A Tale of Two Flights
It was the best of cabin service. It was the worst of cabin service.
During my years as an actual airline employee, I spent a big chunk of that time working with flight attendants and the people who manage them. (I have many stories about this brief time in my career, some of which I look forward to sharing.) I have always been a big believer in the power of onboard service to be either a positive or negative differentiator for an airline.
This past Sunday I got to experience both within about an hour of each other.
I had two Delta flights: Augusta (AGS) - Atlanta (ATL) followed by ATL - Lexington (LEX). Both flights were approximately the same length: 34 minutes for AGS-ATL and 49 minutes for ATL-LEX. Both flights featured the same aircraft: a 717. I was even in the same seat for each flight: 2B. (Also, take it easy. I was able to find an inexpensive first class fare. This is not one of those “let me tell you about flying around in suites” blogs . . . yet.)
Now, you might be saying to yourself, “Al, those flights are both really short, was cabin service really an issue?”
Well, yes. On a really short flight, things really come down to one key service element: the pre-departure beverage or as it’s called in the biz, the PDB.
The PDB used to be a given in First Class. The crew was happy to serve you the drink of your choice as you avoided direct eye contact with those continuing to board the plane. COVID ended this practice, and since then, it has been somewhat of a unicorn on US domestic flights. Some crews will do it. Some won’t. Some will only offer water or juice. Some will only do it if you ask. Some will get annoyed if you do ask.
On my flight to Atlanta, one of the flight attendants eagerly weaved her way through the steady stream of boarding passengers to ask each customer what they wanted to drink. It was a welcome treat on a Sunday evening. That same crew then hustled out another drink and snack service during the very short flight. Happy passengers all around.
On my flight from ATL, there was no effort to serve a PDB. In an added twist, the gate agent came onboard to announce that the passenger across the aisle from me was about to cross the one million mile threshold on our flight. That million-miler to-be didn’t even get a congratulatory sparkling wine. (I eventually went up to the galley to retrieve her a cranberry juice from the nonplussed flight attendant.) Needless to say, the service after takeoff was also not done with the same energy as the prior flight. The newly minted million miler and I spent the walk to baggage claim sharing our disappointment.
Now, you might think that I am getting too hung up on a drink. (I do love a Woodford before departure.) But Sunday night’s experience is a symptom of the consistently inconsistent service which still bedevils airlines, particularly US-based ones. If the PDB can’t be done consistently, then it’s unlikely meal service or any other service interaction will be, either.
There are myriad reasons why this is the case. But the one that always stuck out to me is the lack of supervision in the inflight environment. It’s hard to think of another service setting such as a hotel, cruise ship or retail establishment where the staff has no supervisory support or direction in while they are doing their jobs.
And, unfortunately, this will probably never change. The costs associated with that kind of on-the-job support are impractical within the economics of an airline. So, these carriers will continue to rely on surveys and passenger feedback (and the occasional secret shopper) as their main tools to drive consistent service. But those tools can only go so far. Service quality will ultimately rely on the commitment of each crew member. With literally thousands of flight attendants at each major airline, that is going to be a wide range of commitment levels, from good to bad to in-between.
All of this reminds of the time I told our COO in a meeting, “Every time a flight leaves, we shut the door, close our eyes, cross our fingers and hope the service is good.”
Some will get a drink. Some will not.