people that had boxes of their Alaskan salmon to ship home but is this is not a new experience for the airline or the airport.

Here are some suggestions to speed up this process:

• Have a representative walk through the baggage lines and work the crowd. Is your box taped properly? Do you have any special issues with your baggage that we can resolve before you get to the head of the line? Do you realize that there is a line on the other side of the counter that is shorter at the moment?
• Plan for the peak periods. Are there enough representatives to handle the crowd at a given time?
• Examine the process. Why does it take so long to process each bag? What is the holdup - are the reps properly trained to anticipate all the common scenarios? Why do they seem so confused?

It is exactly because of this poor baggage check-in process that third-party companies have sprung up to fill the service void. Such companies as Bags and Bags To Go will take bags, for a small fee, from travelers before they get to the airport and ensure that the bags are checked and on the correct flight. This is similar to what Clear did, for a fee, to eliminate the need to stand in security lines.

Mr Ayer: I challenge you to recognize that this is a problem and then fix it. Unlike the high cost of aviation fuel, this problem is within your control and is a significant customer “touch-point”.

Mistakes certainly happen but how you recover from them can make a lasting impression on your customers.

Recently, I took my son to a doctor’s appointment. After a 45 minute trip to get to there, park and make our way through the building, we were informed nonchalantly that the appointment had been canceled earlier that day due to an emergency that called the physician away. Little effort was made to contact me and further troubling me was the lack of empathy that the receptionist displayed. At this point, I was rather frustrated and explained the ordeal that I had to go through to get my son to the appointment on time. The series of steps involved making arrangements for him to leave school early to navigating their always crowded parking structure.

The receptionist suggested a couple of alternate appointment times that did not work with our schedule. At this point, I was rather frustrated and let her know that I would call in later to reschedule.

As we were walking away, another receptionist approached me and apologized profusely for our missed appointment. She also highlighted the lack of empathy that was displayed in the handling of our situation and asked if she could help us schedule another appointment either on the spot or at another time. I was impressed by her professionalism and concern for my son’s health.

After several weeks, we returned to see the doctor. Once we checked in, the person who was so thoughtful at our last appointment came over to welcome us back and make sure that things had gone smoothly in scheduling our visit. She also commented on the significant length of time that had gone by since we had last been in and was concerned that it may have impacted my son’s health. I was completely surprised and frankly totally impressed that a small mix-up was attended to after so much time had passed. This person also checked in on us as we were leaving to make sure all our issues were handled to our satisfaction.

My single biggest take away from this episode is how a bad experience can be transformed into one that was positive and memorable for all the right reasons.

I arrived at a beautiful castle-converted-to-Hotel in England a few years ago with a very messy, noisy head cold. They had a lovely restaurant on the premises, but I was not in the mood to eat among strangers. We were pleasantly surprised when the hotel was willing to honor our request and make an exception to their “we don’t offer room service” policy. They served dinner in our room, bringing with them as many of the fine details of their dining room as could be brought up the stairs. Although the food itself was not particularly memorable, everything else was: the graciousness of the staff, their desire to accommodate me, and their attention to the details of making it feel like a special meal. As a result, this stands out in my mind as one of the best travel experiences I’ve had, and one that I have repeatedly shared with people. If you’re planning a trip to the countryside in West Sussex, I heartily recommend staying at least one night in one of the manor house rooms at Amberley Castle. We stayed in the Chichester room, which does indeed have a very special bathroom.

When you visit the web site, notice the photo of the private dining room that is part of the home page slide show. Turning the chairs toward the camera conveys exactly the sort of welcoming hospitality that I experienced there.

On the other hand, I was recently staying at a hot springs resort in California, and ate a few meals in the only restaurant on the property. Based on a previous experience I knew I wanted fewer potatoes (they typically serve a mountain of them) and an extra piece of toast (their bread is on the small side). Asking for fewer potatoes and extra toast seemed like a fair trade to me, so I was taken aback when the person taking my order hardened his face, raised his voice, and informed me that they could give me fewer potatoes, but that an order of toast is 2 slices and costs $2.50 if I want more than 2 pieces. I’m sure there’s history behind that response that I’m unaware of, but it still seemed unnecessarily unpleasant to me, and my desire to return to the restaurant was diminished by the experience. I do like going to the resort and it is the only restaurant there, so it won’t keep me away entirely. And I’m sure they realize that they have a captive audience.

In the first scenario I had no expectation and so I was pleasantly surprised. In the second scenario I had an expectation that my request was reasonable, so the refusal felt unreasonable to me, and the tone felt unnecessarily harsh. It seems that Amberley Castle has the philosophy that they can afford to be generous, and the hot springs restaurant has the philosophy that they can afford to be rigid.