Bottleneck
I got to McCarran
Airport on time.
I had checked in and
checked my bag early this morning, so all I had to do when I got to the
terminal was drop my extra suitcase at the baggage drop.
Rarely do I check a
bag. But I had lots of stuff from the 2016 Retail Shippers Expo--supplies and
swag for my Marketing with Marty™
seminar, samples and swag for a practical packing breakout session, signage and
swag for my Ask Uncle Marty™ Live speed
rounds, and of course a top hat and wig to make co-hosting Employees vs. Bosses: The Ultimate Showdown
with my cohort Fahim, of the famous #FahimFix, as ridiculously fun as possible.
But I digress…
I soon found myself
in the baggage drop line. At a quick head count, there were 50ish passengers
winding through a maze of ropes, just to drop off prepaid checked luggage with
a single Delta employee at the counter. With each painfully slow interaction at
the counter, exponentially more fliers poured into the accordioned line. There
was little recognition or empathy for the winding throng of passengers and
their anxious, panicked, astonished stares.
After about 20
minutes of barely moving, another agent came out and called the flights that
were about to take off. She let passengers trying to catch them skip to the
front of the line. She was treating a symptom, not the cause.
Meanwhile, someone a
few dozen suitcases behind me realized that there was no line at the curbside
check-in and sent his son to check it out.
When the curbside
team realized the bottleneck inside, one of their agents came in and announced
that, "If you're not paying cash and not flying internationally, come and
drop your bags with us at the curb. We're much faster at processing them (throwing
serious shade at the counter rep we were all frustrated with) and there's no
line."
I ducked under the
rope, out of the maze of annoyance, dropped my prepaid bag at the curb, and
booked it up the escalator, down the hall, through security, down another hall,
to the tram, and all the way down Terminal D
to my gate near the end. (Why is it always the gate near the end?)
The Frog Got Toad
I made it to gate
D38 with five minutes to spare. As I plopped and sighed into a seat, the gate
agent made an announcement.
"Today is
National Tell a Joke Day. If anyone
would like to come up to the mic and share a joke, we'll give you two free
drink vouchers. You'll probably need to get a little toasted on your flight to
Detroit anyway."
Was this Delta!?
Could this moment of
levity be from the
same formal, traditional, scripted airline that I'm so used to?
One passenger felt
inspired, stepped up to the podium and proclaimed, "A limerick, a play on
words, and a riddle walked into a bar. No joke." A few people looked up
and grinned.
Another gave it a
shot with, "What happens when a frog's car breaks down? It gets
toad." A collective chuckle rose from the impatient passengers. Smiles
broke. Tensions eased.
Laffy Taffy
As I boarded, the
gate agent gave out Laffy Taffy. Yes, Laffy Taffy in honor of National Tell a
Joke Day!
The agent, while
making my phone go "bloop" on the scanner, told me that her favorite
flavor is banana. There was one banana taffy left, and we both spotted it at
the same time. So I picked sour apple, leaving the banana for her.
As I sat in seat
18D--on the aisle as us tall, gangly folks tend to prefer--announcements came
that one more passenger had to be taken off the flight to reduce the load for
safety. Per usual, a $400 travel voucher was offered. No one bit.
Then my new gate
agent friend came on board. She upped
the ante to a $500 travel voucher "and a banana Laffy Taffy." We had
a volunteer; the problem was solved.
Little Things Are Big Things
While some were just
doing triage, consequently getting farther and farther behind, other Delta team
members saw the root cause of the problems and did what they could to loosen
bottlenecks, put the customers first, and brighten the collective mood.
I suspect that Delta
marketing peeps had a hand in the taffy idea. But I know that their empowered,
personality-driven curbside check-in and gate agents were the crucial
make-or-break link that calmed frustrated passengers and brought a little
humanity back to air travel.
Delta has taken
little steps toward improving the customer experience and embracing the
millennial mindset--valuing individuals and fostering a personal connection
with clients. Here's to many more … and a couple more agents at the baggage
drop counter.
#Delta #LaffyTaffy
#NationalTellaJokeDay #AskUncleMarty
