In December 2006, Kate Hanni was stranded aboard an American Airlines plane that sat on the tarmac in Austin, Texas for nine hours. She and her fellow passengers were denied food, water and access to functioning washrooms. The airline wouldn’t allow passengers to deplane. What’s worse is that the problem was entirely avoidable: it was due to a mechanical problem with the aircraft.

Yet unlike many passengers who simply got mad, Kate Hanni decided to get even. The real estate agent wasn’t going to take it any more and out of this chaos came a coalition of airline passengers that now numbers 21,000. It’s gone so far as to lobby for a bill of passenger rights, at least in the United States.

While what separates the good airlines from the bad is obvious, at least on paper, there’s a growing trend today of passengers standing up for themselves. Hanni, for one, says that airline passengers have become too complacent in accepting small payoffs when bumped off a flight or delayed for preventable reasons.

“The airlines are doing everything they can right now to convince you that a two-hour delay is normal.” Airline passengers, she says, need to be more proactive when travel plans go awry.

As a consumer advocate, Hanni says she does not see herself as a thorn in the side of the airlines. In fact, just the opposite.

“Our movement,” she says, “to improve the dignity and quality of life that a customer has during a flight should be a benefit to them (the airlines) overall and it will help their business in the long run.”

When customer service deteriorates to a large degree, Hanni says, the question then starts revolving around safety issues. This was what prompted her involvement: the frail, the elderly, and the young were all very much at risk. Eventually, all airline passengers suffer in such extreme situations. Beyond that are problems within the industry itself that affect in-flight staff. Everything from mergers to pay cuts to dwindling pensions all play on the minds of cabin crew and their attitude can reflect this.

Any air traveller with enough mileage has his or her own horror stories when it comes to airline customer service. Whether or not customer service is something you can legislate – of course, the airlines say it is not – the question of why some carriers are excellent when it comes to customer service and others abysmal is one that continually arises.
Take an airline that guarantees the automatic lowest fares, live digital satellite in-flight television programming, premium food and the ability to vote online for the best parts of your trip. Sounds too good to be true? Well, please excuse the play on words, you’re right, it didn’t fly.

Those were among the many promises made by Song, a low-fare spin-off of Delta Airlines, in January 2003. The carrier was described as “revolutionary” and “groundbreaking” when it was launched, yet by the end of April 2006, it was grounded. There’s no one reason why it failed and in fact, its parent, Delta, had filed for bankruptcy protection in September 2005.

The latest Zagat Survey of airlines reveals few surprises. While Asian-based airlines continue to score high marks among passengers, American carriers most often appear in the lower half of the tables. Since 1990, when Zagat began its airline surveys, only Continental and Southwest in the United States have improved their standings. An example of an Asian carrier that gets it right is Japan’s Starflyer, which entered the skies in 2006. It flies A320 Airbus aircraft with 30 seats removed from the standard configuration of 170 seats. That means a substantial increase in seat pitch, adding to passenger comfort. Internet connections and personal video screens are found in every seat, while the middle seat folds into a table when unoccupied.

Overall, both in premium and economy service, Asian-based carriers took nine of the top ten places in the 2007 survey. Only Virgin Atlantic – tied for second in the premium category and tied for sixth when it comes to economy – is not based in the region.
In both instances, Singapore Airlines came out top of the table. Singapore Airlines is commended in the highest of terms. “Reminiscent of the golden age of flying” is the underlying theme. Passengers prefer its up-to-date aircraft, well-trained crews and good food. But how does the airline accomplish this?

Aside from studiously reviewing its operations, even SIA cannot pinpoint one reason.
“Over the years, the airline has introduced campaigns focused on promoting customer service,” says SIA spokesman Moses Ku. “The objective is to strengthen the value of service among staff, as well as to identify problem areas and introduce procedures to enhance service performance.”

Virgin Atlantic, the odd one out geographically, is spoken of in similar terms. Passengers speak of being pampered like a rock star.

“With fierce competition in Asia, Asian airlines are definitely proactive when it comes to capturing their share of the market,” says Angelina Wong, Virgin Atlantic’s marketing manager in Hong Kong. She adds that the idea of customer service is strong in the region to begin with, which is why more than half of the front-line staff that Virgin employs is fluent in the local language and customs.

Chaotic terminals or boarding procedures, uneven on-board service that is usually better on international flights, different aircraft within a single fleet that result in varying levels of comfort, and food that is best not to eat are the main passenger concerns when it comes to airline travel.

 So it’s no great surprise that modern terminals and aircraft, pleasant staff, and decent food all contribute positively to customer service. Nor is it a shock to see airlines that can afford to constantly reinvest in their product topping the tables. But what about the rest? How can they improve their customer service?

Staff training is one area where every airline starts.

“Virgin Atlantic always believes in investing in its people first,” says Wong. “If staff are happy with their jobs, they will be able to deliver better service.”

Feedback from the same staff is also vital and costs little – both Singapore Airlines and Virgin Atlantic are well known for this – as does rewarding employees for their good work.

As in other areas of international commerce, innovative thinking goes a long way in the airline business. It’s one thing to call your business revolutionary, but it’s more important to actually be so.

Passenger bonding has taken on a new look in the United States, thanks to marketing whiz Peter Shankman. He started a group called Trip Life, where airline passengers can network. It might be as simple as recommendations for a good Japanese restaurant in Chicago, but also extends to meeting new business contacts and even finding seatmates with similar interests on the same flight.

For his part, Shankman calls it a “customer-driven revolution.”
“Consumers are empowered today like never before, with websites, blogs and ‘insta-feedback’ on virtually everything. Our members are more proactive than ever about, not only their networking opportunities, but how they choose to travel as well.”

Once airlines, or any large company for that matter, realises the potential of newly empowered customers, Shankman says, he is convinced that they will be able to improve their services, retain and gain customers, and improve the bottom line.

In Singapore, Ku points out that one area often overlooked is uniformity throughout the world. At Singapore Airlines, each station follows the same service guidelines, much as the actual aircraft are physically the same, in an effort to create consistency and more easily handle any problems when they arise.

Finally, and almost in spite of seat comfort, smiling flight attendants or a decent meal, the belief that the customer always comes first has never been more important. Airline passengers tend to not notice everything going to plan, and instead are most vocal when travel plans go awry.

Singapore Airlines’ Ku advises airline passengers familiarise themselves with the latest rules and regulations in order to be properly prepared for any problems when flying.
It’s an obvious point, but one that airline passenger advocate Kate Hanni has taken to heart. The fact that she was named one of the most influential people in the travel industry last December, along with Richard Branson and Al Gore, speaks volumes.