How’s that for service?

I always write about how awful my flight experiences are, so it’s only fair to make note of a pleasant one. No, I didn't get a free upgrade to business class, though that would have been nice too. Instead it was a very nice gesture by the flight crew to take note of my request.

What happened was this – my carry-on bag was too big to fit in the overhead compartment of the small narrow plane. So I left it at the end of the jet way for planeside check-in. I took my window seat and scanned the things around me. While I looked out of the window, I saw my bag lying alone at the bottom of the stairs of the jet way. I figured it would eventually be added to the remaining baggage. Five minutes later it was still there and the flight attendant made an announcement that we were ready to depart. So I got his attention and told him that my bag was still lying there. He ran up to make a call to the ground crew to take care of it. Another five minutes later, no response from the ground crew. I complained again as I heard the doors being shut. And then I see the Captain walk down the stairs of the jet way and take care of my bag himself. The flight attendant came back and asked, “How’s that for service?”

I’m glad I spotted my bag lying there, because dealing with lost baggage is a giant pain. But I was knockout impressed with the Captain! I was expecting to hear reasons such as, ‘we can’t delay take off,’ or ‘we are understaffed, there is nothing we can do,’ or ‘it will reach your destination aboard the next flight’, etc. To top all of that, this morning when I checked in a bag, it was 2 pounds extra, and the kind lady behind the Delta counter let it slide (once somebody made me remove stuff because it was 0.5 lb over). And… all my flights were on schedule today. Being the end of the holiday weekend, I expected chaos at the airport. It was a good flying day after all!

This one tops my list for airline customer service. And to answer the question of the flight attendant, “Your service today was remarkably noteworthy!” Thank you Captain Drew and flight crew of flight NW 1224.