Customer Service - Above and Beyond

The title of the e-mail was one that you dread to open… “To the Manager of “Employee A” I saw in the distribution list that most of the airport staff had been copied on this e-mail, and the employee, who works at the airport does not work for the airport authority. I was very pleasantly surprised when I read the long detailed e-mail from a passenger that praised the airline employee for going above and beyond to accommodate the passenger due to a weather flight cancellation.

Now those of you that are frequent travelers know that weather cancellations can really disrupt travel plans, especially if the weather is at the hub site. Due to the domino effect of massive schedule disruptions because of weather it is not easy to accommodate a passenger with a schedule change.

The e-mail that I read described an employee of Regional Elite, the service company that provides customer service (above the wing) and flight services (below the wing) for Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and Continental Airlines at Yeager Airport, that went the extra mile to find a flight connection that enabled the passenger to arrive home in Vancouver, BC the day she was scheduled.

I passed along the e-mail to the President of Regional Elite and the local Station Manager, so that the employee could be recognized for exemplary service. We have a group of dedicated employees at the airport that strive to provide quality customer service even in difficult circumstances. The examples of veteran employees serve as an example to younger employees on the culture of caring that we have at Yeager Airport.

Our police log over the weekend contained two additional examples of employees at the airport doing something that would be considered extraordinary at a large airport, but it was just doing the right thing in West Virginia. Another Regional Elite employee found a purse with more than $2,000 in cash left in a restroom and turned it over to the police to find the owner. Another airport employee found $80.00 cash on the floor and the police was able to return it to its rightful owner.

I believe that genuine caring for your fellow man is a bedrock value of most West Virginians. One advantage of traveling through a smaller regional airport, such as Yeager, is that the traveler is not just treated as another passenger to process, but rather as a person that is special and unique and needs to be cared for.

Granted we are not always perfect, but as a team, including, airline members, TSA members, FAA members, rental car members, concession members and airport staff members we strive to provide service in a manner that meets the real needs of our guest in a genuine caring manner. We welcome feedback, both positive and negative on your experiences at Yeager Airport. You can reach me at rick@yeagerairport.com