Lesson in Good Customer Service from American Airlines

On August 23, I wrote a blog post from the Chicago O’Hare American Airline’s Admiral’s Club.  In case you missed it, we had a five hour delay due to mechanical problems on our 757.  To make a long story short, we boarded our flight for Miami at 1:30 pm and had to leave the airplane at 3:15 due to a hydraulic leak.    Our next flight was scheduled to leave at 6:15 but left at 7:00 pm because the flight attendants had to escort a drunk off the plane.

I’ve been in the travel business for a long time and I’m no stranger to airline delays.  As I wrote before, I’ve come to expect them and I’m not surprised when I have deal with them.  Every day, I read another article about airline performance, passenger complaints, financial problems, etc etc etc.   Usually, negative info when it comes to the airline industry. 

But today, I received something totally unexpected from American Airlines . . . an email apologizing for my five hour flight delay in Chicago this weekend.  Here it is:

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August 27, 2009

Dear Mr. Tukel:

As hard as we try to ensure that our flights operate on schedule, there are occasions when that just doesn’t happen — like on August 23.  We are truly sorry for disrupting your trip.  

We hope you will accept the 4,000 bonus miles that have been deposited into your AAdvantage® account as our making amends.  You will see the mileage in your account soon at http://www.aa.com/aadvantage.

We’ll look forward to providing you with a better travel experience very soon.  Thanks for flying with us. 

Sincerely,

B. J. Russell
Customer Relations
American Airlines

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Mr. (or Ms.) Russell, your email made my day.  Even though it was an automated form-letter, your email demonstrated an unexpected gesture of goodwill that has me thinking favorably about your airline again.   To lots of people, 4,000 bonus miles may not seem like a lot, but the little things do make a difference.  You have made amends with me and I sincerely appreciate it.  

The name of our company is WMPH Vacations.  The WMPH stands for We Make People Happy.  On August 23rd I was very unhappy with American Airlines.  Today, America Airlines made me happy.  I feel better about them than I did before the Chicago flight delays.  That goes to show, if you give good customer service and handle bad situations properly, in a way that exceeds the customer’s expectations, you can keep that customer happy and loyal.

Nice job, American. Nice job.