Fixing the Airlines

I had a rough travel experience last week due to a combination of bad weather and bad customer service.  It  got me thinking about how to improve the customer service delivered by the airlines.  I've interacted with a few 100 airline personnel over the past 10 years, and 98% of the time they have given me outstanding (seriously, outstanding) help.  However, many of us have also encountered the rare helpless (or worse) airline employee, and unlikely a bad employee at Starbucks, this bad employee can really ruin our week, not just our coffee.  For example, I arrived at the airport an hour before my flight and the kiosk wouldn't print my ticket.   I picked up the phone, as instructed by the kiosk, and the person on the other end was not only completely helpless (costing me at least 10 valuable minutes), but she sent me in the wrong direction.  Thus one person ruined my day, and caused half a dozen co-workers  to have to make up for her failure.  This is simply unacceptable.  The airlines NEED to find a way to identify employees that cannot or will not help customers and get rid of them.  In many cases this is impossible because there is no record of the customer interacting with the employee, but, in my case, there should be a record of the call and a record of non-help.  They can take the money they save by not paying worthless employees, and give bonuses to the top 2% or top 5% of employees --- you know, the ones that FIX your problem.

Grey's New Mojo

In 2006 I wrote the following about Grey's Anatomy in my previous blog:

"The only other show I watch regularly, Grey's Anatomy, started out as an interesting show that explored the experiences of young doctors going through their internships. I've always found the psychological, emotional, and physical impact of the medical internship to be fascinating after reading Robin Cook's excellent "Year of the Intern", which basically argued that the workload and stress experienced by medical interns may not be the best way to train someone to be a doctor. Since the first season, however, Grey's Anatomy has descended into a soap opera that explores only a few medical/internship issues and now explores having affairs….how pathetic."

Grey's Anatomy soap opera continued for 2007 and 2008, but, for unknown reasons, the show has returned to its roots and been amazing this year. Welcome back and congratulations.

The Death of the Newspaper

Bill Simmons and Chuck Klosterman had an interesting podcast this week in which they argue about the rise of the internet and the death of the newspaper.  Klosterman identifies the loss of advertising revenue to Google, Craigslist, etc. as the cause.  This was, of course, one of the major factors.  Simmons argues that it is the low quality of writing in newspapers compared to the best options available on the internet.  For example, on the internet I can read about sports as  written by the 3 or 4 best sports writers in the country.  In my local newspaper, I can read about sports as written about by the 498th best sports writer.  (And, yes, on the internet I can read about sports as written by the 1 billionth best sports writer.)  Simmons also identified a major factor in the downfall of the local paper.

I think, however, that they missed a third major factor in their debate -- the  flattening of the world.  By 'flattening' I mean that we care more about our country and world and less about our local town than  people used to...relatively speaking.  For example, my Dad loves to go to the local coffee shop (cafe) and catch up on the local news (i.e., gossip).  I love to go to the local coffee shop (Starbucks) and read magazines.  We, and by 'we' I mean generation X and younger, care less about the local news that the newspaper has a monopoly on.  There you have it, Simmons', Klosterman's, and Heys' theories on the downfall of the newspaper.

Finally, a book review for the road....I loved "Same Kind of Different As Me".  I learned more from an illiterate cotton picker from Louisiana than I have from any PhD.