Why US Air kicks ass

[Weirddave]

This is the text of a letter I just wrote to U.S. Air that pretty much explains it all:

Weirddave
My Address, phone and email
September 5, 2003
U.S. Airways
2345 Crystal Drive
Arlington, VA 22227
Attn: Dept. of Human Resources

Dear Sir or Madam,

I just wanted to take a minute to let you know what a treasure your organization has in Jeff Brady, a gate agent at Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, NC. On August 22, I was connecting through there from BWI on a flight to Orlando. Due to an unfortunate series of events, I was no longer able to keep my dog, a 70lb Black Lab/Border Collie mix named Raven, with me, and was taking him to live with my mother in Florida. Raven had never flown before, and as you might imagine, between worries about how he would handle flying and a general unhappiness that I wouldn’t be able to keep him anymore, I was fairly stressed out. Your baggage handlers in Baltimore were very nice, assuring me that they would take excellent care of him, and I able to observe how they handled him as they loaded him aboard the plane from the window at the boarding gate. I saw one man take the time to peer into his crate and talk to him, so I was reassured as I boarded the plane.

Unfortunately, after pushing away from the gate, the flight had to sit on the tarmac for over an hour as thunderstorms passed through Charlotte. The pilot notified the passengers when our ground stop from Charlotte was lifted, but before we could take off, more thunderstorms hit the Baltimore area, necessitating another wait of almost two hours. We finally took off and had an uneventful flight, but when we got to Charlotte, it turned out that the connecting flight was delayed ( and it’s a good thing, otherwise I would have missed it ) for mechanical reasons. I could see Raven’s crate when they brought it over to be loaded on the plane for Orlando, but until the plane was fixed, they weren’t loading any baggage. That’s when I approached Mr. Brady.
I explained my situation to him, and asked him if he could go down to the field and make sure Raven had water. I am pretty sure that it was obvious I was worried, and after thinking for a moment, Mr. Brady asked if I has a leash for Raven. I said that I did, and he told me to get it for him, he would go down and bring Raven up to the gate for a few minutes to see me. He proceeded to do so, giving me a much needed ten minutes to pet and fuss over my dog. I had worried about Raven with a bunch of passengers also waiting for the flight, and many of them came over to pet Raven and comment on how nice it was for Mr. Brady to bring the dog up for me to see. Many of them had broad smiles on their faces at witnessing your employee go far and beyond the call of duty to ease my fears and make sure Raven was OK. Soon thereafter, the problem was fixed and we boarded the plane for Orlando, both Raven and myself getting in safely if not exactly on time.
The kindness and sensitivity that Mr. Brady exhibited when dealing with an obviously distraught passenger are a shining example of the qualities that every company should look to nurture in their employees. I can tell you that it was this magnificent gesture on Mr. Brady’s part that will make me chose U.S. Air in the future when I have a choice of airlines. I just wanted to take a moment to let you know what kind of a man you have working for you in Charlotte and to express my deep appreciation and offer a public “Well done!”.
Sincerely,

Weirddave
cc The Internet

Now, wasn’t that a fantastic thing to do?

[Binarydrone]

Very much so. Also, props to you for taking the time to write and send that letter. Too often, folks take the time to complain but never to complement.

[AbbySthrnAccent]

I’m so glad Raven (and his owner) had a good airline customer service experience.