Sharing the Wealth

It takes so little...

Last night from Sao Paulo to Houston, our Dreamliner was booked to capactiy...BEFORE the cancellations of our flights to New York and Washington Dulles due to weather.  Naturally, the standby list for Houston was miles long!

I've been working Economy Class galley lately and noticed on our Preliminary Report that we had a few elite level frequent flyers in Economy and one of our most elite, most frequent flyers, in the center seat of the very last row, right in front of the galley.  I was finishing up my prep work and decided to keep my eyes open for our very HVC (high value customer) out of curiosity as much as anything.  What would we be able to do to improve his/her lot under such circumstances?

The first person to arrive for the last row was a person of extreme size, assigned to the "F" seat but whose mass would easily intrude onto the "E" seat on one side and the aisle on the other.  I foresaw the beginnings of an ugly 9+ hour reality for our very frequent flyer and continued to wait.  Eventually, a quiet family of 3 arrived in the vicinity of row 38.  "It can't be", I thought.

It was.

I moved to greet the "K" (first letter of last name) family and let them know that we would do what we could to improve their seating situation and make them as comfortable as possible, under the circumstances, thinking all the while that all three of them (the third K was an infant in arms) would be occupying the small space that remained in 38D & E.  Since I had time, I cruised up one aisle and down the other.  Nothing was open, of course.

I passed up into the B zone (International Business Class) and noticed that seat 6K appeared never to have been occupied.  I asked the Flight Attendant working the aisle who said no one had yet arrived for the seat.  I found an agent onboard who confirmed, "NO empty seats anywhere."  I returned to the aisle FA and asked if she showed anyone on her seat map.  What a relief!  It was assigned to passenger "K"!

When I returned to row 38, I let the Ks know that there would be no additional space onboard tonight and told them how relieved I was to learn that they had seat 6K in addition to 38DE.  Mr. K got the kindest look on his face, "You have been trying to help us all this time?".  "Yes, sir.  I mistakenly assumed that the 3 of you would have to share these seats and couldn't let that go without at least trying."

We read and hear much about our highest value customers, the "GSs" (as they're known internally), in social media.  Much of it is unflattering.  I want to go on record with testimony that my experience is very much different.  Mr. K (Asian, apparently Japanese) BOWED AT THE WAIST to acknowledge what I had tried to do for he and his family.  It may sound odd in retrospect but it was so genuine and reflexive in the moment.  He said that his wife would be taking seat 6K so that she could relax after a difficult day and that he would stay with his small son in row 38.  The other Economy Class FAs and I offered all at our disposal to make this family comfortable which, in reality, isn't much.  But our efforts were APPRECIATED.

Father and son fared well, on the whole.  The gentleman in 38F received our largesse in equal measure and was appreciative and gracious.  We all made it through a very long night together; some of us seemed to have actually rested well.  Isn't that what we are here to do?  Allay anxiety and provide comfort?

Upon arrival, Mr. K came across the cabin to find and thank me for our hospitality "and please pass it on to your co-workers."

So, that's what I'm doing...