Continental Pilot Gets It Right - A Lesson In Customer Service

So as many of you know, I was fortunate enough to go to Italy last week, which I might blog about later on. But for now, I want to focus on my trip home, which included a 9 hour flight to Newark, New Jersey and then another 3 hour flight to Houston. Unfortunately, there was bad weather in Newark (and more on the way), so we ended up being stuck on the tarmac for 3 extra hours. Terrible, huh? Surprisingly, not so much. Granted, I wasn't thrilled with the 3 hour delay stuck in the airplane, but it was strangely not nearly as bad as other delays I've gone through, solely because of the way the pilot handled the situation. Immediately when he found out that we were stuck, he took the time to tell us EXACTLY what was going on. He gave us the impression that we now knew every piece of information possible. Then he said he would keep us updated every 20 to 25 minutes, which he did consistently. One of the biggest frustrations in delays like this are the uncertainty. Are we going to be there for hours? What's the hangup? Is the flight going to be canceled? Are we going to be able to get a snack while we wait? Answering these questions didn't take away the frustration of having to wait for three hours, but it allowed us to sit back and relax, confident that we would had all the information possible.

Back when I was working on site, the city cut off the water unexpectedly due to construction. We got a TON of calls, and really they just wanted to know two things: 1) Were we aware of the problem; and 2) When will the water be back on. It didn't take away the fact that they couldn't cook or take a shower, but at least they felt confident that the knew the situation and it was being taken care of. Setting up a system to make residents more aware of the issues facing the community can greatly increase their sense of comfort when unexpected issues jump out at you.