Yesterday afternoon I was traveling to Gatlinburg, Tennessee to lead a leadership workshop. I usually fly out of Detroit but the flight was almost $300 less expensive if I flew out of Toledo and connected in Detroit (This has happened many times and I still don’t understand it—I’m using more of the airline’s service, yet it costs less!).
Anyway, as we approached the gate in Detroit, we sat on the tarmac for awhile. Finally, the captain announced the reason for our delay. Apparently Detroit’s airport had many people not show up for work on Monday. This meant they only had 4 employees to manage 38 passenger ramps. He went on to tell us this is a regular occurrence the day after a holiday weekend.
How sad.
Two things struck me as sad. One, that the captain would share that with his customers. It seemed like he was “passing the buck.” Even though that was the truth, customers don’t want to hear this finger pointing. This is poor customer service.
Second, it is a shame what is happening in this country. Overall, work is not valued like it once was. As a result, many people don’t treat it as a serious commitment. In this case it caused hundreds, if not thousands of people to miss connecting flights or to be inconvenienced.
Work is a privilege. We were made by God to work (Genesis 2:15). So let’s do our best to enjoy it and live up to our responsibilities.
In case you were wondering…I did make my connection, but only because it too was delayed—one of the few times I was happy with a delay!
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