Children Policies

[tadjr]

Do the company spokespeople not know policy and how we handle things at the airport? Here is the article from KTAR.com

Airlines Offer Special Services for Kids Flying Solo
November 26th, 2007 @ 5:17pm
by Sandra Haros/KTAR

Thousands of kids will be flying solo for the holidays. It could be a stressful time, but airlines offer special services for those kids.

Morgan Durrant, with US Airways, said they cater to children ages five to 14. "Once they check in at the airport counter, a US Airways representative takes them through security, takes them to the gate, actually will supervise them at the gate, get them on the aircraft, at which point, the baton is passed, if you will, to a flight attendant."

Experts said each airline is very different and urge parents to call before making arrangements.

Policies could differ when it comes to ages, fees and types of flights


I know Morgan reads the boards and would appreciate feedback from him. The following items are wrong. Once they check in at the airport counter, a US Airways representative takes them through security, takes them to the gate, actually will supervise them at the gate
With all due respect Morgan, we dont have enough agents to check in the customers at the counter let alone send an agent off to the gate to babysit. We give out gate passes to the people dropping the kids off and THEY take them to the gate and wait with them until boarding. Is this a misquote from the reporter or does Tempe not know company policy? If it IS company policy for the agent to do this, then WE NEED MORE STAFFING than the staffing we're lacking already.
This is at least the third article I've seen this week that has misstated company policies quoted. Either someone isnt reading policy to the reporters, they're making things up, or someone doesnt know how to communicate with the press. Clarification please.

 

[tea42]

hey if this the new policy Morgan, maybe staffing can refigure our numbers so no one gets furloughed in January!?
Quite honestly, do these people even know what goes on in the airport? Obviously not and it is becoming quite a joke anymore. Then again, we usually do not find out about policy changes until months later....?
We had a small contest today at the gate...how many boarding passes print while trying to upgrade a non rev? We got six for one non rev...lol

 

[john john]

Thousands of kids will be flying solo for the holidays. It could be a stressful time, but airlines offer special services for those kids.

Morgan Durrant, with US Airways, said

Who is Morgan Durrant

 

[700UW]

A Corporate Spokesman.

 

[john john]

"Once they check in at the airport counter, a US Airways representative takes them through security, takes them to the gate, actually will supervise them at the gate, get them on the aircraft, at which point, the baton is passed, if you will, to a flight attendant."

HP had a major problem in the pass with unaccompanied minors when they had a program to allow employee’s children watch them at the airports.Any HP’ers want to elaborate

 

[LD3]

New policy in place:

Fly with your kids......

bottom line, let the airline be an airline and not a day care center. If you can not take the time and money to make sure your child gets to where he/she is going, then dont send em..

 

[Harry Callahan]

No suprise that they got it wrong.

 

[MCD]

Hey everyone,

Thanks for posting this. The reporter didn't include in the story a caveat I mentioned, which should have read something like "Ideally, once they check in at the counter..."

I'm following up with the reporter this morning to get this fixed. Appreciate you guys being active consumers of the media and I know you apply to the same scrutiny to company communications. Don't hestitate to drop me a line if you want to shoot the breeze.

Thanks,
Morgan Durrant
US Airways
Corporate Communications

 

[YVINTERN]

Hey everyone,

Thanks for posting this. The reporter didn't include in the story a caveat I mentioned, which should have read something like "Ideally, once they check in at the counter..."

I'm following up with the reporter this morning to get this fixed. Appreciate you guys being active consumers of the media and I know you apply to the same scrutiny to company communications. Don't hestitate to drop me a line if you want to shoot the breeze.

Thanks,
Morgan Durrant
US Airways
Corporate Communications

Already did...no response...typical corporate speak Morgan.

 

[tadjr]

Thanks for the response.
One request though.... Until we get "ideal" staffing levels for longer than the week they're hired, please dont even mention "ideally" to the press. Many of them have a hard enough time getting things right when its in print and handed to them. Dont give them any leeway on what to interpret because they will get it wrong 98% of the time and we'll either end up with disgruntled customers or end up looking like idiots when we advise the customer otherwise.

 

[tea42]

so mr durant are you saying the policy will be changing to what you "stated" in the article? We will personally supervise them all the way to the gate? Where is the parents responsibilities? My question again is-has the staffing department been told this? We do have lay offs coming in January-and not just in PIT.

 

[PHL]

Folks, I'm not an employee so maybe my meager opinion in this area is moot. But let's not gang up on Morgan. If I'm not mistaken, he's the first person from HQ to identify himself and actively participate. That says a lot, so let's not "shoot the messenger". The journalist reported what he wanted to hear. I'm sure the interview was recorded so all he had to do was go back and double check his quoted snippets. But now customers are going to show up with their kids and drop them at the counter and say "bye johnny - tell Grandma we said hi" as they pass the baton to the agent.

My friend was taking his wife and 1 year old to the airport so they could travel. He didn't even know gate passes were available until I suggested he ask the check in rep for one so he could help his wife with the little one down to the gate and see them off. I suspect a lot of people just assume that TSA won't let anyone through without a ticket, and therefore assume they have to leave their kids at the front door with the engine running.

Morgan - you oughta' go over to Flyertalk and check out the passenger perspective. While I know your job is not to be a customer service rep, you could certainly clarify things for your customers where appropriate.

 

[iwantout]

so mr durant are you saying the policy will be changing to what you "stated" in the article? We will personally supervise them all the way to the gate? Where is the parents responsibilities? My question again is-has the staffing department been told this? We do have lay offs coming in January-and not just in PIT.

What cities will be having the layoffs?

 

[REACC1]

I can imagine that Morgan is extremely busy, however, maybe Morgan should get more acquainted with day to day operations and hands on experience with the front line.
Possibly, that may help him or her with communications with the media.
From my experience, the feed from the home office is usually a spin and drastically detached from the real experience.
Hey, I'm just a peon in the scope of things, but don't discount reality.(It has something to do with the customer experience and ratings.)

 

[REACC1]

Thanks for the response.
One request though.... Until we get "ideal" staffing levels for longer than the week they're hired, please dont even mention "ideally" to the press. Many of them have a hard enough time getting things right when its in print and handed to them. Dont give them any leeway on what to interpret because they will get it wrong 98% of the time and we'll either end up with disgruntled customers or end up looking like idiots when we advise the customer otherwise.

This is to inform them that this is a part of the 'tools' that they are giving us. (they either dont know or dont care)
If you cannot give correct information from a corporate stand point, you are leaving your employees set up for failure, and making unrealistic demands on the rank and file and being a disservice to your customers. No part of the job description says that anyone has to deal with inaccurate statements made to the public. You either get it right or you are not doing your job.