You don’t have to look far on the Internet for a mention of poor airline customer service. On a recent flight, however, I received great service – service to a level that compelled me to write to the airline. Rather than doing so, in a closed manner, I decided to put it in the form of an open letter here on The Hot Iron.

Dear AirTran Airways:

I am writing regarding a recent flight I had on AirTran and the great service I received. The flight was on Sunday, February 22, 2009 aboard flight 20 from Atlanta to Chicago-Midway. On that flight I upgraded to business class, as well as the flight into Atlanta.

My only regret in this letter is I did not get the name of the gentleman who was the flight attendant in business class. He did mention it at the beginning of the flight but I did not note it. However, his attentive, outstanding service did not need writing down. Many times I have flown domestic business or first class - on AirTran and other carriers - and the service has been good, but not great. I do not have the expectation of the forward cabin being an open bar party, but attention to those who paid more to be there is what I seek.

This attendant went way beyond service I have received for quite a time. He was very friendly, greeting each and every passenger as they boarded, and gave extra attention to children. Once the plane was boarded he came through and asked us if we wanted a pre-flight drink, which I haven’t received in quite a while. Throughout the flight he came through the full business class section frequently asking if there was anything else we needed or wanted, right up until the time we landed.

Once we landed and started to deplane, I noticed some passengers ahead of me in business class give him a hug. Perhaps they knew him or were just as pleased as I was, but that is something I have never seen before! As I passed him and he thanked me for flying AirTran and wished me a good evening, I thanked him and shook his hand – something I had never done before to a flight attendant.

Please pass along my kind words to him, and I look forward to the next flight I am on with him. And for sure I will get his name again.

Regards,
Mike Maddaloni
Chicago

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Comments

It is so easy to complain when things go wrong. It should be just as easy to speak up when things go right, but for some reason we don’t seem to.

I cycle a lot, and a few years ago I was overtaken by a bus that passed far too close to me. I’m a confident cyclist and I’m not usually bothered by such things, but this was *way* too close. I remembered the bus company and the number of the bus and when I got home I phoned to complain. They promised to have a word with the driver and I left it at that.

A couple of days later another bus from the same company did exactly the opposite - a model overtaking manoeuvre for a bus passing a cyclist. I felt compelled to phone again to congratulate the driver concerned (a different driver). The person taking the call was so pleased. I’m sure I changed their opinion of cyclists from “always complaining about other drivers” to “real person”. Not only did they appreciate the call, but I did too!

Comment by Steve Rumsby
on 02/24/09 at 06:37 AM
 

For a split second when I first saw this photo, I thought it was a classic Nintendo controller.

Comment by spudart
on 02/24/09 at 08:53 AM
 

@Steve - Sounds like a win-win to me!

@Matt - Nice blast from the past…

mp/m

Comment by Mike Maddaloni
on 02/24/09 at 09:07 AM
 

I have always found it more advantageous to everyone concerned to praise great service rather than to complain about bad service.  Sometimes I will slide in a reference to some bad service while praising the good.  Perhaps others will want to perform as well as the representative being praised as a result.

Comment by Peter Alan Smith
on 02/24/09 at 12:50 PM
 

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