New airline promises to be nice to customers: The enduring power of kindness

As someone who flies a lot, one attribute I seldom ascribe
to the air travel industry is “niceness.”

Airline service personnel must deal with unpredictable weather,
equipment problems, and overstressed passengers all through the day.
Conversely, when we call for help with changing flights or deal with gate
personnel, we have learned to expect long delays and escalating frustration
followed by abrupt service.

Enter David Neeleman, the founder of JetBlue, Westjet,
Morris Air, Azul, and Open Skies.

His new airline, to be called Breeze Airways, expects to begin service sometime later this year. It will feature low costs, low prices, and a more comfortable travel experience with expanded legroom for passengers. It will fly from and to “secondary” cities that don’t usually have direct air service to each other.

And it will offer one other element Neeleman thinks will be
a significant competitive advantage: his employees will be nice to their
customers.

The Forbes article notes: “It stands as an
indictment of this nation’s current airline industry that someone now is ready
to compete—and win—at least partially on making old-fashioned, positive human
connections between employees and customers the featured aspect of their
operation. We’ll see, over time, whether it’ll work.

“It’s also rather refreshing that someone not only recognizes the glaring problem with service quality in the US airline industry today but is aiming to do something about it.”

The enduring power of kindness

David Neeleman knows something Christians will do well to
remember: when we treat others with the grace we have received, our kindness
draws them to our Lord.

Maya Angelou famously observed, “People will forget
what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget
how you made them feel.” In our secularized, chaotic, divisive culture,
one of the most distinctive features of the Christian faith should…