Open letter to all airline executiAirline Frustrationves,

I know from an economic and logistical standpoint, there are a lot of things you would like to fix but they are economically insurmountable.

But from a frequent passenger’s point of view, there is one thing you can fix: the customer experience.

This is what happens everyday on your airlines:

1. A gate agent, flight attendant or captain announces it will only be a few minutes. In my book, that means roughly 3 minutes. Most times, 20 minutes later I am still waiting. Can you train your staff to tell time? One minute means a single minute. A couple is 2 minutes and a few are three minutes.

2. It’s past the departure time of a flight and no announcement by the gate agent. The boarding time counter for loading the plane is at zero. Why can’t they announce there is a delay and the reason?

3. On a plane, it’s past departure time, and the cabin door is still open. Again, why can’t the pilot announce the reason for the delay?

4. The captain says they will update the fights status in 30 minutes, but says nothing for over an hour. Why can’t they keep their commitments?

A good customer service experience starts with honest communication and setting expectations. If you train your staff to do this, your customers will be more satisfied. This should be an easy remedy for so many passenger issues.