A week ago I was with a group traveling to a special Christmas party at Disneyland. The group consisted of many families, most with young children. Because of bad weather, our flight into Los Angeles was re-routed to Las Vegas. The plane we were on was scheduled to come back to Las Vegas after stopping in Los Angeles, so we were told that we would have to take another flight to our final destination.

It wasn’t their fault, but it was their opportunity to fix it.

It was late at night, the group was tired from traveling and from the turbulent flight. As I walked up to the gate counter with another co-worker, we could tell that the current shift was ending, the Southwest folks had been at work for some time now. We explained the situation to the gate agent and he asked how many were in our party. “85″, I responded. The agent was a bit taken back but he, along with other agents at the Southwest wing at McCarran Airport immediately began working to put us on the next available flight, all 85 of us. It didn’t matter that their shift was ending, a customer situation needed them there, all of them. We didn’t get excuses, or any run around. The awesome Southwest team just took care of the issue.

Dedication to service turned a bad situation into an awesome service experience.

It took quite a bit of work on their part. That’s a lot of people to re-book. We had to split into separate flights, but we all arrived where we needed to within 30 minutes of each other. The Southwest team even commended us on being patient with them and being calm about the flight situation. But I wouldn’t we be? They were working for us. The staff was communicating with us, providing solutions, and letting us know what was being done to get us where we needed to be, they couldn’t have done a better job.

I want to sincerely thank Larry, Rumi, Helen, and Veronica of the Southwest team at McCarran Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada. You are awesome! You may have had to stay at work an extra hour on that day. But there are a lot of people who will remember your dedication for a long time to come. You proved the dedication of the Southwest team and also the commitment to service by Southwest Airlines.

Thank you. You are customer service rock stars.

If you liked this, be sure to check out:

• Excellent Customer Service Begins with Effective Status Updates
• Provide REAL Customer Service!
• $20 Amazon Gift Cards = Customer Love
• Wander Around, Have Fun = Awesome Customer Service Teams
• Finding Lifetime Customers in the Lost & Found