On Sunday, I was in a dark mood about the state of customer service, at Delta in particular but in general. Several comments from readers on that post only depressed me more.
As I got ready to send a paper letter to the CEO of Delta, it occurred to me to approach its CFO, Ed Bastian. I had dealt with Ed a few years ago while at Gartner. I sent him an email saying it was hard to resonate with the new slogan of "Keep Delta My Delta" (as it tries to stay independent from US Air) when its customer service goes out of its way to be unhelpful.
Ed responded within an hour. Not only did he arrange for my son Tommy's miles to be reinstated, he also defended his customer service agents.
"Pls don't unduly blame our agents. I am sure they were doing as instructed, but don't have all the customer tools they need to make decisions on the spot like this. It is something we need to get better at.
I find the vast majority of Delta employees truly love their airline and more importantly, love serving our customers. They have been thru considerable sacrifice and pain - lost jobs, wages, benefits etc over a prolonged period and are trying the best they can."
It was classy that he did not single out a single agent - in fact showed empathy to what they have been through.
Ed, thanks for taking time out to help given all the other pressures you are going through.
Delta turns 80 next year. My son turns 15. I hope he can use the reinstated miles to fly to Europe on Delta. Yes - that would mean Delta has continued to stay independent. We are rooting for that, Ed.
