Joe Wright's Story
I was hired by Margo Carlson (then Bell-Madden) as a telecommunications consultant to solve the problem reported in the Wall Street Journal article, headlined "45,000 Busy Signals Cause Frustration At New York Air." Check here to read the article. Scroll down past the image of Margo's notes.
Lucy Maiello who previously worked, like me, at Icelandic Airlines, had already been hired to work in the Accounting Department at NYA. She and I attended the retirement party of Icelandic's Vice President of Finance. At that party, she told me that there were big problems in reservations at New York Air and that I should call Margo Bell. The day after the party, I got a call from Margo. She said that NYA was having great difficulty handling calls and that Lucy Maiello had told her that I could solve the problem. She asked when I could come in for a meeting. I said, "Hold on, while I checked my schedule." (What she didn't know is that I had nothing scheduled for the entire week and was in fact sitting in my office then in my home in Huntington, NY, unshaven, unbathed, in blue jeans with my feet which were unsocked upon my desk.)
I came back on the line and said, "How about Thursday at 10AM?" To which she replied, in a very tiny voice, "Can you come today?"
Just out of bed and not really wanting to do anything that day, nonetheless, cursing under by breath at the idea of getting ready and putting on a suit and tie, I said, "Okay, I'll see you this afternoon."
Little did I know that I would work at New York Air as a telecommunications consultant and for 1 year as an employee, in both cases with the title Director Telecommunications for over 6 years.
Though we eventually did get call handling under control, the process was hampered by three things: (1) the addition of routes faster than people could be hired, (2) the drain on Reservations staff for in-flight and ticket counter services every time a new route was announced and (3) the secretiveness of the Marketing and Planning Departments in not telling anyone about the new routes until they had been announced in full page ads in local newspapers where NYA intended to fly.
I remember that it was with great amusement that Marketing people would come up to Reservations and blithely ask, "Busy today?" full well knowing that we did not know either in Telecommunications or in Reservations that a new route had been announced and the 800 number published without our knowledge. If I remember correctly, one of those who made such visits was Scott Gibson, though it could have been Don Peppers. Perhaps they can read this and resolve the question.
We doubled the ACD capacity at LGA by ordering a second Datapoint system. Additionally, we bought out the Air New England call center in Boston. This went a long way toward enabling us to get calls answered with minimum delay in queue. But perhaps the main factor was the sudden decline in air travel caused by President Ronald Reagan's firing of the Air Traffic Controllers. This resulted in a significant reduction in air travel, so we were able to "catch up," able to hire sufficient people and expand telecommunications facilities to the point that we could handle new routes.
There is a lot more to the story of my adventure at New York Air and those with whom I worked. It will grow on these pages as I remember things afresh and others make contributions.
But one thing is certain: I am forever grateful for having met Margo Bell. Without her, I would have perhaps never have had the opportunity to work with the great New York Air. And, one step back, had I not attended that retirement dinner and where I talked to Lucy, I would have never known about Margo. I'm sure most of you know that Margo died several years ago. It would have been great if she could have attended the upcoming reunion of an airline to which she contributed so much.
I encourage you to send your own story to me for inclusion in these web pages.
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