Kindness from customer-facing employees like a gate agent can go a long way toward winning loyalty, as I witnessed before boarding a Delta Air Lines flight at LAX.

Delta Gate Agent’s Kindness Astounds South African Travelers

I was waiting to board my flight from Los Angeles (LAX) to Atlanta (ATL) and observed a very nice interaction between two passengers and the gate agent.

It was an older couple traveling to Cape Town. They each had a roller-style carry-on bag. Approaching the gate agent, the conversation went like this:

Passenger: Is it possible to check in our hand luggage so we don’t have to worry about finding a place for it onboard?

Gate Agent: Of course, sir. What is your final destination?

Passenger: We are going all the way to South Africa!

Gate Agent: Wow, you’ve got a long journey ahead of you. Are you going to Johannesburg?

Passenger: No, we are going to Cape Town.

Gate Agent: I’ve heard that is a very beautiful place. I’d love to go one day.

Passenger: It is very beautiful. You should come visit us.

The gate agent printed out tags, walked around the counter, tagged the carry-ons, then asked if they had removed any valuable items.

Turning to his wife, the man said:

“They’re so nice here. We would have never been treated so kindly in South Africa.”

The couple were genuinely beaming about the interaction and it’s exactly the sort of little interaction that builds loyalty. Who do you think they will look to book first next time they travel to the USA?

A smile from a gate agent or kind word from flight attendant does make a difference.

CONCLUSION

Customer service matters and small interactions like these can have an outsized influence on winning loyalty. Kudos to this Delta gate agent for a little small talk that really seemed to make a difference.