What will the future of customer service look like on United Airlines?
United President Scott Kirby recently sat down with employees at Newark Airport. In a copy of the video forwarded to Live and Let’s Fly by an attendee, Kirby discusses the changing world of customer service.
As we look to 2019 and beyond, I describe it as our mission is going to be changing how people feel about United Airlines…but there’s going to be more to come. We’re going to have to do more and more every year to change how we interact with people. The world is different today than it was for most of us for our entire airline career. The change of social media, video phones, just puts us in a different environment, where one little thing can go viral like that and impact the perception of the entire company.
The overall sentiment is not only wise, but true. We do live in a totally different era, even from the time I was thrown off a plane for taking a picture of my seat. Today, I would have captured the whole exchange on video and I bet several others would have as well. I do think the “one little thing” attitude may be counterproductive. Was Dr. Dao really “one little thing” or a sign of a cancer at the heart of Untied’s customer service model? United responded through many helpful reforms and Kirby’s words show how mindful United remains about its public perception. Of course no one running an airline wants that sort of micro-accountability made available though camera phones, but we should all be thankful for it — it has forced carriers to treat guests better.
United Airlines Has Money To Fix Problems + Make Investments
Kirby next notes that United must use some of its profit to re-invest in the customer experience:
So we’re going to have to continue to run harder and harder, get better and better. We have to be willing to say, “Here’s a problem. And what can we do to fix it?” It goes back to the point I made earlier about investing more in the operation for inclement weather. People have spent os much of their career, the company’s spent skating on thin ice. And we have this ingrained constraint in our brains that says, “I can’t spend money to fix that. I’ve got to run on a shoestring budget.” And we actually have the money available today to invest in things that matter to the operation, that matter to the customer.
So a message to anyone watching this is, we’ve got to get to where we bring those things up and say, “Here’s a really big deal for the customer. And it’s going to pay back. It’s going to pay for itself.” We have money now. We’re profitable. We’re going to be consistently profitable for the years to come. And we’ve got to take some of that profit and reinvest in the product that we give to our customers to get people–as Oscar likes to say–not just choosing to fly United, but loving to fly on United Airlines.
Kirby does not fill us in on what exactly that additional investment is. United is already investing on the premium side of the product. In Newark, that is by addressing more 767s featuring a premium-heavy Polaris business class product. It is also floating the idea of free wi-fi for all customers. Those are all good things. But will United invest in the economy class experience like Delta did? Is that even necessary? Kirby did not say.
CONCLUSION
Noting that airlines must now adapt to the cell phone camera, social media world is hardly breaking news. At the same time, though, it’s refreshing to hear Kirby (of all people) bemoan a “shoestring budget” mentality. He’s been referred to as the chief bean counter at United Airlines (and American Airlines and US Airways and America West before that) for years. But I give Kirby credit for (finally?) recognizing that an airline can never cut its way to growth.
Finally, compare Kirby’s words above to his recent words to employees in Houston.
> Read More: United President Scott Kirby Addresses Customer Service in Houston
image: United Airlines
Where is the better premium cabin food to encourage paying for the cabin
@Greg – do you think better food directly drives more revenue business class fares towards United? Or are you saying better food would lead towards more people chasing status on United to earn GPUs and mileage redemptions in Polaris?
I’m doubtful of the former but would agree with the latter. In a typical Polaris cabin with 44 seats, how many actually bought a P fare or higher? Like 15?
You can get away with bad food and other inferior soft product on an airline when the planes are full anyway due to a booming economy and lots of corporate contracts, since being on time and a lie-flat seat are the most important things. Under current conditions, I think UA believes it does not need loyalty or a decent soft product to fill premium or economy seats, and they seem to be right. So cheapening of the experience, disappearing upgrade space, and reducing benefits for status are to be expected.
However, when they say things like that they want to “reinvest in the product that we give to our customers to get people–as Oscar likes to say–not just choosing to fly United, but loving to fly on United Airlines”, it just does not match up with the reality of the soft product. I tend to dread flying UA international J; I tend to look forward to the experience on BA, AF or LH. UA’s brand is not good and its flyers’ loyalty is decreasing, it will just take the next economic downturn for that to make a difference.
https://www.inc.com/chris-matyszczyk/united-airlines-just-made-an-extraordinary-maddening-statement-about-fees-it-may-make-passengers-truly-angry.html
And no I don’t feel bad for United. Good on you Guam. The American Public, particularly those in coach/economy class, are getting takes over coals. Since September 11th, 2001, the airlines have capitalized on teh worst attack on American Soil since Pearl Harbor.
I’ve found that it literally pays to fly United, because their customer service is so bad and they know it. I don’t fly often but when I do I usually end up on United since IAD is my home airport. For perspective I barely qualified as a Silver Premier last year and won’t fly enough to re-qualify again this year. But in the last 12 months alone I have accumulated $2200 in travel vouchers from United customer service. Basically it goes like this – book United flight, wait for United to do something wrong, email customer service, receive voucher. Rinse, repeat. Dirty seats $300, inedible food $150 (x3), gate agent lying about departure time $150, no ground crew available for already delayed flight $150… I asked the last time why they haven’t figured out that it would be cheaper to just do it right to begin with. They sent me another $150 instead of an answer.
He appears to be wearing very poorly applied makeup. Excessive vanity is not good in a CEO.
Not sure if he can be blamed for that.
Generally, my experience is the United agents and customer service reps view the customer as the enemy. This goes way way way back. The treat travelers as if it was our privilege to fly United. This attitude I have NEVER experienced on American. I am a 2 million miler with AA. I was forced due to a project to fly United and I could not wait to get back to American, where they treat customers like guests.
Talk is cheap, whiskey costs money. I guess making mouth noises is a step in the right direction, even if it doesn’t actually do anything. How about matching Delta on 9 across in coach on a 777? Perhaps a completion date for Polaris seating? Or publicly stating that you’re empowering all front line staff to fix problems? Or showing that United actually cares about frequent flyers by reintroducing the award chart, effective immediately? Those points were apparently not worth mentioning.
Exactly. Actions speak louder than words.
Haven’t seen any improvements in many years, only takeaways. (Except for Polaris lounges).
How about the complete gutting of their frequent flyer program that’s slowly and quietly unfolding right now? United’s MileagePlus program is currently in the process of going from “First To Worst” among the US carriers. Take a look at what award redemptions are now costing post-devaluation, you will see numbers that are so high they’re hard to believe (as bad as you will find on Delta).
Talk is cheap. I see nothing here besides spin.
…”we have money now, we’re profitable”…….yeah, Scott, I should say so ($billions for quite a while). How about restoring my United Airlines Employee Pension instead of the (PBGC) 50% of what I should be getting from my 35+ years at United. I’m glad to be getting something from the PBGC but please consider what all the retirees added to the building of United Airlines for many decades AND the fact that you have no problem keeping the pensions of Continental employees intact.