List all the issues with this case and also what they could do to improve it for

Question

List all the issues with this case and also what they could do to improve it for next time

As she walked to the Metro, Ruth reflected on the conference she had just attended. She regretted leaving early,but it had been fun. She’d enjoyed the discussions that day on management as a liberal art and liked the session on entrepreneurship at Starbucks. She did want to give case writing a try, and little did she know, she was about to unexpectedly experience a case in real time.

Ruth’s plane was scheduled to depart at 9:15 p.m. and although the trip to the airport could be quick, she thought she should skip the shops and get right to the train. She navigated the station, and the train arrived quickly. Before she knew it, she was at the airport. When she saw the departure display indicating her flight was running 45 minutes late, she briefly regretted leaving the conference as early as she did, but she proceeded to check in.

With only one family ahead of her, Ruth got in line at the check-in counter, and someone got in line behind her. An employee came by, asked whether they were there to check in and said that anyone waiting to check in should use the self-check-in machines. When Ruth said she had a question, he asked what it was, and she replied that her plane was listed as delayed and asked whether there was a likelihood of further delays (she was hoping to find out whether the plane had left the ground from its previous destination). He got the flight information from her, went to a computer, and told her simply, “9:36.” Ruth replied, “They’ve changed the departure time to earlier?” Theemployee then told her that the arrival time was 9:36 and the flight would depart at 10:01. She was a littlesurprised that he’d started out by telling her the arrival and not the departure time, since she’d already confirmedshe was there to check in; but she shrugged it off and proceeded to check in.

She found the self-check-in to be relatively straightforward, although a touch annoying. One of the first questions was whether she wanted to upgrade to first class (for a fee, of course), and throughout, one had to read carefully to select the correct (not necessarily intuitive) answer.

She finished up, and knowing the TSA waiting lines for that hour of the evening were supposed to be no more than 9 minutes, she took the time to buy a few gifts for her family before proceeding to security. She wasconcerned that she didn’t have room in her quart-sized liquids baggie for the snow globe she’d purchased for herdaughter and wanted to have a backup gift.

As she meandered through the outer portion of the airport, she glanced at the departures board to see whether the departure time had changed. She noted that the flight was listed with a blank departure time. Thinking that was odd, but considering that it might simply be a pause as the time was updated, she made another stop and then checked again. It was still blank, so she went to an information desk hoping someone there could clarify matters. The agent told her the flight was canceled and suggested she proceed to the ticket desk.

Ruth went up to the third floor ticket desk and got in line before 8 p.m. There were fewer than 5 people ahead of her, but it took over half an hour to get to a desk, by which time the line behind her had grown considerably. While she was in line, she heard an announcement that the flight was canceled. She called her husband and asked him to check flight schedules to see whether there were any plausible flights out that night. He reported that there

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Case Study: Nothing Special on the Ground: A Night at the Airport

was nothing practical for any of the DC-area airports. Ruth began chatting with another passenger bound for Albany and found out that the woman, Janet, had stopped at one of the airline desks downstairs and been rebooked for a 6:01 a.m. flight changing planes in Philadelphia, and arriving in Albany around 9:30. Finding they both had experience in information systems and systems design, they chatted for a while about their work, and noted some apparent flaws in the systems at the airport.

Ruth got to the ticket agent and explained she was one of the passengers on the canceled Albany flight and asked for assistance in rebooking. The agent took her boarding pass, checked the computer, and said that Ruth had been rebooked for a 7 a.m. flight to Charlotte, with a connecting flight to Albany that would arrive around 3 p.m. Ruth replied that an 8-hour trip didn’t make much sense to her, as she could get to Albany faster by train (She’doriginally considered taking the train, but ultimately chose to fly to avoid the extra overnights rail travel would entail). She told the agent she wanted to get home sooner and asked about other flights. The agent then found the6 a.m. route Janet had received and offered that. In order to rebook, the agent needed Ruth’s identification andRuth supplied her New York State driver’s license. The agent finished setting up the flight and told Ruth to checkin by 5 a.m., saying she was all done.

It was clear the agent expected Ruth to take her driver’s license and depart, but Ruth didn’t understand why. Ruth asked where she was to stay that night, and the agent told her she should go home. Ruth then patiently pointed outto the woman who had just been looking at her New York State driver’s license that she’d been trying to gethome. Since the cancellation was due to mechanical failure, the airline should provide lodging. The agent saidshe’d provide a hotel voucher, but this turned out not to be a simple process. The agent disappeared into a backroom for more than five minutes, and when she reappeared, she first went back to get something for the agent handling first class passengers. She told Ruth to take the voucher to a hotel Ruth had never heard of in Arlington and also gave her a taxi voucher. Ruth asked for an address and was at first told simply to tell the taxi driver the name of the hotel. Ruth persisted, so, the agent wrote the name, address, and phone number on a scrap of paper. Ruth was then given a meal voucher and told it was good only for the airport facilities. Ruth wondered whether this would be useful, as it was now almost 9 p.m. and based on her conversations with the store clerks, places in the airport started closing at 8:30.

