First-day high

I was on a Manila – Hong Kong flight and was quite acquainted with the kind of onboard service offered by this particular Philippine carrier. Compared to its much, much older sisters in the trade, its service is very good.



I have been on planes bound for destinations all over with crew so indifferent that at their best, they continue chatting with each other, unmindful of passengers stepping in. Service is black and white. Either they do it or they don’t. Try asking them for help, say, with the luggage, and – in one gush of air - they would tell you that it is not part of their job description. Service could be truly atrocious. One crew served a bread roll to a passenger by short of throwing it at him.



But not with this carrier. Despite these assumptions though, I still managed to be impressed by the attitude of one cabin staff when passengers began boarding. She didn’t wait for requests for assistance. All the passenger needed was to look remotely in need of help and she walked toward her/ him to retrieve the load and stow it on the overhead compartment or under the seat herself.



In between bouts of manual labour, she courteously greeted each one who passed by, the lilt on her voice and smile on her face never getting any less bright by the snubs that she almost always got.



Based on how the uniform hung loosely from her frame, she should be less than a size two but she seemed so much bigger with all the energy that was radiating out of her as she worked her muscles with the luggage et al. She was so much into executing her tasks that from time to time, a man who I assumed was the chief purser, would have to fetch her and bring her to the rear of the cabin, presumably to take a seat and buckle up safely because of air turbulence.



I remember seeing about six crew onboard. Although all of them were gracious and helpful, none could beat Ms. Less-than-size-two. With others, the service was still above average compared to other carriers but it seemed perfunctory. Their smiles never reached their eyes. They were less quick to offer assistance.Ms. Less-than-size-two oozed with enthusiasm. Which made me think that perhaps she was the newest crew onboard.



Perhaps she was very grateful for having landed on the job, perhaps besting hundreds of other applicants. The highlights of the training sessions might still be ringing in her ears and there was adrenaline rush to keep her being at her best. Perhaps she couldn’t believe her luck that she is getting paid for travelling overseas.



She was very happy with what she doing and it was apparent to everyone.



Frontline service is key to keeping customer loyalty. This makes me wonder if there has ever been a training module developed which aims to could coax first-day-at-work attitude out of old dogs.



I never got to confirm if Ms. Less-than-size-two is indeed a new recruit. But if she isn’t, then she is a prized jewel to the service industry. Vaccines should be produced out of her blood as an antidote to complacency or sloppiness on the job.