Stay Current PSA Newsroom
January 10, 2023
Flight Attendant’s extraordinary actions recognized in a letter from customer’s son: “Michael expressed as much concern and empathy as if he was part of our family.”
When our team members display care, compassion and empathy, it can make a tremendous difference in the lives of our customers and their families. Recently in Charlotte, Flight Attendant Michael Cruson went above and beyond to ensure an 85-year-old customer traveling alone made it to her destination to meet her family on time. Her son wrote a letter to American Airlines and PSA leadership to express his gratitude. Read his letter below.
A customer experience like no other
Dear Mr. Flannery,
It gives me great pleasure to share a unique and wonderful customer experience with PSA Airlines due to the outstanding support of a PSA flight attendant based in Charlotte. His name is Michael Cruson.
On May 20, my Mom who lives in Rochester, NY was scheduled to visit us and other family members on Hilton Head Island. My Mom is 85 and while in good health, she does not travel very often and suffers from significant hearing loss. Her connection in Charlotte to Savannah was delayed. I contacted my Mom and suggested she go to the gate or customer service and try to go standby on other AA/PSA flights to Savannah. Her flight was originally scheduled to arrive at 7:30 PM coinciding with the arrival of other family members coming in from other cities. As you can imagine, travelling can be exhausting and stressful for anyone, but more so for my Mom. Apparently, she appeared panicked and confused at the gate counter.
Michael Cruson comes to the rescue.
Michael recognized my Mom’s stress and initiated a conversation. Soon afterwards, Michael was calling me directly asking for clarification on what we would like to do. He could not use my Mom’s phone because of the special audio enhancements. We explored getting her on the next flight to Savannah within 45 minutes, but we missed the cutoff. Michael then explored changing the destination to HHI directly. He called me a few additional times after reviewing the options and costs and we agreed to pursue the HHI flight. Of course, timing was very tight and when I tried to buy the ticket online, the transaction could not be completed.
Michael expressed as much concern and empathy as if he was part of our family. He said the only option would be for my Mom to go back to the ticket counter, buy the ticket in person, and then go through security again. It was not a reasonable option for an 85 year-old.
So, what does Michael do?
He calls me and explains that he is on standby, and if called, he will need to go to his flight. However, time permitting, he will run to the ticket window and secure the ticket. He commits to call me back.
At this point, regardless of the final outcome, I am amazed at his efforts. But, Michael goes one more step. He calls me from ticket counter asking for her personal information (aka DOB). When I am ready to give Michael my credit card information, he explains that they cannot take the card over the phone under this circumstance. So, as I ready to thank Michael for his efforts, he says he will buy the ticket on my behalf. I remember saying that he was truly going above and beyond any and all expectations. Michael responded, “I have a Mom too.”
With ticket purchased, Michael escorts my Mom to the gate and she arrives in HHI on time. She could not say enough good things about his help. I could not be more thankful.
I share this story with everyone I can.
Michael Cruson is truly a special person. I hope he is recognized for his outstanding customer
