Friday, September 18, 2009

Brands Last - Conflicts Don’t!



Recently, I was at the receiving end of the flash strike called by the pilots of Jet Airways. I had reached Hyderabad the previous evening and was to return to Bangalore. By noon when it was clear to me that they may not be able to resume services I booked myself on another airline.


On arriving at the airport I went up to the Jet Airways counter where a tired looking young lady managed to put a smile on her face and ask me how she could help. I told her that I was slated to take the flight and had a boarding card issued and wanted to return it. She was quick to apologize for the problem I was facing and asked if I wanted her to get me seats on an alternate flight. I smiled and told her that I had arranged for that already. She had a look of relief on her face and I was thinking how difficult the day must have been for the staff who would have faced numerous irate customers that day.


The next day I shot out this message to Jet Airways though their sales manager in Bangalore.


In all my years of association with your airline I have appreciated your customer service immensely. The recent developments are indeed unfortunate and quite inconvenient for the passengers to say the least.

For example I am still holding a ticket for myself and 4 co-passengers dated 12th September and feeling slightly worried wondering if the problem will be sorted out by then. As a well wisher and a customer of Jet Airways I will continue to hold on to the booking for as long as possible.

This is my way of expressing support to the entire staff of Jet Airways because I don’t think I ever flew Jet because they had great pilots but because they had the best staff who made us feel welcome and comfortable. I wish all the employees the best and hope that this crisis tides past as soon as possible.

As I update my blog, the crisis has blown past and I have flown them once again. The consistent service of the airline and the goodwill that they have built with customers like me should ensure that the trying few days was just a minor turbulence in the overall journey of the Airline!

Like any other customer I still crib about a few things about Jet. The main one these days is regarding their Konnect initiative. The no frills service has not gone down well with me a few of the other Jet regulars that I stay in touch with. However, we still remain loyal to the brand!

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