Posted initially on LinkedIn: Claudia Craia
I travel a lot by plane.
In the Monday morning flights, there are a lot of people simply commuting to work.
I know this because every time the plane is delayed, they become agitated and ask, at first shyly, then more and more aggressively, how long the delay is.
In general, the cabin crew is the one who answers the questions. And (although I don’t understand why) they don’t know or can’t say:
➡ How long the delay will be? AND
➡ Why the delay in the first place?
Well, things can end very badly, depending on how long we stay on the ground – captives in our seats – and how few answers the crew can offer.
I often wondered why the Captain doesn’t come forward to help them? Why the cabin crew doesn’t have enough information, why aren’t they well trained on how to manage these situations, etc…
But recently I saw something else.
We were already 1 hour delayed. And when we finally boarded, passengers were already agitated.
A few minutes after the announcement “Captain crew, boarding is completed”, we heard a CALM, but FIRM voice, suggesting COMPETENCE:
“Hello! I’m Ecaterina, your Captain for today’s flight.”
The Capitan continued her speech, addressing exactly what I wanted to hear:
💡 That she apologises, but we will be delayed for another 50 minutes until a flight corridor is freed up. (How much more delay?)
💡 That the initial delay of 1 hour was due to the computer systems that did not work. (The reason for the initial delay.)
💡 That once we take off, they will try to recover as much of the delay as possible. (The extra mile they will go for us.)
💡 That in 30 minutes from departure we will have some turbulences and that she asks us to fasten our seat belts when she asks us to. (Anticipating other issues and aligning expectations.)
There was a (blessed) silence on the plane, something I have rarely encountered. It seemed like we had all been touched by the magic of the Captain.
💡 What RISK did the Capitan address so well through an ADEQUATE COMMUNICATION?
Well, let me tell you that in one of my delayed flights, a passenger got into a fight with the crew due to the lack of information, he was disembarked, and we were delayed for another 2 hours because of this. And the delay led to another impact. The company had to pay us compensation because the delay was more than 3 hours. And this delay was added to others and that company started to have a bad reputation, that it never takes off on time.
Because risks have a bad habit of leading to other risks. And their snowball can have a severe impact on the company.
I wish you to fly with Ecaterina. To see COMPETENCE in action.
It seems to me an example of things that matter in the SUCCESS of a company.
