My stepdaughter and her two young children, ages about 6 and 2, flew from Raleigh, NC [RDU], via Chicago [ORD] to Reno, NV [RNO] this afternoon and evening. The younger one was ill, and they were toting a heavy suitcase, a large car seat for the baby, as well as a stroller.

To hear her tell the story tonight after she made it to her car in NV, American Airlines has forgotten why it’s in business. It’s not in business for its gate agents to have an easy life. It’s in business to move its customers safely and comfortably from one airport to another. And they’ve gotten the two goals mixed up badly.

With normal ground and in-flight delays, the leg to O’Hare arrived late. They did the O.J. number through the airport to the connecting flight, getting into a very long queue waiting to board the Reno flight. She asked the woman at the check-in counter whether people traveling with young children still got any special treatment and was rudely told, No… Not their policy. Other people, like one couple, traveling with two young children seemed to be allowed to board early, but this one young mother with two kids and luggage in tow, on her own, was not.

Other AA staff didn’t seem to be willing, eager or trained to help people who need some assistance, either. My stepdaughter got more help from other passengers who sympathized with her plight than she got from the paid staff of the airline.

Similar events had taken place on the outbound flight early last week, on the route from Reno through O’Hare to Raleigh-Durham, too.

I’m only 60 years old, myself, and only been flying since about 1968 or so, but I’ve not been able to miss the fact that when airlines lose their capacity to treat their customers well, [and especially airline companies that seem to “lose their sense of humor and fun”], they’re usually on a pretty short ride to bankruptcy, buyout or general collapse. Over the decades, I’ve seen Continental, United, Delta and others ride up and down that roller-coaster, and now AA seems to be on that “flight”, too.

I once flew AA exclusively for the simple reason that I have long legs, and I was tired of arriving all cramped up due to the short seat pitch of UAL and others. Stories like these, coming from my wife’s own daughter, make it easy for all of us to try to shop around for other connections, even more inconvenient ones, in order to avoid airlines that are not treating their customers well.

It’s as if these service people have an attitude of “they’re not paying me to be nice to you or listen to your complaints.”

Well, having worked in Marketing departments for nearly thirty years, I’ve got news for you: “Yes, you ARE being paid to be nice to your customers, listen to their complaints and even foul language at times, and take it with a smile and a grain of salt, and continue to smile. You ARE paid to be yelled at. If you’re not clear about that, your management should be either fired or they should fire YOU.”