FC NOW: The Fast Company Weblog
March 14, 2007
USAir Asks Fliers: ‘Can we Get a Hallelujah?’
USAirways switched over to a new computer reservation system last week, combining its system with America West’s on a new platform. It was a bumpy transition, at least if you were a passenger. USAir's president called it “largely successful” as passengers waited in 3-hour lines and more than half USAir’s flights arrived late.
But what’s interesting is the note USAir frequent fliers received this week explaining why things didn’t go better. It’s an example of a relatively recent trend in corporate PR — trying to “speak” like a real person would. In this case, the letter contains slightly jarring lingo for a form letter to customers, including phrasing like “slogged,” “ugh,” “dummy,” and my favorite: “can we get a hallelujah?” There’s also a bit of whining. Why didn’t the system conversion go better? Well... “How much time do you have?” asks USAir’s VP of sales & marketing. Actually, none. Solve the problems, don't complain to your customers about how hard they are to solve.
Personally, I prefer crisp, elegant, and straight-forward communication to faux-chatty. The full text is below — see what you think.
Dear USAir Dividend Miles Member:
Here we go, possibly the most important Merger Update we’ve sent so far. In this update, we’ll review the top issues affecting you, our Preferred members — yes, our most important customers.
The top issues to review are the results, so far, from the big Reservations Migration and some improvements we’ve made to your First Class upgrade process. There’s a lot going on, so let’s get right to it.
Reservations Migration to SHARES. The good, the bad and "why move to this Reservations system?"
Where to begin? This was a huge deal, as expected, and it didn’t go as well as we would have liked in some regards — and better than we expected in others. This is one of the most enormous undertakings any airline can undergo, so much so that in some cases airlines have taken out full page ads to apologize for complete meltdowns. Please indulge me while I quickly rattle off some of the accomplishments made by a group of several hundred US and EDS (SHARES parent – and by the way it stands for Shared Reservations System) after 18 months of planning:
• Everyone on our team is now on the same system. That means no more transferring at Reservations.
• A single Preferred Upgrade process across the system (details below).
• Combined ticket counters and queues at airports. Tell the taxi driver "US Airways." No more America West.
• Combined kiosks for all flights. No more "East" and "West."
• Faster Web Check-in at usairways.com that lets you pull up your reservation using your confirmation number or Dividend Miles number.
• A whole lot of back end systems that you don’t want to know about – like the back room of a sausage factory – just became a lot cleaner.
A great big thanks to all of you who asked for these improvements and stuck with us as we slogged our way through the merger process. As we’ve said before, this is the stuff that makes airline mergers hard, and if it was easy, everybody would be doing it.
The Bad
As with any change as big as this one, we’ve hit a few bumps, a couple of sinkholes, and there are some important issues that you need to know about. We’ve repaired much of the early trouble, but there are still some lingering issues. Here’s a real "inside baseball" detail that explains the root of the majority of the problems we had. We encountered "out of sync reservations," which means that when we migrated the seven million reservations from Sabre to SHARES, approximately 1.5 million of them didn’t "sync up," meaning that passengers and agents can’t do much easily — like check in for a flight. The result was that many systems that otherwise were ready to go became bogged down with lots of these reservations that couldn’t be processed except by hand. By now we’ve whittled down the number of "out of sync" reservations closer to a normal level, and continue to reduce them daily. Also, the great news is that any new reservations you make will not end up out of sync and won’t be affected.
Other issues, many with ties to the out of sync problem:
• If your reservation is out of sync, you may have trouble checking in online or at the kiosk. If you have trouble with Web Check-in using your reservation number, try using your Dividend Miles number. If that doesn’t work, call Reservations. We should be able to get your reservation back in sync on the phone so that you can check in through any of our automated systems.
• Kiosks in Charlotte, Philadelphia, Boston, Las Vegas and several other eastern cities did not convert smoothly during the migration. Now, we’re experiencing a success rate of about 75 percent and better in most locations. But, knowing of our passengers’ dependence (and our own reliance) upon the kiosks, we’ve been working literally around the clock to fix the problems and we won’t sleep until they’re fixed.
• Booking code share flights on United® and Winair won’t be available until approximately March 17, but existing reservations are not affected.
• Hold times can be long right now at Reservations as we continue to get through the out of sync issues, although your Preferred desks wait times are generally less than two minutes.
"This all sounds very clunky. Why didn’t you convert to a more modern system?"
