Customer
Spotlight
Customer
Spotlight
 AMERICA WEST AIRLINES (Reprinted with permission from American West Airlines Magazine) |
| On a typical day,
America West Airlines carries somewhere in the
neighborhood of 43,000 passengers. We see this as 43,000
daily opportunities to build a relationship that will
help ensure our company's success. Staying close to our
customers, valuing their perspectives and responding to
their needs are priorities as our company fosters a
service-oriented corporate culture.At America
West, we're developing the instinct for customer service
as a company-wide reflex. Our airline makes a priority of
giving our employees the tools they need to perform their
jobs --not just equipment and technology, but also the
"people skills" required for quality customer
service. Through a strategy called Putting
People First our employees are obtaining the
tools they need to meet and even exceed our customers'
expectations.Putting
People First is being implemented at America West by
TMI, a human resource development company that has helped
build the corporate cultures of organizations throughout
North America. Training, which is being provided to all
employees who have direct contact with our customers, is
designed to empower employees to use their skills to
improve service. "Putting People First makes
it easier for each of us to take ownership of problems
instead of passing the buck," says Kacy Whittenburg,
a Customer Service Representative at our San Diego
airport operation. "It's really helped me
refocus."Putting
People First stresses the importance of each
interaction between customers and employees. "When a
customer deals with me, I am America West to that
person," explains flight attendant David Hone.
"The training teaches us to focus on the needs of
each customer and to take responsibility as a
representative of the airline."Professional
success is emphasized through personal development.
Impact often extends beyond the workplace. "It's
helped me to communicate better with my husband, my
children and my friends," says Shelly Blackmore, a
general sales agent at our reservations center in Kansas
City, Missouri. "My whole outlook has changed."Quality
service is the benchmark that distinguishes America West
from "no-frills" airlines. It is our goal to
not only please, but to actually delight, our customers.
We believe that people make all the difference. |
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