February 15, 2008 4:01 pm : Comments 001
Let’s face it, most airlines are indifferent about public relations. Although the major ones were once ranked among the most creative and effective brand marketers, today they are more concerned with trying to figure out how to cram more people on the plane than with making sure passengers are happy. United’s friendly skies are no longer quite so friendly, Delta is hardly ready when you are, and few travelers would say that American Airlines is still something special in the air.
But there is hope. I have found a smart, engaging airline public relations executive who is quite remarkable not only for her media smarts, but also for her savvy ability to permanently disarm one of her company’s critics. I’m talking about Abby Lunardini, director of corporate communications for Virgin America.
My dealings with Ms. Lunardini began last month when I contacted her for comment on an item I was considering about Virgin America. Without going into details, suffice to say that it probably wouldn’t have been a blog post that Ms. Lunardini or her bosses would have treasured.
As you know, I had already written some critical things about my experiences with this upstart airline, and had exchanged emails with senior management in the past. I wasn’t sure what type of reception I’d receive from Ms. Lunardini, but I assumed she knew the history and would, accordingly, hardly count herself among the blog’s biggest fans.
Ms. Lunardini defied my expectations. There was no cold shoulder, no blatant or subtle hostility, no Target-esque brush off of a mere blogger, and no tersely worded official statement or tight-lipped “no comment” in response to my less-than-favorable inquiry. Her professionalism, sincerity, and responsiveness were quite impressive.
But what really stands out is the way she subsequently used the opportunity provided by our dialogue to follow up on a request I made months ago to a Virgin America flight attendant for an autographed photo of Sir Richard Branson for my colleague Jackie Condie, who absolutely reveres the guy for his business acumen and PR smarts. Ms. Lunardini let me know that the photo request had not been forgotten and that she was hoping to get the photo signed when she saw Sir Richard at a party the company was throwing to celebrate the launch of service to San Diego.
Now here’s where I must confess to having an utterly shameless moment: I couldn’t help but ask Ms. Lunardini if it might be possible for Jackie to attend the San Diego celebration and meet Sir Richard in person. Not only did she oblige, she insisted that I come to the party as well. And so Jackie and I briefly found ourselves in southern California this week enjoying weather that should be considered sinful in mid-February.
Let’s just say Ms. Lunardini throws a heck of a party.
With help from an impressive group of representatives from the D.C. and Beverly Hills offices of Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, the flawlessly executed party at a trendy San Diego hotel was done in real style and class. Everything was to the king’s taste.
The party was filled with interesting people, ranging from Chamber of Commerce folks to Virgin America vendors. We also met a woman who made a critical video of Virgin America after her flight was delayed for some five hours. She, too, had been invited to the party.
Despite all the pressure Ms. Lunardini was clearly under, she still found time to make good on her promise. When we gave our names at the door, a representative from Ogilvy without looking at the list attentively said to Jackie, “Oh yes, you’re the one we need to make sure meets Mr. Branson.” You would have thought we were VIPs.
Just after 9 p.m., we were instructed to go to a quiet area upstairs. A few minutes later, we were introduced to Sir Richard who shared a few words and graciously agreed to pose for a photo with Jackie. Later we learned he was actually rather sick with the flu. You’d never have guessed it.
I’ve worked with Jackie for more than 10 years and I don’t recall a time she’s ever looked quite so thrilled. Ok, well, maybe at her wedding. Some people have asked us if spending a few minutes in his company was really worth the hassle and aggravation of making a cross-country trip in two days. Seeing the look on her face as she shook the man’s hand, there is no question about it. Definitely yes!
So many thanks Ms. Lunardini for an experience Jackie and I will never forget, and for changing this blogger’s perception of airline PR people. Like Virgin America itself, you are clearly a standout in your crowd.
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August 9, 2007 1:41 pm : Comments 004
I wouldn’t want to be Bill Maguire these days.
Maguire, chief information officer for Virgin America, is in the unenviable position of having to explain to his bosses, including Sir Richard Branson, why the upstart airline’s website has been plagued with problems since it was launched. The airline claimed hackers were responsible for the site’s initial reservation problems, but as I learned yesterday, the site is still plagued with problems. I tried unsuccessfully for more than an hour to book a flight.
Virgin America and Sir Richard, unquestionably one of the world’s greatest marketers, have a real technology problem on their hands if my one experience is indicative of a broader systemwide problem. And their headache could be a headache for Travelport, which in turn could become a migraine for The Blackstone Group, which bought Travelport last year.
News coverage suggests Virgin America is relying on a newly developed reservations system known by the acronym aiRES (airline reservation system), which was originally developed by Travelport in partnership with WestJet Airlines, a low-cost Canadian airline. But as the technology pub Baseline reported two weeks ago, WestJet has pulled out of the project because AiRES couldn’t give it the functionality it required to support its expansion plans. Virgin America and RAK Airways, a discount airline based in the Middle East, are the only other airlines reported to have signed up for AiRES.
