Monday, November 12, 2007

When you change gates, you need to let your passengers know.

Note to American Airlines: When you change the boarding gate for a flight, it’s a good idea to let your passengers know.

I arrived at O’Hare from SFO and was pleased to find out that the gate for my connecting flight was very close. The gate was announced by the purser. I checked it again with the gate agent. And it was on the departure video screen. So I planted myself at the departure gate, powered up my laptop, and started answering email.

A plane arrived, but boarding didn’t start. The boarding time came and went. I finally went to the desk...and found another flight listed there. I rushed to the video monitor to find my flight had moved to another terminal...and it was already boarding. I ran to the gate and asked if an announcement had been made at the original gate. The gate agent shrugged. The person behind me, panting, said she had been at the other gate, too, and no announcement had been made. Again, the gate agent shrugged.

If other companies treated their customers the way the airlines do, they’d be out of business.

Posted by Shel in • Airports
(0) Comments • Permalink