Leadership in the sky and on the ground
It’s so 2009 to rant about airlines’ epic failures! I am just recovering from the worst one I have experienced in my many years of international travel, at the hands of the airline whose hub is Newark. Instead, I am taking a moment to recognize the corporate culture that Delta is creating in its new terminal, where a new generation of airline staff are performing at a level I have never experienced before. [1]
My United flight from Newark to Brussels was so delayed by summer weather that I was asked not to board (that’s a first!) because “we don’t have a connecting flight for you to Dakar out of Brussels for the next three days”. Here I am at 11:00 pm on a Saturday night, stranded with fellow passengers trying, like me, to make our way from New York to various cities in West Africa. But let’s focus on what Delta did right, the next day, at their updated La Guardia Terminal C.
Act I - Sueimon rescues me. The minute I walk into Terminal C, I realize I have left my phone in the cab that just drove me from Newark. Immediately, upon seeing my face, Sueimon calmly walks towards me and asks if I am OK. As soon as I finished telling her, she hands me her phone and tells me, “do what you need to do! I am around, in no rush.” Calls to the cab company’s Lost and Found did not get me my phone back, but Sueimon’s kindness and poise helped me get centered. I handed her phone back, thanked her and inquired about the super cute kid on her screen saver — her 2 month old son. We chatted another couple of minutes and then I went downstairs to the arrival level to see if could not catch my driver. No luck there either.
Act II - Joffre makes the call. Coming back to the departure level, I realize that I had not made the one call I needed to make to get my phone back: the call to my phone! (24 hour of sleep deprivation takes a toll!) Sueimon’s shift had ended, I could not find her anywhere. So looking at three ground crew, I asked one of them if I could use his phone to call my phone. Joffre immediately handed me his phone and encouraged me to keep calling until the driver answered. It worked! I offered the driver a $100 to come back to LaGuardia, but it’s Joffre who sealed the deal: “C’mon man, she really needs her phone, do the right thing! Come back to terminal C. Plus it’s a good day for you, you’re going to make 100 bucks!” 30 minutes later the cab driver showed up, handed me my phone. Thank you, Joffre!
Act III - Luis sends me home. Phone in hand, and with a far lighter step, I get to the Sky Priority lounge to check the status of my flight to Portland. Luis calls the “next passenger, please”. It’s me. He immediately strikes me as the guy who can solve complex travel situations and loves doing so. I first asked him to confirm whether the flight to Portland is cancelled. Yes, it is. And then asked how far north towards Maine he can send me. In 3 key strokes and as many words “Boston, 6:14 pm. One seat left. It’s yours. Do you want it?” Ok, yes please! “You’ll have to make your way to Portland on your own, we are not responsible.” No problem, my husband will drive to Boston to pick me up. Then Luis gets on the phone because he wants a confirmation that the last seat he grabbed for me is indeed a “real seat”. While he is on hold, there is no chit-chat, he’s all business, focused on the task at hand. A woman finally answers and in two sentences Luis confirms that she’s OK with what he’s done and that “Ms. Romana has that seat.” I can see that this is what he loves to do, solving a problem, using what he knows about a system he could probably improve if you’d asked him to. My seat is confirmed, I am going home! I say goodbye to Luis, thank him for helping me. And as I pack my passport and boarding pass back in my bag, I notice his appearance: I would bet he’s had his suit vest tailored to fit him to the T, he’s wearing dress shoes, Luis has style.
Act IV. Isis, the future pilot. The flight is delayed, but at 7:30 pm we are told we have a plane, a crew and a window to take off. The perfect (and rare) trifecta of summer flying out of New York City! I get on board, greeted by a young woman who has an amazingly soothing voice, a confident demeanor and is altogether joyful. “We are so happy to have you on board, welcome!” She is happy to welcome everyone on board, really. She is Isis, a beam of sunshine blasting away the past 24 hours of abysmal incompetence and grey. She is in charge of the plane, the cabin crew. She is diligent, kind but not gushingly so. She is not mothering the passengers, she is adulting. The captain comes out of the cockpit and asks her how to pronounce her name because he’s not familiar with the spelling (neither am I, apologies Isis). I cannot help but eavesdrop on that conversation — professional deformation! I am curious to see how a Latina flight attendant and a middle-age white male pilot interact in a professional environment that is codified to the gill. Aviation works because of the hierarchies that are the backbone of the industry: flying crew vs ground crew; pilots vs flight attendants, head quarters vs customer facing teams, add in gender, race and all the shades of intersectionality in between and you have a very complex, stratified, rigid structure. This makes airlines great diversity laboratories! The captain sounds genuinely curious, so Isis answers him as his peer. On arrival, as I am stepping on the jetway, I thank Isis for a great flight. I keep thinking that those aviator style glasses she wears are not just a stylish fashion statement, they are a career statement. I would not be surprised to find myself in a plane she flies one day.
Act V. An anonymous cheerleader. In the terminal, I am greeted by an African American gate agent who says a timid “welcome to Boston”. His colleague is behind the desk and as I walk past both of them I overhear her asking him if he has “made his first announcements yet?” He is a brand new gate agent! And it’s his first time greeting a plane. He answers that he has not made any announcement yet. She asks him if he has all his scenarios. A few minutes later, I hear his voice throughout the terminal “Delta announces the arrival of flight 2933 from New York La Guardia at gate A3. Baggage claim 1. Welcome to Boston.” She had let him take the stage, I silently cheered him on. His voice was a bit shaky, but that won’t last long. He’s got this.
All five Delta staff I encountered have shown amazing leadership, empathy, professionalism and are all obviously proud to work for the company. Delta is lucky to have them as employees, but it’s not a coincidence, comrade. I met no Joffre, Luis or Isis in Newark. So what is Delta doing to attract them?
Digital Art Mural at Delta’s Terminal C. (c) NightLabs
Delta’s new terminal C is of a piece with the corporate culture that enables Sueimon, Joffre, Isis and thousands other to be leaders in their positions. It’s a big investment and it’s paying off. The new terminal is bright, lightly colored, aerial, with digital art wall driven by data showing pictures based on the places travelers are coming from or going to: calming nature images of waterfalls, turquoise beaches and forest. The hallways are filled with art from local artists and celebrate travel. It feels like a great working environment, the opposite of the oppressive 80’s and 90’s terminals that reeked of corporate efficiency, greed, and habit of treating passengers like cattle. Gate agents are well dressed, with uniforms that are both functional and fashion forward and look far less tired than any other ones I have seen recently. A real esthetic and ethos focusing on people’s experience, both customers’ and employees’.
Thinking back at the ad aired before the inflight safety video, it starts with Delta’s CEO speaking about the thousands of employees that make Delta the #1 airline in the US. It’s the first time I see evidence of a connection between that claim and what I experienced yesterday at La Guardia. Terminal C’s atmosphere reflects Delta’s corporate culture: put people first and give them opportunities to lead. Employees will perform at a higher level and customers will have a better experience.
[1]. Although I have flown thousands of miles, I don’t have any particular status with Delta, and I don’t work for the company. I am just a frequent flyer.