02/17/2023
"Dear Montgomery Airport Authority,
On rare occasions, I write letters or emails of complaint when I receive particularly poor or, more likely, rude or incompetent service. However, I also will periodically email or write when I receive and/or witness exemplary customer service. I am happy to say I am emailing regarding the latter.
Last Friday, after American Airlines had canceled my flight the day before, and I had gotten up at 3:00 in the morning to catch an alternate flight back to Montgomery, I landed, and went to baggage claim to retrieve my bags.
Almost immediately after only a few bags came out onto the baggage turnstyle, the power went out. Many of us waiting for bags looked at each other, and we started thinking... "Great. I hope I can get my bags sometime today." Obviously, I was not upset at y'all at MGM. You cannot control power outages. However, one of the baggage claim workers came out and simply told us he guessed we would have to wait until the power came back on.
Of course, all of us were thinking, "Can't you at least just bring the bags in here?" As we were thinking that, one of your employees, who appeared to be in management, a man by the name of James, came around the corner, and directed the baggage personnel to do just that: go and bring the baggage into the baggage claim area so we did not have to wait for it. That, alone, was terrific. However, I noticed a couple of other things about him that impressed me greatly. As he was there directing this, he looked down, and saw that a few of the bags had been carelessly placed face down. James immediately turned them over, laying them on their backs and placing them in a manner that would be most easy for the bags' owners to pick them up. This demonstrated a high level of professionalism. But that was not all. I have seen many times when a manager steps in and orders that certain things be done correctly, but then they just leave and don't join in to help complete the project. That was the furthest thing from James's mind. Indeed, instead of just ordering that the baggage claim workers bring the bags in manually, he also immediately joined in and helped them bring the bags in. He even specifically addressed each customer, asking us how many bags we were awaiting and what they looked like. He brought me one of my bags, and I thanked him, and let him know I had a smaller, otherwise identical one, as well. He immediately went out and retrieved it.
I am sure you often hear complaints. But I wanted to email about James to let you know you have an EXCEPTIONAL employee in him. In fact, if I owned a business, I would attempt to poach him from you. His common sense, problem solving, and determination to remedy the problem was, alone, remarkable. However, his willingness to jump in, get his hands dirty, and lead by example - all while being nothing but courteous and professional to not only the customers awaiting their bags, but also his fellow employees, was particularly impressive. I thus asked for his name and determined I would email you when I got the chance. I do not know if he works directly for MGM, or for American Airlines. But, I believe he had on a blue MGM shirt. So, please forward this email to his supervisor, and his supervisor's supervisor and/or to American Airlines. James is an exemplary employee. His work ethic, leadership and professionalism were over-the-top impressive. Thank you for having such a remarkable person in your employ. Please let him know his efforts and professionalism did not go unnoticed. Others commented on him as well, and one other said she planned to email also. But, you know how that goes. I certainly did not want to simply hope she would do so, and not do so myself. Thank you again for having such a high-level employee. James is one you should do anything and everything to keep."
Very sincerely,
Matt
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