Northwest Airlines Employees to Undergo Customer Service Training

by Catherine Bodry on

Flights are delayed, and connections are missed. Passengers get angry. Airline employees get bitter from having to deal with the angry passengers. So what should be done? One airline is taking action, but not any that gets to the root of the problem.

USA Today reports that Northwest employees will undergo “intensive training” that will encourage them to see travel experience through the customer’s eyes. The airline admittedly needs some customer service training, as their reputation isn’t one filled with gumdrops and rainbows. Nevertheless, this training shouldn’t be the only response to passenger complaints; they wouldn’t have as much of a problem if flights were leaving and arriving on time. But as flights are still backed up and baking on the tarmac, a little sprucing up in the service department might do Northwest some good.

Will employees will be forced to sit in cramped quarters with screaming babies and people who take up half of your seat? Actually, come to think of it, flight attendants already do that.

We Hope NWA Treats Its Passengers Better…

by Iva Skoch on

CNN Money ran it’s 101 Dumbest Moments in Business site again this year. #2 was unbelievable. Apparently, just before laying off 4000+ more workers mid-last-year during its bankruptcy, Northwest Airlines handed out to its employees a guide for saving money: 101 Ways to Save Money.

The guide had in it suggestions such as #46 “don’t be shy about pulling something you like out of the trash.” Or, shred newspapers to make cat litter (or was it in-flight food?), make your own baby food, and take walks in the woods to save money on a date. Another favorite: (#15) “Get hand-me-down clothes and toys for your kids, from friends and relatives.”

Here’s hoping that nice blanket, pillow, and mixed nuts you enjoyed last flight weren’t the result of a dumpster-dive.

Sea Sick on a Plane

by Iva Skoch on

This video is worth watching. A Northwest airlines flight landing at SeaTac had a rough, and aborted, landing, due to high winds the other day.

The plane later landed safely, but it’s a good lesson to remember with winter and holiday travel here: our sincerest intentions are never a match against mother nature. Buckle up!

Farewell to the DC-10

by Iva Skoch on

Northwest Airlines is retiring the venerable DC-10 on January 8. NWA is the last U.S. operator to use the thirty-five-year-old, three-engined, McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing) DC-10. (The last came off the line in 1989.)

While the public generally remembers the plane mainly for a series of terrific crashes in the 1970s (it’s crashed 15 times, killing 1430 people), it has been an industry workhorse. In fact, in an odd way, the horrific and dramatic Souix City crash of United 232 in 1989 illustrated how sturdy the plane was.

Officials expect the DC-10 to continue being used for years, primarily hauling freight. But for passengers in the U.S., it’s flying off into the sunset.