Ruth then text messaged her husband (at 8:57) and asked him to check on the hotel, thinking primarily of the possible amenities and wanting to know what to expect rather than anticipating any problems. She then suggested to Janet that after she (Janet) got her voucher, they share a cab to the hotel. Ruth lingered while the woman was taken care of, and found that Janet had been put in an adequate tourist-oriented chain hotel.

Although they would not be traveling together, she and Janet went downstairs to retrieve Janet’s checked luggage.The luggage was not in the collection assembled outside the airline’s desk. While they were in line once again, waiting for Janet’s luggage, Ruth’s husband messaged back saying, “Reviews from last year not good – neighborhood and hotel. But might have improved. Suggest seeking another option if possible” (at 9:14). After calling him and confirming this meant that the neighborhood had been described as unsafe. Ruth decided to ask

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Case Study: Nothing Special on the Ground: A Night at the Airport

the baggage agent whether he could help (rather than return to what she expected was a very long line upstairs). At this point, Ruth found out that other passengers had also been sent to the adequate tourist-oriented chain hotel.

In the meantime, Janet discovered that the airline had not automatically retrieved her luggage, and that it would have to be requested, which would take a few minutes. After the agent made the necessary request, Ruth askedwhether she could get some help with her hotel. The agent politely listened to Ruth’s concern, asked the otheragent at the desk whether she knew anything about the hotel or neighborhood, and then explained that he could do nothing from that desk, and that it would take a supervisor to change a voucher that had already been completed. He attempted to summon a supervisor by walkie-talkie. At first, there was no response, and then he had to ask the supervisor to call him by phone because he couldn’t hear him. He then asked Ruth to wait outside, saying he’d come get her when he had more information. When the agent came out, he quietly told Ruth that he’d heardprevious complaints from passengers about the hotel Ruth had been assigned to, and told Ruth she’d have to goback to the third floor ticket desk to get a new voucher. At this point Ruth parted from Janet so Janet could head to her hotel.

Upon returning upstairs, Ruth saw the line had grown considerably. She tried going directly to the desk to explainthat she’d been told a supervisor would meet her there, but was abruptly instructed to get in line. She did so, buttried to keep watch for anyone who looked like a supervisor.

After a while, Ruth noticed some other passengers out of line who were calling for a supervisor. As a supervisor was the person she needed, and expecting that the new voucher had already been prepared, Ruth joined them. She found out that they had been at a desk downstairs and had been treated rudely. A young woman standing nearbylooked like she’d been crying so Ruth went over to offer some tissues, which the woman accepted. She said there had been a death in her family, that she was trying to get home, and she didn’t know what to do. Her name was Megan. Ruth called her husband to ask him whether there were any trains that might get the woman back to Albany, but no trains would get her there much faster than a flight early the next morning.

No supervisor came out in response to the group’s request. Eventually a police officer came by, and a member of the group requested assistance. Shortly thereafter an airline agent appeared, assured them she’d get everyonetaken care of, and took Megan first. She booked Megan on an early flight, and then said she had hotel rooms at a good quality, business traveler hotel for everyone in the group. When she started handing out vouchers, some of the group asked how they knew this hotel would be okay. Ruth did not worry, as she was familiar with the chain.It was a much better hotel than she’d expected, and she wondered whether this was a hotel held in reserve for firstclass passengers and then used for people who complained. The woman said that the last shuttle would leave at 11:00 p.m. from door 9 and they should get someone there to request that it wait for the rest of the group.

Because she did not have to retrieve checked luggage, Ruth was able to get to the shuttle first. When she got to Door 9 and did not see a hotel shuttle, she became concerned as it was already 10:55. Ruth inquired at the shuttledesk and, contrary to what the airline supervisor had said, was told that she’d have to call the hotel to request the

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shuttle be sent. The shuttle desk staff gave her the phone number for the hotel, which Ruth called. She explained that a number of people were at the airport and being sent by the airline there and would need a shuttle. The hotelstaff then informed her that the hotel did not accept vouchers. Ruth replied that they’d specifically been given avoucher and confirmed that she’d called the hotel listed on hers. The response was that the hotel used to take vouchers but hadn’t accepted them in a while.

Ruth returned to the group waiting for luggage and explained what she’d been told. She offered her phone to a fellow passenger named Eric and asked him to call, thinking that something must have been misunderstood andhoping that he’d get a different response. He called at 11:02 and received the same information. Some members ofthe group said they would go to the hotel anyway and demand a room. Others pointed out that the hotel had nothing to do with the situation and had no reason to help them with a problem with the airline. The group then proceeded to the nearest airline representative, which happened to be the baggage agent Ruth had worked with previously.

