Don’t Mess With Christmas Travel!
January 06, 2009 • No comments
After our great pre-flight customer service experience with WestJet, I wondered if our airport and in-flight experience would be consistent. Little did we know, a massive Customer Service & PR opportunity was going on all around us.
The service itself was good. We arrived at the airport really early so that we would have a better chance at our bulkhead seats. The agent was very obliging and apologized that we hadn’t already been assigned those seats, explaining that the staff member who assigned the seats mustn’t have read the notes on file. After grabbing a less than mediocre Toronto airport breakfast (seriously, is this something that someone couldn’t fix?), we headed to our gate.
The flight was an hour delayed - not unusual, as there had been snowstorms across the country for days. Flights had been cancelled all over the place so we didn’t mind a slight delay. When we boarded, we were a litle dismayed that our seats seemed really tiny, but all in all, it was a normal experience. The interior of the plane definitely seemed economy-style, but we didn’t mind as we did actually get a good deal on these peak-season flights!
When we arrived at our destination, the true situation emerged. Family and friends started emailing and phoning to make sure we made it. We, being on our first day of vacation, were entirely out of touch so hadn’t realized what had been happening all around us during our trip! (Blame it on my airport weakness - People Magazine)
News reports started pouring in. This was THE Canadian Christmas news story. Who would make it home for the holidays? Who wouldn’t make it home? While one airline - the one we typically fly to collect Aeroplan miles - left people stranded at airports across the country claiming that they were not responsible for weather-related delays or cancellations, WestJet raked in the fabulous PR. While covering hotel rooms, meal vouchers, ground transportation and charter flights cost WestJet around $2 million, they couldn’t have paid for such incredible advertising. I was amazed to see news of WestJet’s much-hyped customer service on every news channel I flipped to. Conversely, on each channel their main Canadian competitor was slaughtered. In fact, the news was so pervasive that people started saying to us, “Well, at least you weren’t flying Air Canada”.
A WestJet press release contained comments from their Executive Vice-President, Operations:
“Airline tariffs do not require airlines to provide meal vouchers or hotel accommodations if the flight cancellation is the result of inclement weather,” Mr. McKenzie explained. “At WestJet, we believe it’s important to do the right thing. During this situation of severe weather, uncertainty and the time of year, the right thing was for us to provide guest relief in the form of meal vouchers, hotel accommodations and transfers. It is our belief that we are the only airline in Canada to provide this level of service to its guests.”
As we sat waiting for our flight we heard flight attendants lamenting their long hours and weariness, and apparently this above-and-beyond behavior was something that had been seen company-wide.
“I am enormously proud of WestJetters for their many acts of selflessness to help our guests,” said WestJet President and Chief Executive Officer Sean Durfy. “When you see Executive Vice-Presidents flying aircraft on Christmas Day and so many others taking time away from their own family celebrations, you know you have a team of people who are completely focused on caring for our guests.”
So, who pulled the pin at WestJet and chose to spend the money? Who pulled the pin at Air Canada and chose not to spend the money? Were they frontliners or were they people in high-level positions? Can just one person make this decision or is it part of a corporate culture? What would I have done if I was the one orchestrating all of this? Kudos to those who turned the proverbial lemon into lemonade. My condolences to those who are cleaning up the PR mess left behind by these brutal winter storms.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the months and years to come. I may still be a slave to Aeroplan miles, but when I’ve got the option, I might just choose the cheap and cheerful option of WestJet and know that I may be squished in a tiny seat, but I know I’ll reach my destination!
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