Virgin America, the Epilogue: Take a Bow, Michael and Sean

Well, it turns out Jackie’s faith in Sir Richard Branson and Virgin America was not misplaced after all. I was pretty underwhelmed when I flew out on Virgin America to San Francisco a week ago, but she told me to give them time to work out the opening day kinks and wait until the second flight before passing judgment. I wasn’t expecting a sea-change in a week, but I promised to go to the airport with a somewhat open mind.

But now that I’m back in NYC, I’m singing a bit of a different tune. Make no mistake, Virgin America is still working on its technology issues and my flight was anything but uneventful. But the airline’s handling of the problems that arose is a textbook example of how public relations and employee empowerment can garner strong brand loyalty even in the face of adversity.

Let’s start at check-in. In terms of professionalism, polish, friendliness and efficiency, the Virgin America staff at the San Francisco airport ran circles around their counterparts at Kennedy, as did the security staff at the international terminal where the airline is based. I was at the departure gate within 15 minutes or so of my arrival at the airport. 15 minutes. That’s unheard of at Kennedy.

My flight pushed away from the gate as scheduled at 8:55 a.m. My hopes of an on-time arrival were quickly dashed when, after 25 minutes on the tarmac, the pilot announced that we had to return to the gate because of a “computer problem.” Ten minutes later, we learned that we would be taking a different plane east and, upon pulling up to the gate, were asked to gather our belongings and return to the terminal. Rather than feel annoyed at the inconvenience, I think the general consensus was largely neutral. Many people, myself included, were thinking more along the lines of “well, at least they made the decision quickly and didn’t have us sit out here for a few hours while they tinkered under the hood.”

Apologies for the unexpected delay were offered by the pilot as we taxied back and by the flight crew as we deplaned. In addition, within minutes – literally minutes – of deplaning, everyone was given a $10 food voucher for any restaurant in the airport. Flight attendants worked quickly to join the terminal-based Virgin America representatives scribbling out the vouchers. And, whereas most airlines in a similar circumstance would instruct you for their convenience to stay by the gate to await reboarding instructions, the Virgin America representatives told us that it would take at least 45 minutes to transfer the luggage onto another plane, so we should feel free to roam around for that long.

Virgin had us back on board in just over an hour. After another round of apologies, we were immediately informed that we could choose a free in-flight movie, a free drink (which I presume was an alcoholic beverage), or a free meal to further compensate for our inconvenience. Regretfully, several of the in-seat entertainment systems were on the fritz but, as the plane wasn’t full, the flight attendants did a masterful job moving people around so that people who wanted to use the entertainment system were able to do so. I did learn later that a technician was on board troubleshooting problems (my flight to San Francisco also was plagued with technology problems).

There were four (maybe five) flight attendants working my flight, but two of them – Michael and Sean – really impressed me with their professionalism and attentiveness. They walked through the plane with a certain aplomb and air of confidence that suggested a level of experience far exceeding the two weeks that Virgin America has been airborne. My instincts proved correct: Michael formerly worked at American Airlines and Sean worked at United. The former is also involved in recruiting other flight attendants for Virgin America, which bodes well for us passengers. He’s set a very high bar for new employees to emulate.

Virgin doesn’t offer a lot of blockbuster movie choices on its in-flight center, but I was really impressed to see that it offers some wonderful indie films including “Waitress” and “The Lives of Others“. If you haven’t seen these films, I highly recommend them.

When we landed at Kennedy more than two-and-half hours late, the pilot issued what was definitely a heartfelt apology. It wasn’t the tired, scripted “we know you have a choice of carriers” drivel but rather blunt acknowledgement that some people were less than impressed by our inauspicious start in San Francisco. The words were simple and straight-forward: “We know we failed to meet your expectations and we hope you will give us another chance.” One of the flight attendants then announced we would be receiving vouchers for $30 off on our next Virgin America flight. The gesture was definitely appreciated: I heard the woman behind me say to her seatmate: “I’m going to write a letter complimenting the airline on how they’ve handled this.”

Without question, Virgin America was only handing out the freebies because they screwed up. But fair is fair: Airlines should make amends when their mishaps inconvenience their passengers. But as any frequent flyer knows, that’s rarely the case. It usually takes hours of thumb-twiddling on the tarmac or arguing with the right supervisor with your voice at an ever-increasing decibel level before they’ll pull out the free voucher book for anything. Even the decision to return a plane to the gate seems one not to be entered into lightly if myriad news reports in the last year are to be believed. But not Virgin America – they wasted no time in placating the disappointed masses, earning the respect and appreciation of at least this one traveler.

By comparison, I flew business class to San Francisco on American Airlines a year ago and the airline lost my luggage. I didn’t receive any apologies, much less a discount coupon for a future flight or even a glass of water! I flew on Northwest from San Francisco to New York in June and my luggage was seriously damaged. We’re not talking a little wear and tear here. When I reported the damage, the Northwest employee just kept to the script, repeating in a mantra-like fashion something to the effect that under international aviation rules airlines are not responsible for damage to luggage. No apology, no coupon, no compassion.

I’m confident that Virgin will ultimately work out its in-flight technology problems (though I remain skeptical of its decision to outsource its reservation system technology and would probably advise CIO Bill Maguire at this point to wait until he can prove that the IT patchwork quilt he’s sewn together actually works before boasting about it to the media). Various employees I have spoken with told me that the airline launched before it was quite ready, but thought it best to get airborne on schedule in light of the myriad regulatory delays and hurdles it was forced to clear.

Virgin America appears determined to adhere to a much higher standard of performance and service, and I cannot help but suspect that if Sir Richard could operate the airline unfettered by regulatory restraints, including foreign ownership rules that ban him from taking more than a 25% stake, the airline would probably aspire to an even higher standard. Unlike American, United, Delta, and Northwest, Virgin America actually gives a damn about its customers (or “guests” as it prefers to call them). I’d fly the airline for that reason alone.

When I emailed Jackie from the San Francisco terminal between planes to let her know what had happened, her response was “Of all the flights it had to happen to, of course it would be yours” thinking, logically, that I’d be so turned off by the one-two punch of my two problem flights on Virgin America that I would be forever anti-Virgin America. But because they handled the curveballs thrown at them with such deftness and with such consideration of their core audience – us passengers – I am far more impressed and more favorably inclined toward the Virgin America outfit than I would be had my flight home gone without the hiccups.

And that, my friends, is called turning lemons into lemonade, reputation management style.

Share This Post