When we talk about the highest level of service mentality in an organization, I can’t help but remember how Cebu Pacific Air’s ground attendants and cabin crew provided this incredible service to me and my son. This is the unforgettable story:
I was a distracted passenger flying with my 9-year-old son, about to get divorced from my ex-husband. A tumultuous time in my life, I had finally decided that my firstborn who was with me on this trip would stay with me forever, abroad. All the while my mind was afloat figuring out how to take my other remaining son with me next, at the least opportunity possible.
With a worried head, we arrived at the airport just two hours before the flight. With such time constraints, I was very tense about getting to the plane, considering the many routine checks and the lengthy boarding process. Worse still, I didn’t have the local currency to pay the airport fees, and searching for a foreign currency at midnight caused us even more setbacks.
Eventually, I was able to exchange my Malaysian ringgit for Philippine pesos, paid the fees, and checked in, only to see another horrible stranger along the way. My son and I were standing last in a dreadful tangle of queues at immigration a brisk thirty minutes before the gate was supposed to close!
Just when all my hopes for this trip decidedly crashed, the unbeatable became possible! Suddenly, two ground attendants from the airline appeared and spoke resolutely with the immigration officer on duty and asked the long line to make way for me and my son. With their handheld radios, the airline staff, starting from immigration, through the gate, and the plane itself coordinated perfectly with a unique and heroic mission to bring these helpless passengers, mother and son, on board. of the plane that was already moving. Most cinematically, our fellow travelers greeted us with warm applause of welcome inside the plane, a timely and moving acknowledgment of what I believe was the most impressive obstacle course we have ever endured in our history of flight.
My angels incarnated, this tenacious airline staff who helped me through this miracle was none other than “Cebu Pacific Air”. One of the leading domestic and international airlines in the Philippines, it is home to creative and customer-focused staff and management, indeed, in my experience. If it weren’t for this very alert, synchronized and caring rescue on your part, I wouldn’t have any part of those wonderful and special memories that I have shared with my precious son in Kuala Lumpur. This, at a time when the alternate reality of him was much more feasible due to the marital disputes I was having with my ex-spouse. Then you can see here how a service that is “above and beyond Call of Duty” can truly be life changing. I will never tire of telling this story over and over again to family and close friends as this has been a personally memorable and cherished experience I had with Cebu Pacific.
Bottom Line: We need a sustainable culture with an uplifting service mindset, as this is the only path to achieving whatever personal and professional goals we have (Ron Kaufman, “Uplifting Service,” 2012). Ergo, we mean this uplifting service, excellent or superior service.