The IHT’s Tyler Brule says his recent experience with Japan Airlines was nothing less than shocking:
Few things can throw off a finely tuned itinerary quite like a pleasant surprise. Having been conditioned to expect and almost accept overbooking, cancellations, rudeness and incompetence as a normal feature in the modern travel experience, a slight twist of good luck or a subtle humane gesture can leave even the most experienced traveler reeling in disbelief. A whole series of pleasant surprises can send a hardened globetrotter into shock.
Brule says the Japanese have figured out travel industry customer service and he wishes they would spread it around:
Perhaps it’s time for the country’s major travel brands (JAL, ANA, JR, Kanky taxi, et al.) to start spreading their wings a bit further and investing in needy airlines, airports and rail companies abroad. Travelers need a better solution and the Japanese have mastered it.
If Brule can be believed, it would seem that the JAL never got the “passengers are cattle” memo.