The frustration was clear as one man in the group explained to the baggage agent what had happened. Ruthstepped in to say that she’d worked with this agent before and found him to be very helpful and suggested they just explain the immediate problem. After hearing what had happened, the agent offered to call the hotel. He also was told that the hotel would not accept vouchers.

At this point, the group began discussing what to do next. Some wanted to go to the hotel and pay for a room themselves; others wanted the airline to solve the problem. Ruth looked at the time and said that if it got any later, it would not make any sense for her to leave as she had to be back for a 6 a.m. flight (with at least a half hour ofpossible travel time each way, and with probable delays in check in, there wouldn’t be much time to sleep), andsuggested they scout out places to sleep in the airport. A woman named Michelle agreed, and she and Ruth explored the first floor of the airport. After finding no reasonable spaces on the first floor, they returned to thebaggage area. When they got back to the baggage area, the agent was documenting the problem in each traveler’sindividual records and giving them print-outs. By the time Ruth and Michelle had received theirs, the other passengers had left the area. Ruth and Michelle asked the baggage clerk for suggestions for good locations to sleep in the airport in case they ended up doing that, and the clerk suggested the third floor, which he said was warmer. Upon questioning the clerk about facilities in the airport, they were told there was no frequent flyers lounge and were given no direct response about amenities for flight attendants. The baggage agent said the ticket counters would re-open at 4 a.m.

Ruth and Michelle went outside to look for shuttles and taxis, and Michelle stopped for a cigarette while they discussed how to proceed. Having come from a conference there, and having been in several of the hotels, Ruthsaid she expected Crystal City would be booked full, and she didn’t know of other places to seek a hotel. Sincethey were both exhausted, they decided to stay in the airport. Finding themselves to be thirsty, they returned to the main (second) floor and found that while most stores were closed, a convenience store and Dunkin Donuts wereopen. Ruth, realizing she hadn’t had dinner and that the muffins she’d brought from home weren’t enough, bought

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Case Study: Nothing Special on the Ground: A Night at the Airport

the last bottle of milk from Dunkin Donuts. They then both bought water from the convenience store, found a bathroom, changed into more casual clothes, and brushed their teeth. They decided that the area in front of the windows looked as good as any to sleep (they could sleep between the chairs and the window and not be in the path of traffic, or they could rest on the chairs, and they settled in by around 12:30.

Michelle started by trying to sleep on the floor, but Ruth found the chairs sufficiently comfortable. Ruth couldn’tsleep, so she read and did some logic puzzles she’d brought along, wishing she had more reading material. Shewrote a post card to her daughter about the night activity at the airport (lights and music broadcast all night, cleaning people using zamboni-like machines, police on Segways, other passengers). Michelle switched from thefloor to the chairs, but just after 2 a.m. decided she couldn’t sleep and proposed they find another location. Theysaw one of the friendly policemen by the convenience store and walked over to him. They asked him for blankets and suggestions on where to sleep, and he suggested a quiet area in another section of the airport. They stopped first at the convenience store so Ruth could buy more postcards and met Alex, a young man in his 20s. He, too, had been booked on the Albany flight that was canceled. They told him they were headed to sleep, and he said he might look for them later.

They found a quiet space and immediately wished they’d noticed it sooner. It was quiet (they couldn’t even hearthe music that was in the main section of the airport) and dark. They started to talk but stopped when they found that a young man was already asleep there. They settled in, and even Ruth was able to get some sleep.

An announcement over the PA system woke Ruth. As it was 3:58, she decided to get up and go to the airline ticket desk to make sure her travel arrangements were in order. She went up to the third floor and found that airport employees had reset the barriers for the lines to the counters. While the other counters were already staffed, the airline she was booked on was not. She found Alex on a chair looking forlorn, told him she was going to start the line, and he joined her.

While they were waiting, Alex explained his situation. He said he’d been given vouchers for a taxi and a hotel andhe’d headed for the business-oriented hotel. However, when he got there, he found out he was at the Crystal Citylocation, while his voucher was for the Pentagon location, and that they wouldn’t accept the voucher. Since he’d already used all the cash he had on beer, he didn’t even have a way to return to the airport. His credit cards werein his checked luggage, and his cell phone and iPod were out of power. He said a nice couple from Arkansas gave him some money for the taxi, and fortunately he figured he had enough left over to buy a charger for his equipment. He was frustrated because his trip was only for the weekend to see a buddy graduate, and because hewas now booked through Charlotte and wouldn’t get in until 3, he’d have very little time with his friends.

