Can't Airline Customers Get a Little Love? - By: Sue Painter

My opinion is that the United States long ago became a culture in which burdensome business practices underscore a stark, uncaring, cavalier attitude toward our citizens. Today's news brings, yet again, a call for Federal legislation that prevents airline passengers from being stuck inside planes for more than three hours on the tarmac. This is in reaction to a Continental Express flight (2816) which kept its customers on board for six hours. Instead of moving quickly to give their customers a little love, Continental first pointed its finger to Express Jet Airlines. Express Jet Airlines pointed its finger, in turn, to the Rochester airport.

Finger pointing to wiggle out of responsibility for treating customers decently has long been a theme in American businesses. We've been through the "trapped on the tarmac" routine before - two years ago the hue and cry for Federal legislation arose when passengers on a JetBlue flight waited an interminable eleven hours on the ground at JFK. Two years later, it's happened again for a long enough period of time to get media exposure.

Frankly, if businesses would decide to take responsibility for treating customers with care, politeness, and concern there wouldn't be such pressure to legislate things like how long passengers must sit on a plane before the business that took their money treated them like humans instead of cogs in a machine. Lest I be thought of as coming down too heavy on businesses, however, let me quickly point out that our government engages in the same reactive posturing. Also in today's news? A call for "tighter airspace rules" around New York City after a small plane crashed into a helicopter carrying Italian tourists. The story created yet another merry-go-round of opinions and finger-pointing.

I've come to call the onerous and unloving treatment of American consumers "citizen burden." We routinely display dismissive attitudes toward our own citizens, acting as if their money and their taxes buy them the barest minimum of tolerance. Long lines at driver license renewal? No eye contact in retail stores? Operators who get snarly when someone asks them to please look again for the number of the nursing home their mom has been sent to three states away? These are so common as to fall totally under the radar of news-worthy.

We may say we believe in the Golden Rule - we may teach it in our schools and churches. But when it comes to putting it into action, we fall as fast as that helicopter hit the Hudson River. Seems to me that whoever the big boss man at Continental is (or Continental Express, if you insist on still pointing the finger) might take on an attitude of constant awareness, unfailing politeness, deep concern, and - yes - even gratitude for each and every passenger that pays for a ticket. We seem to have gained an awful ability to hide behind corporate structure and point fingers, as human beings suffer while sitting on planes or standing on line in government buildings. This is not the attitude or behavior that fosters good will, understanding, or peace in our culture, much less elsewhere in the world.

We are called to compassion and love for our fellow beings. We are called to care for our neighbors as ourselves. We are called by our Constitution and our laws to treat each citizen with respect. We have an opportunity to right wrongs right here in our own country, to open our hearts and give a little love. Perhaps if we did that, we would not find it so difficult to take that model of behavior outside our borders into the rest of the world.

About the Author

Sue Painter works with entrepreneurs to clarify marketing strategies, clear stuck places, and develop systems to create strong customer relationships. You can get her special report and get to know Sue at http://www.confidentmarketer.com . Sue believes that business built on compassion and caring will always bring more loyal customers than those that treat customers cavalierly.

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