"Something Special in the Air?" Really??
Over the past few weeks, I’ve traveled 15,000 miles and visited 7 cities, sometimes on business, sometimes for personal activities. As you all know, air travel can be relaxing (ok, that’s rare these days) or a chore, a means of getting to your destination. My go-to airline here in the US has a slogan “Something Special in the Air” but is it really; is it really special? Most of my trips over the past weeks would say it was okay, nothing to write home about though, until my last trip to Miami.
There I am, Chicago O’Hare, waiting for my flight and five minutes before boarding is due to start the board suddenly announces, “flight canceled!” Great, now what?
Immediately a line starts to form at the gate agent’s desk as people look for alternatives. I, on the other hand, remembered what I had read on a travel blog – don’t wait in line, call customer service straight away – which I did. I don’t know if my frequent flyer status helped but the lady I spoke to was super helpful and got me onto another flight leaving 2 hours later. Then she asked me to wait on the line. A few minutes later she was back to tell me there was a delayed flight to Miami that was just about to start boarding at the very next gate and it was showing seats available. I should run over and see if I could grab one of those seats and if not, not to worry I was also confirmed for the later flight. I did what she suggested, got a seat and was on my merry way to Miami. Ok, so maybe something special after all.
Flying back from Miami the next night I arrived at the airport early, checked in at the kiosk, then noticed on the board there is an earlier flight leaving in the next hour. I go to the check-in desk and ask the agent if she can get me on the earlier flight. Ooooh, after lots of sucking in air and shaking of her head, she’s not so sure she can do that. You see, I have status with British Airways, not it’s partner in the US, the one who says “something special in the air,” so she asks her colleague at the next desk – “can I put her on standby? She’s with British Airways, is that legal to do that?” (How could it possibly be illegal?? It may be against company policy but surely it’s not illegal?) Anyway, her colleague says “why not give it a try?” So after more sucking of air, hey presto, the system says “yes” and I have my standby ticket. One very special agent and one who seemed to suck lots of air.
After an eternity of getting through security (certainly, nothing “special” going on there) I run to the gate and they are already boarding. I ask the agent if he has any standby seats still available and he says he does – great! Even better do you have an aisle seat? Yes to that too! Yay! Final question, “I purchased a ‘main cabin extra’ seat, do you have one of those available?” – “yes, but only in the middle.” Not to worry I said, I have little legs so I would rather have the aisle with less legroom than the middle with leg space. The agent was laughing when I told him about my short legs as I stood on tiptoes to peer over the desk (ok that last part isn’t quite true, I’m not that short.) Anyway, we were laughing as he gave me my ticket but as I turned away to join the line to board, he shouted for me to come back. He had found an extra legroom seat in the exit row and gave me a new ticket. In fact, as it turned out I had the entire row to myself; when was the last time that ever happened? “Something special in the air?” – most definitely!
BE YOUR OWN “SOMETHING SPECIAL.”
So why am I telling you my travel stories and my experience of “special?” Well, because it demonstrates what a difference it makes when we connect with another individual in a friendly and helpful manner. So much of life these days is run at breakneck speed with non-stop demands on our time. We rush through almost everything and maintain somewhat superficial relationships with all sorts of people. Who are we truly connected to?
When I was able to connect with the different airline employees it made a huge difference to my travel experience. When you make what might seem like a small gesture, it can have a big impact on someone else. As a leader in your business, how are you connecting with others – your peers and your team? Are you creating anything “special” for them in your interactions? If you’re a team member, do you consciously think every day about what you can do to make a positive impact on other team members and predispose them to reciprocate in kind to you? Every action we take is like dropping a pebble into a pond – it may make a very tiny splash beside you, but the ripple effect can be felt over a much bigger area. Think about that as you go about your day today.
The ripple effect of tiny decisions by those airline agents, getting me on standby, first in Chicago and then in Miami, and getting me in the exit row was huge for me even though it cost them no more than 60 seconds of time each. I got to my meeting in Miami on time and got home again 90 minutes early after a very tiring day. That night they really were “something special in the air.”