Talk Is Cheap – Use it

I recently had the opportunity to fly a new airline called Skybus.  They are a startup based out of Columbus Ohio.  They fly into Portsmouth New Hampshire which is just a 45 minute drive from the Portland area, and about the same from Boston.  Their business model is they fly only point to point. There are no connecting flights.  Twice a day a plane flies from Columbus to Portsmouth and back.  That’s it.  They do the same to several other cities.

Their corporate staff has several people who served at Southwest Airlines, and Ryanair for quite a few years, so I thought these folks would understand operating a discount airline that provides good service and low prices.  I was right.

On my recent trip to Ohio, I flew out on a Thursday evening and returned Sunday night.  Night in this case was the operative word.  Our flight was scheduled to leave Columbus at 7 pm and arrive in Portsmouth about 8:30.  When I arrived at the gate on Sunday evening around 6pm, I learned (along with about 140 other people) that our plane had a mechanical problem and could not fly.  That’s when the fun began.

Naturally a lot of people were upset, and a huge throng immediately gathered around the gate attendant.  I felt bad for her because she had just learned of the problem and now had to immediately deal with it.  She did.  She calmly explained the problem, listened to the chatter of several upset customers at one time, and clearly explained the situation as best she could.  Within a few minutes she also had several viable options for our crazed crowd.  We could take another flight the next day, we could cancel our flight and get our money back and then be free to see what another airline may have available, or we could wait for a later plane.  None of the options were great, but that’s what we had to deal with. 

I was impressed by the fact that she took the time to talk with each passenger that had a question, and she remained calm and professional throughout the process.  My attitude is that sometimes “Stuff Happens” and you have to go with the flow.  I chose to wait for the next available plane,  We flew out at 3 am and I was home in bed by 6 in the morning.  I was up by nine for the day.

The lesson here: The gate attendant did a good job of communicating with us, she gave us the straight scoop….No BS…she kept here sense of humor, (more than some of our crowd) and we were presented with what I thought were the best choices available. I plan to fly Skybus again.I also learned that 3 hours of sleep did not hurt my golf game later that day….it was mediocre as usual.

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