Is the Pressure for Profits Making Airlines Unsafe?

The endless quest for short-term results continues to create toxic workplace cultures. In just the latest in a seemingly endless string of bad news about airlines, United Airline is about to be slapped with a massive fine from the Federal Aviation Administration for flying a Boeing 787 without inspecting a repair. In fact, the plane flew 23 domestic and international flights before making sure the fuel pressure switch replacement was working properly. According to the New York Times, two of those flights were after the FAA notified United that it still needed to complete the inspection.  

This sort of employee behavior is often due to pressure to impress shareholders. I fear that United may be expecting employees to make short cuts to reduce costs. This situation requires a full independent investigation to protect the safety of the passengers. After the April overbooking fiasco where a Kentucky doctor was dragged off an overbooked plane and injured, can United really afford to do any less?

Andrew Faas is the author of From Bully to Bull’s-Eye: Move Your Organization Out of the Line of Fire.

Illustration credit: Signe Wilkinson, Philadelphia Daily News

Some Companies Forget the Employees are also Customers

It has always amazed me how tone deaf some leaders of organizations are about the obvious. While this article in the Wall Street Journal deals with job seekers as customers, the more important question is do they consider employees as customers? According to Gallop polling, only 30 percent of employees are engaged—so it is safe to assume that the 70 percent don't speak well of their employer.

In my many years in retail I made it a point as a senior executive to treat every employee the way I wanted them to treat customers. Doing so engages employees as ambassadors for the company and your brand and helps create a psychologically healthy, safe and fair workplace. You need to look no further than the recent fiascoes with United Airlines to know how forgetting to treat employees like customers impacts your brand and reputation. On the other hand, a positive work culture creates an outreach and representation by employees that is more valuable than any other form of promotion.

Photo credit: BIGSTOCK

If United Treats Their Passengers This Way, How are They Treating Employees?

United Airlines has a lot to learn about customer service. They have long been under scrutiny—a 2016 report in BloombergBusinessweek stated that United received 43 percent of all customer complaints filed against U.S. airlines and finished last among the non-discount airlines in the 2015 JD Power & Associates satisfaction survey.  In October 2016 their failure to provide a wheelchair for a man with cerebral palsy resulted in the passenger having to crawl off the plane.

This week they added physical assault to the list of offenses when security was called to yank a Kentucky doctor off the plane after he refused to give up his seat to an airline employee. The video of the doctor being physically dragged and bloodied has gone viral around the world and created a public relations nightmare for the company. The doctor, who just wanted to return home with his wife from Chicago, was left with a broken nose, concussion and two missing teeth. He is suing the airline, which shouldn’t be allowed to treat anyone this way.

I spent a large portion of my career in the retail sector and as a senior executive always advocated a customer-centric approach. Our goal was to have every point of contact with our customers to be a pleasant and positive experience. The best way to achieve this was to treat our employees the way we wanted them to treat customers.

I have no idea why this simple rule of retail has been forgotten by United, but as Helaine Olen discusses in the New York Times, the airline isn’t alone. The trend of treating middle-class customers shabbily while catering to the 1 percent has been increasing in recent years. But the situation at United goes far beyond the consumer. My experience and research has shown a company like United that mistreat customers also abuses employees. Psychologically healthy, safe and fair workplaces don’t encourage workers to have a passenger who isn’t a threat dragged off a plane. What kind of working conditions would make such a thing possible?  It’s time we find out.

Andrew Faas is the author of From Bully to Bull’s-Eye: Move Your Organization Out of the Line of Fire.

Photo credit: The Red Dress/BloombergBusinessweek