As reported by BusinessWeek’s Steve Hamm, Maguire’s bosses wanted him to build a new reservation system from scratch. Instead, Maguire chose to outsource virtually the entire operation, including the reservation agents. Maguire told BusinessWeek: “People just pass out when they hear what we’re doing. They go, ‘What!?’” Well, given my frustrating experiences yesterday, I can understand why those other airline insiders were a tad incredulous.
If the whole reservations kit and caboodle has indeed been outsourced, Maguire and Virgin America are now at the mercy of Travelport to fix the reservations problems because the Blackstone-owned company also hosts the system. “That has probably made things easier because there’s no finger-pointing,” Brian Clark, vice president of planning and sales for Virgin America told Baseline. “If there’s a problem, it’s their problem.”
Something tells me Sir Richard won’t see it quite that way. I can tell you from personal experience that the upstart airline’s would-be passengers sure don’t.
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August 8, 2007 2:11 pm : Comments 002
My longtime colleague Jackie keeps things close to the vest. We’ve worked closely for more than 10 years and I don’t know the political causes she supports (I suspect she leans to the left), the music she listens to (I think its 80s music), or her favorite foods (other than Diet Coke, but I hardly call that a food). One thing I do know: There is no one in business that Jackie admires more than Sir Richard Branson, the founder of The Virgin Group.
I don’t know exactly why Jackie reveres Sir Richard so much, but I suspect it has a lot to do with his undeniable marketing and PR genius, the humble origins of the Virgin empire, and of course, her experiences with Virgin Atlantic, which she frequently flies across the pond to visit her in-laws. I know she’s read his books, watched that reality show a few years back, signed the “Let Them Fly” petition, and dreams of sipping pina coladas at his posh Caribbean resort. As I said, she’s a fan.
And that’s why I am so conflicted about posting this entry. She’s not gonna be happy.
Sir Richard today launched Virgin America, a low-cost domestic airline whose initial routes will bounce between San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington. And Jackie is doing her part to help make sure they have a smooth takeoff. I fly to San Francisco regularly and have occasion to travel that way again next week. As soon as Jackie learned my travel plans, she flagged Virgin America’s low-cost introductory fares to me, no doubt within seconds of them being announced.
Unfortunately, my experience thus far with Virgin America is not quite living up to expectations, given the one-woman shill in the office next-door to me. I tried booking a flight online this afternoon for more than an hour, but the purchase wouldn’t go through. I was forced to call reservations, which placed on hold for more than 15 minutes. By way of comparison, I had someone in my office (thank god for interns) call the reservation centers of the major airlines to test how long he would be placed on hold. The verdict: Without exception, he reached a live person within two minutes.
[SIDEBAR FROM JACKIE: "The intern was able to get through right away because nobody wanted to fly the other airlines. Clearly, their agents were sitting around twiddling their thumbs while Virgin America's agents were working their butts off. Besides, even the harshest Broadway critic gives an opening show the benefit of a preview run before taking poison pen to paper. If memory serves, even we had a few kinks the day we first hung out our shingle. Harrumph!"]
Further, when I tried reserving a seat online, I noticed the exit row window was available, so I grabbed it without realizing that there was an additional $25 fee for this “premium” seat. I’m certain there was some fine print somewhere warning me of the extra charge, but I didn’t notice it. To Virgin America’s credit, the reservation agent I spoke with agreed to waive the additional charge because of my lost time.
Maybe I’m being unfair and too quick to judge. Maybe the snafus I’ve encountered are just a few aberrant “opening day” hiccups that the Virgin America team will quickly work out. Still, first impressions do count and Virgin America’s customer service kinks did cause me to waste nearly 90 minutes of time [not to mention the hours it is going to take me to talk Jackie down from the proverbial ledge over this blog entry].
I truly hope the airline offers me a more positive experience at 35,000 feet next Wednesday. I don’t think I want to be the one to tell Jackie that Sir Richard’s Midas touch was not enough to protect Virgin America from the same issues that cause such reputational turbulence for nearly every other domestic airline.
Fingers crossed I really, really, love flying Virgin America. It will certainly be difficult working with someone who refuses to talk to me ever again.
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August 2, 2007 8:12 am : Comments 001
Warning: The Following Post Contains Positive Content About The Airline Industry That May Be Unsuitable For Readers Prone to Random Flashback Fits of Air-Rage or Recent Fliers Recovering From Airline Stress Syndrome. Reader Discretion Is Advised.
I’m trying to adopt a sunnier outlook. When it comes to the proverbial glass, I must confess that chances are very good that I would not be able to see it as anything but half empty AND a doomsday sign that global warming is wreaking havoc with our environment – in this case, causing an ever-increasing escalation in the rate of water evaporation from a little tumbler of Evian.
Being negative or pessimistic is a job hazard. The nature of the public relations business requires one to be ever mindful of how the most innocuous of story ideas could potentially backfire on a client – the ol’ “worst case scenario” scenario, if you will. You only need to be burned once by a reporter flipping a story ass-over-teakettle on you once to realize the price for lowering your guard can be mighty hefty.
