How well does Jet Airways train its ground staff, I wonder
Being in the service industry myself, there are some aspects of dealing with clients and customers that are inviolate. As a result, training employees on these becomes an essential aspect of an organisation's success. That includes airlines, specifically Jet Airways. Here's a recent story that left me wondering how well Jet Airways trains - and more importantly, updates - its front of house staff.
Before I begin, I'd like to stress that in now way do I imply that this is a systemic issue. However, passengers taking a particular flight aren't interested in systemic issues - the only flight that matters to them is the one they're on.
Up until a few weeks ago, Jet Airways ran a Twitter-based promotion called #UpgradeToPremiere, where you tweeted them your PNR and they'd try and upgrade you to business class, if possible. No guarantees, and that’s understood perfectly well. So all I wanted to know was if Jet Airways had been able to upgrade me to Premiere, on one of my recent flights.
Jet Airways check in - representational image only
I went up to the Platinum & Premiere check-in counter. The agent manning this counter was the exact same one who had given me grief in the past (on two separate occasions, if I might add, but I won't get into that now), so I was dreading going over to the desk he was manning. However, the other lines for Economy class, as well as for Gold & Silver members, were much longer. And so, the inevitable happened.
It was my turn to check in, so I went up to this agent and asked him if there’s been any update on my PNR, for an upgrade to business class. As is the case with pretty much every agent of every airline anywhere in the world, they have to tap some keys before they respond…even if all they’re telling you is their name or the time.
Anyway, this guy did the same thing, and …
I tried to explain Jet Airways' offer to him, but all I could elicit at the end of it was that an online upgrade would be Rs 10,000. Clearly, either this guy had memorised a memo with only one line in it, or (as was more likely) he assumed that my question was about online upgrades, which was possibly the only question he had an answer to.
So I said forget it, and moved on.
As I was headed out, one of the PR representatives from Jet Airways caught up with me to ask me what the problem was. I let her know that the check in agent had pretty much refused to listen to my question, offering only a set of known answers to imagined questions, instead.
Jet Airways check in - representational image only
However, I was shocked when, instead of standing by her colleague, she responded with a statement that they’ve been having issues with that particular agent, and that there have been other complaints about him as well. I was stunned!!! You almost never blame a colleague, certainly not someone who’s visible and working front of line, handling other customers.
Isn’t that ridiculous?
Now, if the guy was really that bad, the airline and the supervisors should have him taken out, re-trained, re-deployed, whatever. But to let him continue doing what he clearly doesn’t seem to be good at (even according to his own colleagues), doesn’t seem to help anyone – least of all, the airline.
Moving on...
This PR rep then asked me what the issue was. Again, I tried to explain to her, the Twitter promotion. She seemed so totally at sea, I started to doubt if she worked for Air India and not Jet Airways.
I decided another tack. I was standing just a few feet away from the supervisor on duty, when I was speaking to the PR rep. The supervisor looked towards me and gestured whether I needed her to help. I gestured back, yes. And she came over - and more importantly, took over, asking the PR rep to leave. I did a rinse & repeat of my story about the promotion and upgrade. And she's like,
Finally, I had to show her Jet Airways' Twitter feed, and the specific post that asks passengers to tweet their PNR number and hope for the chance of an upgrade.
She said she had no clue, and called someone to check - yeah, because you won't believe your own employer's Tweet. Heck, she even took a picture of the tweet on my phone, with her phone!
I flew economy.
To be clear, this isn't a rant for rant's sake, or because I didn't get upgraded. In fact, I travel almost exclusively in economy on domestic flights within India, so that's no big deal. But I thought, based on this experience, that Jet Airways missed out on the following three critical aspects (I'm not saying these are the only critical ones, but these 3 certainly make it quite high up, in my book):
The last one, to be honest, isn't service-industry specific...it's just common sense and a good practice to uphold.
The last time I had a really bad check-in experience was the one time at Mumbai airport, many years ago, when I wanted to upgrade using vouchers. The agent told me that I could upgrade to business class only if economy class was full. I tried explaining to him that those weren't the rules (and in any case, that would be a paradox of sorts, wouldn't it?), but no dice. But as I said, this was many years ago, and I hadn't come across another such situation until my recent flight that's the subject of this post.
I'm not sure if there's a specific point to this post. I guess there just might be.
Before I begin, I'd like to stress that in now way do I imply that this is a systemic issue. However, passengers taking a particular flight aren't interested in systemic issues - the only flight that matters to them is the one they're on.
Up until a few weeks ago, Jet Airways ran a Twitter-based promotion called #UpgradeToPremiere, where you tweeted them your PNR and they'd try and upgrade you to business class, if possible. No guarantees, and that’s understood perfectly well. So all I wanted to know was if Jet Airways had been able to upgrade me to Premiere, on one of my recent flights.