At 4:30, the airline clerks finally arrived. They seemed to busy themselves with paperwork and did not take anyone from the line. Eventually someone came out and told the passengers that if they were there to get boarding passes, they should use the self-check-in. An older couple behind Ruth and Alex expressed concern, saying they’dnever used self-check-in and were not comfortable with computers. Ruth offered reassurance, saying she’d done it

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yesterday and found it to be pretty self-explanatory, and offered to help if they had difficulty, and they were able to complete the process. Eventually, the clerks started working with passengers in the line. The clerk told Ruth there was no flight that would get her home faster and no direct flight available until noon. Ruth took her boarding passes and checked on Alex, who was taking a strangely long time to get his boarding passes.

Ruth then decided to mail a post card and proceed from there directly to security. She hoped she’d reorganizedeverything properly to make things easy at security, and fortunately it was a simple process (and her snow globe made it through). She then bought some food and saw Alex at a convenience store looking at phone chargers. She checked with him to make sure he had enough money to get one, with money left over for some breakfast. He reassured her that he had enough cash for both.

Ruth settled in to the lounge next to a man recharging his computer, and proceeded to recharge her phone. The man explained that he’d spent the night in the airport and was trying to get home to see his family because he wasworking away from home. His return flight was at 10 a.m. Sunday, and he was questioning the wisdom of traveling home at this point. Alex then sat down across from Ruth, and she saw he was eating a donut.

After a while, Janet showed up, and told Ruth that the tourist hotel turned out to be a 45-minute cab ride away from the airport. The hotel clerk had arranged for cabs for everyone to return to the airport, but they hadn’t shownup on time. Eventually a cab did show up, but it was the only one, and there were five passengers waiting to get to the airport. Fortunately, Janet made it just before the call to board.

The call to board the plane instructed passengers to proceed to the downstairs gate, so everyone got on the escalator. As they rode down, they heard an airline employee shouting for everyone to move away from the escalator and stand by the wall. When they looked down, they could see why. A line had formed at the door andbent towards the escalator, and there wasn’t enough room for the people coming down the escalator to step off.Ruth and Janet joked about this being a cattle call and discussed the poor design of the room. The airline then announced that no wheeled luggage would be allowed on the plane, and that the passengers must use planeside luggage checking. When busses started arriving to take the passengers to the plane, an agent at the door handed out yellow luggage tags to people to put on some of their carryon luggage before getting on the bus. This seemed to slow down the line, and again, Ruth and Janet discussed the poor design of the system.

The passengers were taken by bus to the plane, where they turned over their planeside checked luggage, and boarded. Ruth chatted with her seatmate, a woman in the Navy who had been given a six-hour deployment notice and had only 40 minutes in Philadelphia to catch her next flight. As the time crept by, Ruth started wondering what was going on. The flight was scheduled for 6:01, and at 6:20 there was still no sign that they’d be leavingsoon. Eventually, a lone flight attendant started bringing in wheeled luggage and trying to fit it into the overhead compartments. After watching the flight attendant fail to get one to fit, take it away, and return to try again, Ruth muttered to her seatmate that there was no way that bag was going to fit in that compartment. Eventually the flight attendant gave up and brought in a smaller bag.

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Case Study: Nothing Special on the Ground: A Night at the Airport

The plane departed from the airport after 6:30, but once the pilot announced that the flight would take less than 45minutes, Ruth realized they’d arrive in time for her and her seatmate to make their connections. Upon landing,they were told to wait by the plane for their luggage, but not to go behind the wings. A jetway was attached to the plane, and Ruth walked up it with the other passengers. She was puzzled when they came out into a waiting area without a door to get outside and retrieve their luggage. She then returned to the jetway and waited for clarification, and eventually luggage started coming in.

The group of people heading for Albany started walking together back into the airport. While the gate number for the connecting flight had been printed on their boarding passes, they heard the end of an announcement about gate changes. They stopped at the departures display to double-check on their gate, and were puzzled when theycouldn’t find their flight. Ruth recognized that normally this would worry her, but she was too tired at this point. The passengers found an agent who told them the gate and where to find a shuttle that would take them to the proper concourse. Ruth wondered whether the displays in F concourse only showed flights departing from that concourse, but not knowing how far it was to the shuttle bus and new concourse, she didn’t want to stop andcheck.

The group proceeded to the new concourse and found they had time to use the facilities and even buy something to eat. They boarded without incident, and although they were behind other planes for takeoff, they eventually departed without incident.

When she finally landed in Albany, Ruth decided that the best she could do with this story was turn it into a case, perhaps enabling future students to learn from her experience and recognize opportunities for improvements in the organizations in which they might work.

Explanation / Answer

There are multiple issue in case study with respect to airlines, which are listed below

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