Ugh. How much time do you have? The short version is this: Much of the technology that most airlines are built around is “legacy” mainframe systems from the 60’s and 70’s. These systems are deeply embedded in everything from reservations, to flight operations, to airport operations, to accounting. They are very reliable, but are very inflexible, so as our business changes, we often fight with one hand tied behind our back. You say: "So dummy, convert it to a 21st century system." We would like to do that and eventually we will. The biggest reasons we can’t do it now are that there is currently no modern system in use to convert to, and the investment would be tremendous — that is, tremendously expensive. Several companies are building and preparing to implement more modern platforms for airlines to use and we are watching those closely and are in contact with those companies. However, even when the opportunity presents itself, we will have to proceed with caution. In an industry where we lose money more often than we turn a profit, it’s not always easy to justify replacing a system that works with a very expensive, untried system that carries additional risk. But stay tuned; we’ll get there.
New Preferred Upgrade machine is up and running
We know that the most important benefit of being a Preferred member is the upgrade to First Class, and you’ve made it very clear that the upgrade process needs to be reliable, predictable and accurate. Now that we’re on one reservations system everyone is going through the same process for upgrades (can I get a hallelujah?).
Go to usairways.com
• Today it runs once daily, in the middle of the night. Soon we’ll run it throughout the day so you don’t feel like you have to call in to "beat the system" when a seat becomes available during the day. So, don’t be surprised if you start getting daytime emails soon as we test the new process.
• Soon you’ll get automatic upgrading outside your upgrade window for full fare purchases. After we get this part built, we’ll be automatically checking for your upgrade up to 330 days before departure. Today you still need to call if you buy a Y or B full fare for your complimentary, on the spot upgrade.
• Soon you’ll be able to sign up for PDA-friendly upgrade notifications. We’ve heard the feedback from all of you PDA users, and are working on a way to send you your upgrade status without all the fancy graphics and HTML.
Once again thank you for your patience as we refine the new Reservations and Upgrade systems. Please know that we’ve made great progress and there is more come. 37,000 professionals are working hard every day to earn your business and build a strong and vibrant airline. It takes time, but with Res Migration behind us, it’s full steam ahead.
With Warm Regards,
H. Travis Christ
Vice President, Sales and Marketing
Posted by Charles Fishman at March 14, 2007 6:59 PM | Category: |
6 Comments
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That was an awful letter, I can't believe a veep of Marketing wrote it. There is a difference between concise and conversational, and sounding like a chatty teenage schoolgirl.
The audience is well-educated and well-heeled professionals. They don't have time or interest in this drivel. They want to quickly know what improvements have occurred, what issues they may run into, and a timeline for further improvement.
Further, don't use jargon unless there is NO other choice, and explain it well first, both rules Travis violated. This would be a much better letter if it was half as long and eliminated the silly-speak.
I dont see what is the problem in using the so called "Casual" english to convey the idea.
I do not mind until it is conveying the right idea
I found the language more sloppy than casual, but that's not what bothered me about the letter. There is a trend in government and corporations to apologize without apologizing. This letter actually says, "We know you probably had an awful experience, but we're working very hard and besides it's not really our fault." The USAir letter is an interesting comparison to the JetBlue CEO's. Neeleman's letter followed mother's rules for apology: 1)admit you did something bad; 2) apologize for how what you did affected the person you're apologizing to; 3) describe how things will be done differently in the future.
My favorite..."By now we’ve whittled down the number of "out of sync" reservations closer to a normal level, and continue to reduce them daily. Also, the great news is that any new reservations you make will not end up out of sync and won’t be affected."
So what is normal...1%, 10%, 50%? If no new reservations will be out of sync, then that is what normal is and anything other than ZERO is unacceptable. Good thing I don't fly USAir.
Did you notice that H. Travis Christ didn't mention the ongoing problems in Philadelphia, USAirways major and most profitable hub? Thats because he could only mention bad about the place; there is very little good about the Philadelphia airport. It remains an awful place to be a major hub. Delays are the norm on good weather days, even with the large fudge factor that USAirways includes in their schedules (e.g. 90 minutes from Boston to Philadelphia. Likewise you better be in top physical shape to make a connection that involves Terminal A. My advice, try to find another airline, if your USAirways flight connects through Philadelphia.
