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Doing the Right Thing at Kenmore Air
Todd Banks, President
J
“The thoughtfulness of
Denise and her desire/drive
email from one of our passengers. to keep things moving
and on schedule saved my
It made me smile and reaffirmed
business trip,” the passen-
that one of our company man-
ger wrote in the email. “The
tras–do the right thing–is not lost mistake was clearly on my
end. She could have easily
on our employees.
apologized for my incon-
venience and left me to
try to figure it out. I would
While passengers were waiting to board
have missed the Kenmore flight, missed
a flight in Friday Harbor, Denise Urell,
my connection in Seattle and missed
our Station Supervisor there, surveyed
my dinner meeting scheduled for that
the passenger list and noticed one per-
evening in San Francisco. Instead, I
son was missing. She called him to ask
made my flight. Made my meeting and
if he was going to make the flight. He
the trip went as planned.”
said he was waiting at the seaplane dock
That level of customer service is not
in Friday Harbor when in fact he was
only commendable, but it speaks to the
supposed to be at the wheeled plane
culture we have here at Kenmore Air.
airport. He had 20 minutes to make his
Nowhere in the employee manual does
flight, so Denise did what I like to think
it say to pick up passengers and drive
anyone in her situation would’ve done.
them to the airport, but we do ask that
She drove to pick him up so he could
everyone who works here treat our cus-
make his connection.
tomers as they would want to be treat-
UST THE OTHER DAY I received an
ed. Denise clearly understands that, as
do all of our employees. The closing line
from that passenger speaks volumes:
“Clearly, your culture is spectacular. You
have a customer for life.”
His flight was aboard our Cessna 208
Caravan, one of our wheeled airplanes.
These planes can carry nine passen-
gers and are faster than our Otters
and Beavers. The Caravans (and Grand
Caravan) are rugged, dependable and
perform exceptionally well. They are all
IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) certified.
This allows us to operate on inclement
weather. This allows us to operate in in-
clement weather keeping our departures
on time. You can leave Seattle and be in
Friday Harbor in about 30 minutes. The
convenience of being based out of Boe-
ing Field allows many of our customers
to use them as “commuters” to and from
Seattle and the San Juan Islands. The
customer who emailed me is a perfect
example.
There’s a good chance that while
you’re flying with us, summer is coming
to an end. You might be thinking about
getting the kids back to school, or you’re
possibly taking advantage of one last
summer vacation. A lot of our custom-
ers do the same knowing that late-sum-
mer and fall is still a great time to enjoy
what the Pacific Northwest has to offer.
The San Juan Islands and Victoria tend
to be less busy once school starts, but
that doesn’t mean there’s less to do. Just
fewer people. Given that the weather is
still beautiful in September and much
of October I highly recommend taking
advantage of it. I think you’ll find there’s
still so much to do, and the crowds will
be a little more manageable.
Where ever you’re headed, I want
to thank you for flying with us. And if
there’s anything we can do to make your
flight more enjoyable, don’t hesitate
to ask. It’s part of what we do here at
Kenmore Air.