But today I’ve decided to trade in my current designer spectacles for those of a more tinted, rose-colored variety and focus the rest of this post on celebrating the uncelebrated. On honoring the unhonored. On praising the unpraisable. (and apparently making up some new words while I do it!)
And with that in mind, who better to champion than the hapless reservation agents who work in airline call centers?
Now wait a minute – hear me out on this before you go looking for that oversized “Gong Show” hook to drag me off the stage�
Can you imagine a more thankless job than working as a reservation agent for a U.S. airline? Seriously – when that incoming call lights up, they know automatically that it’s not the Publisher’s Clearinghouse Prize Van asking for directions. Whatever the nature of the call, it’s undoubtedly going to be a patience-testing one for the reservation agent. Maybe it’s Cheap Charlene in St. Louis trying to finagle a flight change without having to pay the usual $100 penalty fee or the first-born child forfeiture that is standard language in all ticketing contracts. Or maybe it will be Irate Ira in Chicago demanding an explanation on why his flight to LaGuardia was cancelled due to “weather conditions” on a day when it’s sunny and clear in New York City.
Let’s face it, shift after shift, call after call, airline reservation agents serve as the punching bags for the frazzled, frustrated, frantic flying public. And to be honest, many of them sound it and act it. I don’t know what has me scratching my head more – that most of them don’t quit before the end of their first week or that they aren’t fired before their first anniversary. “Customer service” clearly means different things to different airlines.
Fortunately, there is at least one airline that must use the same dictionary to define the term that I do, for they truly seem to get it. I’m talking about American Airlines.
My experience over the years with most American Airlines reservation agents is that they are extremely professional, courteous, supportive, and surprisingly, often friendly and engaging. Sure there have been some notable exceptions � and they all seem to work in American Airlines’s Connecticut call center � but if you are fortunate to be routed through the Dallas or Tucson call centers, chances are better than even that you will have a productive call. The few times I wasn’t able to remedy the situation with the initial call center contact, an American Airlines supervisor always made things right. Perhaps even more surprising? I once filed a complaint online and someone from American Airlines actually called me to discuss it! Not just an automated “thank you for your comment” response promising me that they appreciate travelers’ feedback and take their commitment to customer service very seriously and blah blah blah. A real person called me. To discuss my complaint. She listened to me. Bliss.
Unlike some of its competitors, American Airlines has resisted moving its call center operations overseas. If you call and say “I want to fly from JFK to San Francisco,” an American Airlines agent probably won’t ask you “Where is JFK?” (as a United agent in India recently asked me). I’ve rarely been on hold for more than five minutes. And if you treat the American Airlines reservation agent with respect and a friendly manner, I’ve found that she or he just might waive that aforementioned first-born forfeiture requirement if you decide you’d really rather not spend that Saturday night in Des Moines as originally ticketed.
Maintaining superior call center operations staffed by knowledgeable, caring reservation agents must clearly be a calculated business decision. The American Airlines executive responsible for steering the customer relationship marketing function across aa.com, AAdvantage® travel reward programs, and the reservation call centers over the last year is an executive named Isabella Goren. Interestingly, her bio says that she joined American Airlines a decade ago as a financial analyst, subsequently moving on to the HR, revenue management, and investor relations functions. Clearly she’s learned a few lessons in those earlier roles about the interrelatedness of employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction, and revenues for she is doing one heck-of-a-job � at least on the reservations call center front.
Make no mistake, I’m no pom-pom waving cheerleader for American Airlines, though I do regard them as the least horrible among the major carriers. Instead of “Doing What We Do Best,” a more truthful twist of their erstwhile slogan would be “We’re Not as Bad as The Rest.” I simply tend to fly American Airlines because the carrier dominates the cities I travel to most often.
Perhaps Ms. Goren will eventually prove to be to the U.S. airline industry what Sir Richard Branson is to that of the U.K. – the maverick, the innovator, the applecart-upsetter who successfully challenges the plodding prevailing wisdom (or lack thereof) about how airlines are run, creating many happy airline passengers and more than a few shifted paradigms in her wake. She at least seems to be flying in that direction.
But then again, perhaps Sir Richard will reprise that role here himself with Virgin America, the domestic airline he and his partners will soon begin flying with routes between New York and California. If they are even half as successful at creating brand loyalty among Americans as they have been in Europe, they will give the U.S. domestic airlines an unprecedented run for their money.
Indeed, I’m flying Virgin America to San Francisco in two weeks because I’ve grown tired with how stingy Ms. Goren is when it comes to allowing AAdvantage members like me to use points to book business class seats on certain flights. If Ms. Goren isn’t deeply concerned about her frequent flyer customers already flirting with Sir Richard’s airline before it’s even left the ground, then it’s only a matter of time before those wings that have helped her soar up the corporate ladder get deservedly clipped.
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