I do not know where to begin with US Air and the last two months. I (probably like most of you) travel as a regular part of my business. I would like to fly out of the New Haven Tweed airport but after a rainstorm shut the entire airport down due to flooding in the terminal. I learned to not trust the smaller airport to function on a reliable level. Unfortunately, US Air missed the opportunity to make a bad situation a feather in their cap. Upon closing the airport the US Air personel began to leave and tell us stranded travels "sorry were closed". No how we can help you, no explaination for how to make other arrangements, just a "sorry were closed" as they did not stay at the airport. One, I do not care if the airport has water on the floor. How does that affect whether or not a plane can fly? Two, how dare the company representatives walk away from the passengers with no concern for our travel needs. I solved the issue by making a phone call to the 800 number and after a 30 - 45 minute wait time I got my ticket transfered to Hartford, a 50 mile drive. Yes, I know LGA is closer but really?, what do you expect to me choose when my options are between a 50 minute 50 mile drive or a 90 minute 30 mile drive into NYC? After my long, long, long delay at Hartford to my first conection in Philedelphia I am told by the pilot there was a mix up in the loading the luggage and that all of our luggage was on a plane headed to Pittsburg!! I make my next connection to Charlette to conect to Jacksonville. Upon arriving in JAX I go directly to luggage claim, assuming when two planes have the wrong luggage on them that some sort of system wide message would go out and that 6 hours later they would be expecting me. What actually happened, I was told to wait until all luggage had been claimed and then come file a missing luggage report. Ok, I wait to do this, travel to my families home and prepare to spend the next 12 - 24 hours without my bag. After all, some one has to know about these bags, this is not one bag getting on the wrong trolly, this is two planes with the wrong luggage. Unfortunately I was only write in that I had my bag delivered to me around 1030 Sunday night, my return flight left 630 monday morning. No offers of compensation; which, why should I have to ask for compensation? My return flight, no better I arrive a 445 am expecting bedlam, the computer system is not allowing people to self check. I go to the curn side to watch a guy in training being painfully slow. He is being supervised by a woman whose only apparent job is to drink coffee. After my hour + wait in curb side check in I am told by the guy in training that he can not help me because there had been changes to my ticket and he did not know how to correct my return ticket. I had to fly back to Hartford to get my car. The woman drinking coffee says to go inside and have someone at the counter help me. I said no, because the line inside was far to long and I would never make my plane if I had to go through line again. She said she could not help me. I mention that this was a good opportunity for the US Air to help someone that has had his bag lost by you. Her response was "I did not lose your bag". I answered her with, "US Air lost my bag, you work for US Air as a representative, you lost my bag", She said you have to go wait in line now sir. I asked if she could take me to the front of the line so I would not miss my plane. She said she "no". Great customer service. I wait in line and about 15 minutes before my plane is scheduled to leave, they create a seperate line for people on the same flight as me. I sent my fiancee' to speak with the representative because I could not be cordial. We ran through the airport to barely make our flight.
The flight before this one on US Air, my connection in Charlette was missed, I went to the gate as I was instructed and the people at the gate told me to go stand in a customer service line, I do this for 30 minutes only to have the customer service people tell me to get in line at the gate again. I go back to the gate and wait 10 - 15 minutes to have the gate rep tell me to go back to customer service. I tell him "no, I need someone to help me and stop sending me back and forth" this should not be this difficult. He tells me something about not really being able to help me but that he would look in the computer and see what he could do. A few moments later he takes my ticket and says there is nothing I can do, wait here while I help these other people. I know these other people are all trying to get on the same flight as me. I know most of them also missed connections. I go back to the customer service desk and get a manager to help me. He comes back over the gate and within 1 -2 minutes he punches me up a ticket for the next flight out.
My last flight with US Air, (I don't know why I keep going back) both the outbond and return flight are delayed by hours. Infact, my return leg is cancelled and I spend an extra night in DC, I know the flight is going to be cancelled because all of the airlines that fly in to Hartford are cancelling all of their flights to Hartford that day. I contact US Air about making changes to my ticket now (it was a late flight) so I could get a seat for the next day. They tell me they can not make changes to the ticket until the flight is cancelled. I mention that United, Southwest and AA have cancelled all the flights for Harford for the day and that US Air has been cancelling all of them one at a time. I just want to take care of the problem now so I do not have to wait 2-3 days to get another ticket. I had no such luck. They made me wait until 1050 to cancel my flight, which I have still not been reimbursed for. I booked a train for the next day because the rep on the phone said I could not get another ticket home until Monday (this was Friday night). So, I have all these miles on US Air and I want to continue on US Air but I can not continue to have this kind of unreliability in my travel schedule. Besides, why should I tolerate such treatment to then have to fight with them for compensation?
If a US Air rep reads this and has the authority to attempt to do the right thing by me, then feel free to email me at curt.rosinski@gmail.com.