Machines will fail, it is People who make the difference….
On my return flight from SFO, I met a wonderful young man with a unique, can-do attitude in life.
My pre-booked seat turned out to be a lemon deal – the seat recliner was not working, the in-seat Video was not working, the attendant light was not functional…I mentioned it meekly to the attendant when he came with the service but I really did not expect to see a breakthru.
Sumit Chandna – the attendant, not only recognized me from a previous flight- he went and rebooted the system ( on the general corporate principle, that if it works for men, it will work for the machine)!
No luck!
I resigned to a 16 hour journey where I would have poor sleep on a recliner that had no inclination to recline – and a non-functional video which would leave me on my own to pass the time.
The young man did not let me down in the situation! He had continued to explore options – and when the reboot did not work, within minutes, adjusted me to a nice alternate seat where the seat -and the system- were working.
I shifted – and took my jet-lag adjusting sleep – and then reached out to connect with the young man. Sumit deserves the accolade note I left for him in the Air India customer care note – machines will fail, it is people who make the difference.
And while I do hope that Air India reviews its seating systems and their functionalities, hats off to an organization which creates service oriented personnel like Sumit who feel for their customers and go the extra mile to serve with a smile.
And I owe it to my seniors who inculcated in me early in my career to look at opportunities to give accolades instead of cribbing to build the organization!
8 Responses
Dr TR Mathew
Wonderful to see you taking the time out to acknowledge and appreciate the work done by a professional. As you rightly say, giving accolades wherever it is deserving will contribute greatly to keeping the spirits up and spirited employees can be the binding force that can help build the organisation. Thank you.
Ashwini Aggarwal
Yes, Dr Mathew- if I had been -ve, I may have got a limited result. But by applauding him for his service, I am creating a hero for life…something I learnt from my seniors in my corporate career over the years…
Sanjay K Gupta.
Ashwini ji.
You really inspire, teach and accolades to your encouragement. Your positivity and spirit is exemplary.
Arjun
When everyone is falling over each other to tarnish the image of airlines and companies. I really appreciate the way you have written the article without mentioning the airline concerned.
Ashwini Aggarwal
Thanks, Arjun – a positive stroke makes a hero, a -ve stroke generates negativity and a limited result.
Sanjay Berde
A positive mind set by both of you will go long!Happy to read this
Kiran Mehta
You walk the talk ! Well written and straight from the heart; my appreciation for sharing your experience.
Sukesh M.
I guess mechanically things haven’t changed for Air India as I had the same experience with the aircraft back in May of this year but you are lucky Mr. Agarwal that someone took care of you. In my case 16 long flight hours were spent by explorinig my inner self.