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P
eople at Cleveland Hopkins Inter-
national Airport trust Jackie Jones
a lot—which only stands to reason,
given that the veteran customer service
supervisor is affectionately known on the
job as “Grandma.” In her 14 years as super-
visor, Jones has overseen concourse, ticket
counter and baggage service operations
within the customer service department;
her latest project involved supervising a
group of interns who spent the summer
helpingUnited improve customer service.
The four interns, all chosen from
Ohio universities, came to work under
one of several internship programs that
United offers. This particular program is
geared toward ensuring customers get a
consistent, pleasant airport experience.
Among their many tasks, Jones’ charges
trackedwait times for ticket counter lines
and observed gate agents during the pre-
departure crunch time to make sure that
boarding procedures and announcements
were aligned with United’s customer ser-
vice standards as well as Department of
Transportation requirements.
“Our customers told us they wanted
consistency all around,” Jones explains.
“That way, from airport to airport, cus-
tomers can expect the same procedures
and hear the same announcements in
the same sequence,” thereby eliminating
uncertainty and smoothing the overall
travel experience.
“Weuse the informationcollectedby the
interns tomake sure we canmaintain the
standards we want for our customers and
to give our agents the right feedback and
tools to do a good job.”
Pu ing a premium on customer satis-
faction is nothing new for Jones. Her love
of people and customer service prompted
her to join the airline in October 1990,
beginning her career in reservations at
Los Angeles International Airport. When
the Los Angeles Reservations Center
closed, Jones had a choice of transferring
to Houston, Denver, Salt Lake City or
Tampa. She opted for Tampa, where she
moved from reservations agent to gate
agent and then on to supervisor.
Now overseeing United’s customer
service operations at Cleveland, Jones
stays busy resolving customer service
issues, maintaining staffing and conduct-
ing briefings as part of her daily routine.
She stays in touch with United’s agents
throughout the concourse, taking a face-
to-face approach that ensures not only
that Jones is on hand to address agent
concerns, but also that she stays abreast
of customer needs.
“One co-worker told me, ‘I’ve watched
youwalkup and down this concourse, and
you talk to everyone who moves,’” Jones
recalls, chuckling. “I do. I talk to everyone
because I really enjoymeeting people and
finding out about them. It’s why I came to
this airline. That, and I love to travel.”
Jones says her tendency to look out for
her employees earned her the nickname
“Grandma.” It also earned her the job of
overseeing the summer interns. “They’re a
sharp group of young people. They really
are,” she says. “They didn’t just give some-
thing to us; they took something away for
themselves. They got to learn a lot about
the airline industry.”
As for her unusual nickname, Jones says
it doesn’t bother her. “Sometimes custom-
ers will give us a confused lookwhen they
hear agents call out tome, ‘Granny, canyou
come here for a minute?’ It always gives
the customers a good laugh. If you put a
li le fun in what you’re doing, it’s easy to
get the work done.”
The Granny Effect
Fromdelivering great customer service to overseeing interns,
Jackie Jones makes caring part of her job description
BY A. AVERYL RE
16
SEPTEMBER 2012
•
HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
VOICES
GUIDING FORCE
Customer
service supervisor Jackie
Jones with some of the United
interns she oversees