Following on from yesterday’s post this is about the return trip from London to Amsterdam.
This has nothing to do with British Airways [though I was very politely asked if I could put my hand luggage in the hold as the plane was full and I was happy to help] and everything to do with London City Airport.
Look, I fly a lot.
I have flown a lot for at least 20 years.
And one of the things I absolutely loathe is the X-Ray machine.
Shoes off. Belts off. All electronic items separated into a different tray.
It’s a pain. It’s even more of a pain than the treatment you get at the hands of American and Australian immigration.
But I get it.
It’s for our own safety.
It’s to keep everyone protected.
And while some airports have systems that seem to be designed for inefficiency rather than traffic flow, we always get there in the end – even if you get stopped to have your bag more thoroughly checked.
So on the day I was flying back to Amsterdam, the airport was pretty busy.
Because of that, the X-Ray machine was working overtime and there ended up being quite a lot of bags that needed an additional check.
The 2 people in charge of this were kind, courteous and – from my perspective – quick.
However it seems there a bunch of people who had a different view to mine because I saw this …
Now I get companies wanting to get a gauge on their audiences experience.
I even get companies being interested in their audiences specific commentary.
But to offer a presentation pad for people to write their comments on, in clear view of the actual staff, is either motivational evil, or team building ignorance.
Personally I thought putting a digital ‘rate your experience’ board there for people to press, was good enough … but that extra mile actually ended up being more about the impatience of some passengers than the quality of airport security.
I get us Brits like to complain, but this presentation pad is like the definition of passive aggressiveness and yet it appears people have forgotten WHY we have these things in place.
It’s for everyone’s safety.
It’s for everyone’s wellbeing.
It’s for everyone to be able to look forward to where they’re going.
Quite frankly, that pad really pissed me off … so I daren’t imagine how it must have affected the staff.
Should there have been more than 2 people allocated to double check baggage?
Maybe … but what pisses me off is the commentary isn’t about how they did, but how much the passenger felt put out.
Were any planes hijacked that day? Nope.
Were any planes blown up that day? Nope.
That means the people did their job well and so maybe next time people go to the airport, they remember ‘good service’ isn’t always about your individual expectations being met, but whether you can board your next flight with a greater degree of confidence you’ll get to your destination than if there wasn’t anyone looking out for you.