美国国家公共电台 NPR Have The 'Miserable' Airlines Finally Reached A Tipping Point?

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Commercial airlines have gotten themselves into some tough PR challenges recently. Cellphone videos have captured some intense standoffs between airline employees and passengers. Some industry observers say rebuilding consumer trust will be tough because the airlines have just pushed passengers too far. From Chicago, NPR's David Schaper reports.

DAVID SCHAPER, BYLINE¹: As he prepares to board a United Airlines flight home to Houston at Chicago's O'Hare Airport, Paul DePaulis is bracing² for an experience he expects to be terrible.

PAUL DEPAULIS: We're a bunch of tuna crammed³ into a can, and it's miserable⁴. I hate it.

SCHAPER: DePaulis says it's not just United. Most airlines are squeezing more people into smaller seats, restricting carry-ons and making passengers cramped⁵, cranky and craving⁶ comfort. On his way back to Philadelphia, business traveler Tim Nelson tries to take it all in stride.

TIM NELSON: I look at it from the standpoint - I'm going to get on the plane. I'm going to get off the plane, and don't expect much. If you look at it that way, you aren't disappointed.

SCHAPER: But Nelson says United's frontline employees do seem nicer now since the incident where a passenger was violently dragged off a plane. Peggy Garrett just arrived from Denver and noticed the same thing.

PEGGY GARRETT: They tried today. They were very accommodating today.

NELLY MUNOZ: I think this is a turning point. I think it is.

SCHAPER: Nelly Munoz of Pembroke Pines, Fla., hopes that this better customer service is here to stay, noting the immediate⁷ response she got after complaining that she and her husband, who bought tickets together, were reseated rows apart.

N. MUNOZ: I mean, I noticed it right away. They came in right away to try to accommodate us. So I think they are trying.

SCHAPER: United and other airlines took a verbal beating in two congressional hearings last week, with lawmakers threatening to mandate⁸ significant customer-focused policy changes if the airlines don't improve themselves. United CEO Oscar Munoz offered this mea culpa.

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OSCAR MUNOZ: This has to be a turning point for the 87,000 people and professionals here at United. And it is my mission to make sure that we make the changes needed to provide our customers with the highest levels of service, of course, but also a deeper sense of respect and trust and dignity.

SCHAPER: But that may be easier said than done, and not just for United.

KENT GRAYSON: It appears that broad-scope trust in the airlines - that's the kind of trust that people have in the industry as a whole - has suffered a big shock over the past month.

SCHAPER: Kent Grayson is a marketing⁹ professor at Northwestern University who studies consumer psychology¹⁰. He says while recent incidents of passenger mistreatment have gone viral, the more gradual erosion of customer trust in airlines isn't new.

GRAYSON: As a result of airline activities and decision-making over really the past maybe even 10 years, customers have slowly but surely started to feel as if airlines don't always have their back.

SCHAPER: He says whether true or not, the common perception appears to be that airlines put profit over passenger comfort. But Grayson thinks that airline executives now get it and are trying to change that perception.

Veteran aviation industry journalist Benet Wilson blogs about air travel at aviationqueen.com. And she notes that airlines had already begun to invest in service improvements even before this latest round of airline shaming.

BENET WILSON: What this incident did was kind of serve as a catalyst¹¹ and a wake-up call to the airlines saying, you need to continue to swing the pendulum¹² in the direction of just an overall better passenger experience.

SCHAPER: A big test is coming up soon with the busy summer travel season. And you can be sure that many of those being packed onto planes will have their cellphones out and ready to record any stumble that the airlines make in their effort to increase passenger comfort while still protecting profits. David Schaper, NPR News, Chicago.

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1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 bracing   

adj.令人振奋的

参考例句：

• The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
• The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。

3 crammed   

adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式)

参考例句：

• He crammed eight people into his car. 他往他的车里硬塞进八个人。
• All the shelves were crammed with books. 所有的架子上都堆满了书。

4 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

5 cramped   

a.狭窄的

参考例句：

• The house was terribly small and cramped, but the agent described it as a bijou residence. 房子十分狭小拥挤，但经纪人却把它说成是小巧别致的住宅。
• working in cramped conditions 在拥挤的环境里工作

6 craving   

n.渴望,热望

参考例句：

• a craving for chocolate 非常想吃巧克力
• She skipped normal meals to satisfy her craving for chocolate and crisps. 她不吃正餐，以便满足自己吃巧克力和炸薯片的渴望。

7 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

8 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

9 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

10 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

11 catalyst   

n.催化剂，造成变化的人或事

参考例句：

• A catalyst is a substance which speeds up a chemical reaction.催化剂是一种能加速化学反应的物质。
• The workers'demand for better conditions was a catalyst for social change.工人们要求改善工作条件促进了社会变革。

12 pendulum   

n.摆，钟摆

参考例句：

• The pendulum swung slowly to and fro.钟摆在慢慢地来回摆动。
• He accidentally found that the desk clock did not swing its pendulum.他无意中发现座钟不摇摆了。