One missing process step makes a bad thing worse

Zen Passenger to Distressed Passenger

Yesterday I was officially a “Distressed Passenger”. Their title, not mine.

I’m a very Zen passenger. Provided that I have the same number of take-offs as landings, then I’m happy.  I understand the logistics of running an airline are complex. So I’m also calm when things don’t quite work. And being courteous to gate agents, who are trying the best they can to help you, goes a long way to making you and them feel better. And you are more likely to get a better result.

I fly on United every time. They are MY carrier. I’ve learned that being Platinum on one airline, even if the odd flight is not direct is better than being “no-status” on every airline. This is even more important now that airlines are running really, really lean and any flight delay or cancellation means they do not have spare capacity to accommodate the Distressed Passengers. This is the official term. If you have status you are at the front of the line for help and options to get you to your destination.

We’ve also learned that if you REALLY need to get to an event – keynote at a Dreamin’ event, our kids’ graduations, or playing a Jane Blonde and the Goldfingers gig, we need to fly a day early, and not the last flight of the day because these are often canceled.

After many years without issues – nearly 600k miles – this last month has been a bit of a nightmare. I didn’t make it to Chicago for DevOps Dreamin because the flight was canceled and there were no available flights the next day. I had a 2 hour 57 min delay to New York, arriving at 3 AM. A flight back from Forcelandia in Portland was canceled. This exercised the full Distressed Passenger process. It failed.

The distressed process

Chicago cancellation: I got the notification JUST before I got on the bus to the airport. This saved me a 3-hour wasted round trip to the airport. I couldn’t get to Chicago, so I stayed at home. I felt really bad for DevOps Dreamin, but I had no options. United refunded the flight through their app. Expedia refunded the hotel,l but it required an online chat.

New York delay: I was at the airport so just spent longer in the United Lounge – a benefit of being Platinum. The delay was just under 3 hours, which is when they have to start paying penalties. The point at which the flight “officially” leaves and the delay is measured, is a grey area – when we start boarding, when they shut the cabin door, when they push back? Measures drive behavior!!!

Portland cancellation: This tested the entire Distressed Passenger process, and it failed miserably. But due to just one tiny broken step. With processes, the devil is in the detail, which is why a UPN process map enables you to drill down to the level of detail that matters.

I got a notification at 1pm that the 7pm flight was canceled. The text told me I had been rebooked on a flight the next day, with options to change to other flights. It also had links to book a hotel and QR codes with food vouchers. So far, so good. I was happy with the flight, but couldn’t change seat. Not the end of the world. I used the link to book the Holiday Inn, as it is close to the airport and had a shuttle. I got a notification and a calendar entry. Fantastic.

After the Forcelandia dinner I went to the Holiday Inn, only to be told by the check-in clerk that they were full. I quoted my confirmation code, only to be told “It is the United confirmation and not theirs. So not their problem. They are full. Go back to the airport.” She also said when my confirmation came in, they were full and she’d told United. This part of the process is clearly broken. Her tone of voice suggested that I should not question how she informed United. Just leave. Go back to the airport and talk to United. The hotel was part of IHG and I am not of high enough status in their loyalty program, to get more than a brush-off. So I get the shuttle back to the airport.

The online process is now broken and my only option is to find a United service agent. I find them and explain where I am in the process. He assumed I’d missed the flight, not that United had canceled it. He needed to make several calls to allocate hotels to the Distressed Passenger list. Eventually he was then able to get me a hotel, and he phoned the hotel to confirm that they got my reservation. The entire process took 40 mins. This is heroics over process. I waited for the shuttle bus to the new hotel and watched 2 full shuttle buses take guests to the Holiday Inn that I was told was full. When I get to the new hotel and try and use the United QR code for food, the app wants me to cancel the hotel to get the QR code. So the manual process by the United service agent has broken the automated process.

The broken step is clearly the automated hotel confirmation. That one step wasted 1 hour 40 mins of my time, and made me disappointed with United’s process, but my loyalty is still there. The Holiday Inn attitude made me less interested in committing to IHG.

Final word

That process you mapped out…..

• Did it get into enough detail to prove it worked?
• Did you understand the different fault paths, not just the “happy path” (the one that works)?
• Did you use the process to do UAT on the apps and integrations?
• Did you keep the process map, so you can use it for process improvement when you get feedback?

AI-generated process maps

BTW I took the story (in italics) and used it as a prompt for Elements.cloud to draw a process map. It did a great job:

With our GPT add-on, transforms sketches, photos, and transcriptions into UPN process maps. Connect with the Elements team today to discover how ElementsGPT can accelerate capturing requirements.