I was recently reminded why we need to over communicate and execute as promised during challenging times.

I planned for a long travel day across the country that started with a two-hour ride to the airport then two connections that would take me from coastal North Carolina to Monterey California.

The trip was punctuated by bad weather, poor communication and poor execution that began 10 minutes before we were scheduled to land when the pilot advised us that due to fog we were diverting to Fresno.

Who knows why we couldn’t divert to closer airports such as San Jose or San Francisco but at 11pm and after 12 hours of travel I’m ok with giving the airline the benefit of the doubt that it was safer for us to land in Fresno instead of SJC or SFO.

The pilot announced he was checking with the corporate office to determine if we would wait for the fog to lift and fly back to Monterey or if they would bus us there. In 20 minutes he would let us know. After a long day traveling either option was acceptable to me. I was OK with a bus ride knowing I could recline a seat, get some sleep, and not worry about driving. Renting a car wasn’t an option since the rental companies had closed.

One hour passed and he advised us that we would not fly to Monterey and that the airline was paying for our taxi to Monterey.

Now this was a first for me, a 3-½ hour, $375 taxi ride.

Now as you can imagine the story gets better:

-Waited for our luggage for 30 minutes
-Waited for a taxi for another 30 minutes
-Shared it with four other passengers
-Had to give our driver (who just moved from Philadelphia to Fresno) directions
-Fell asleep then awoke to see that the driver was going the wrong way (the passenger in the front seat gave him different directions) and we had to back track
-Arrived in Monterey to a beautiful moonlit night (or should I say early morning)

I pondered how this experience could have been improved by great communication and execution.

What if:
-The pilot advised us of their decision within 20 minutes as promised and not 60 minutes?
-Our luggage was available when we got to baggage claim and we didn’t have to wait again?
-Airline personnel were available to assist with our luggage?
-The airline chartered buses as initially offered?
-Taxis were waiting for us once we claimed our luggage instead of having to wait again?
-Drivers knew the best route from Fresno to Monterey?

Is this too much to expect?

As we drove across central California I was reminded that as we face challenges in our business we must keep our employees and customers informed, communicate more than we do when times are good, execute our plan to perfection and minimize any inconvenience to our customers.

And if we do they’ll stand by us in challenging times and appreciate our solutions.

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