I tend to be a very loyal customer. I shop at the same places, eat at the same restaurants and fly the same airline. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been flying Southwest Airlines and, like most Southwest Airline customers, I have been intensely loyal. I generally don’t check sites that compare all the airfares. In fact, I never had to, because Southwest always had good deals, particularly on flights to Sacramento. What Southwest also had was wonderful customer service, primarily because their founder and CEO Herb Kelleher believed in it. He built his business on it and it worked.
If you needed help, they were available on the phone lines. If you needed a change, they helped you make it. If there was a problem, they helped you solve it. Their employees had discretion and were empowered to assist, because the message was “we value you and want you happy.” If there was an extra charge, it was usually minimal. They never said “we don’t do that” or “our policy is to only make a change if … ”
Sadly, that was then, and this is now. Kelleher has gone on and they have a new CEO, Gary Kelly, who has an entirely different philosophy, which is apparent from how the company is changing. It starts with little things. Drink coupons that have no expiration date suddenly have expired. The frequent flyer perks have changed. In the old days, if you flew four or five times, you got an extra flight free. A little bit ago, they announced with great fanfare a new, improved frequent flyer program to replace the old system. One thing you can be absolutely certain of is when a company tells you they have a new, improved program when the old program seemed to work just fine, in reality, they’re about to screw you out of something. Southwest is no exception to that rule.
What precipitated this column is that Karen and I were flying up to Sacramento on Southwest. We had purchased our tickets early on, one of those discount tickets they offer from time to time. I got home the evening before we were due to leave and was greeted by my dog, Ella, who I thought Karen had taken to the Sandpiper Kennel. Karen, who was away, thought that I had taken Ella to the kennel, and we had a 7:40 a.m. flight the next morning, which was well before the kennel opens. So I called Southwest Airlines and asked to change our flight from 7:40 a.m. to 11 a.m., which then gave us time to drop Ella off at the kennel. They said no problem, there were seats on the 11 a.m. flight and it would only cost $156 each, or a total of $312, to go on the later flight.
I was outraged, but she explained they charge it because, “blah, blah blah,” and it was obvious that she had no authority to do anything but read me what was on her computer screen. So I said let me speak to your supervisor and I did. She then proceeded to read the same thing to me from her computer screen. It quickly became apparent that what was written on the computer screen was not a statement on ticket policy pricing from management, but virtually Holy Scripture from on high and never to be challenged by mere mortals.
Fortunately, Sandpiper Kennels have a much more personal and consumer-friendly policy and I called Patty at her home number, which is on the Kennel’s voicemail in case of emergencies, and she called the kennel employees on the back line and they came out to let Ella in. When we travel, Ella is very happy there because that sense of service they have with the owners obviously carries over to the dogs. We caught our 7:40 flight the next morning.
I guess there are two carry-aways from our experience. First, is that, in time, Mr. Kelly will improve the profitability of Southwest, which I’m sure will produce a large bonus for him. I’m equally sure that will do long-term damage to the brand called Southwest Airlines, which I doubt he will have to worry about because he’ll probably be long gone. Secondly, and even more sadly, is employees don’t have an inkling that they are being turned into automatons — screen readers who have only a short amount of time before they’re replaced by a computer with artificial intelligence who can do what they do, at a much lower cost — and are going to be gone in a relatively short period of time.