Reaching Higher Coalition

Early Wednesday morning, service workers at LAX and SFO airports handed out sanitary cleaning wipes to passengers in the airline terminals, telling them that they deserve to know about the challenges they face that prevent them from properly cleaning the planes. According to workers, chronic understaffing and a lack of proper equipment are some of the key barriers to cleaning the planes well. Some report having to work without proper cleaning supplies, often cleaning bathrooms with only water because they have no disinfecting cleanser. Others report that, when planes are behind schedule, they are not given enough time to properly clean the interior.

“It’s kind of sad that we have to give cleaning wipes to passengers,” said Marta Sanchez, a cabin cleaner at LAX. “But, when we are understaffed and are not given enough time to clean planes properly, then we think that passengers should know about it. The airlines can do a lot more to improve passenger services and airport security, while at the same time make these good jobs for our families and our communities.”

Service workers informed passengers that airlines need to improve cleaning and other services by providing appropriate equipment and training, decent wages, and family healthcare for workers.

According to a recent report by J.D. Power and Associates, the airline industry has experienced a rapid decline in customer satisfaction, bringing ratings to the lowest level in three years, due to declining quality of customer service rather than high fares. The study makes a direct correlation between poor customer service and dwindling job quality.

“Across the airline experience, from check-in, to the flight, to deplaning, passengers are being affected by the ramifications of carriers making staff cutbacks and have expressed that per-formance and attitudes of airline staff are suffering,” said Sam Thanawalla, director of the global hospitality and travel practice at J.D. Power and Associates. “In this unstable industry environ-ment, it is critical that airlines invest in their employees as a means to enhance the customer experience, as there is a strong connection between employee satisfaction and customer satis-faction.”