I went up to the Platinum & Premiere check-in counter. The agent manning this counter was the exact same one who had given me grief in the past (on two separate occasions, if I might add, but I won't get into that now), so I was dreading going over to the desk he was manning. However, the other lines for Economy class, as well as for Gold & Silver members, were much longer. And so, the inevitable happened.
It was my turn to check in, so I went up to this agent and asked him if there’s been any update on my PNR, for an upgrade to business class. As is the case with pretty much every agent of every airline anywhere in the world, they have to tap some keys before they respond…even if all they’re telling you is their name or the time.
Anyway, this guy did the same thing, and …
Him: Sir, if you want to do an online upgrade, you’ll have to pay Rs 10,000.
Me: I'm not sure if you heard me correctly. I don’t want to know about online upgrades for cash. I want to know whether Jet has upgraded me on a complimentary basis. Also, if I wanted to do an online upgrade, why would I ask the check-in desk?
Him: OK sir, let me check…[taps a few keys again]…Sir, it will be Rs 10,000.
Me: For what?
Him: Online upgrade sir.
I tried to explain Jet Airways' offer to him, but all I could elicit at the end of it was that an online upgrade would be Rs 10,000. Clearly, either this guy had memorised a memo with only one line in it, or (as was more likely) he assumed that my question was about online upgrades, which was possibly the only question he had an answer to.
So I said forget it, and moved on.
As I was headed out, one of the PR representatives from Jet Airways caught up with me to ask me what the problem was. I let her know that the check in agent had pretty much refused to listen to my question, offering only a set of known answers to imagined questions, instead.
Isn’t that ridiculous?
Now, if the guy was really that bad, the airline and the supervisors should have him taken out, re-trained, re-deployed, whatever. But to let him continue doing what he clearly doesn’t seem to be good at (even according to his own colleagues), doesn’t seem to help anyone – least of all, the airline.
Moving on...
This PR rep then asked me what the issue was. Again, I tried to explain to her, the Twitter promotion. She seemed so totally at sea, I started to doubt if she worked for Air India and not Jet Airways.
I decided another tack. I was standing just a few feet away from the supervisor on duty, when I was speaking to the PR rep. The supervisor looked towards me and gestured whether I needed her to help. I gestured back, yes. And she came over - and more importantly, took over, asking the PR rep to leave. I did a rinse & repeat of my story about the promotion and upgrade. And she's like,
Twitter? Upgrade? You can pay Rs 10,000 and upgrade to business class.
Finally, I had to show her Jet Airways' Twitter feed, and the specific post that asks passengers to tweet their PNR number and hope for the chance of an upgrade.
Winning an upgrade has never been this easy! #UpgradeToPremière pic.twitter.com/AzTPTBFfgB— Jet Airways (@jetairways) August 5, 2016
She said she had no clue, and called someone to check - yeah, because you won't believe your own employer's Tweet. Heck, she even took a picture of the tweet on my phone, with her phone!
I flew economy.
To be clear, this isn't a rant for rant's sake, or because I didn't get upgraded. In fact, I travel almost exclusively in economy on domestic flights within India, so that's no big deal. But I thought, based on this experience, that Jet Airways missed out on the following three critical aspects (I'm not saying these are the only critical ones, but these 3 certainly make it quite high up, in my book):
- Front of house is the first impression you get to make to a customer. So employees handing that role should be knowledgeable, and people who your customers are happy dealing with. I'm not sure why they assigned to the premium check in desk, a chap who was clearly inexperienced.
- You've got to listen to the customer before offering a response or a solution. A customer isn't paying for you to regurgitate what you read in a book (or manual). S/he's typically paying for you to come up with a solution to a problem, and if you cannot listen to the problem, you cannot create a solution.
- You do not - I repeat, NOT - let your co-workers down (or blame the organisation, for that matter). If it mattered that much, you'd have done something about it - including leaving the organisation, if that needed to be done. And you certainly don't do that to and in front of third parties - especially customers.
The last one, to be honest, isn't service-industry specific...it's just common sense and a good practice to uphold.
The last time I had a really bad check-in experience was the one time at Mumbai airport, many years ago, when I wanted to upgrade using vouchers. The agent told me that I could upgrade to business class only if economy class was full. I tried explaining to him that those weren't the rules (and in any case, that would be a paradox of sorts, wouldn't it?), but no dice. But as I said, this was many years ago, and I hadn't come across another such situation until my recent flight that's the subject of this post.
I'm not sure if there's a specific point to this post. I guess there just might be.
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