Commentary: ‘Upgrade Soldiers’ during your next flight

   In the past few years of writing “On Second Thought” for American Shipper, I have always tried to stay “on-message”—never deviating too far from the core of why American Shipper’s readers come to the publication. Today, I’m asking for your trust to deviate from our normally scheduled programming just a bit.   
   I travel a lot. Most of us in this industry do. Despite video conferencing and all the other technology in our working world, it is still how business gets done. However, travel has probably never been less enjoyable than it is now. My father used to tell me that, and I am actually starting to believe him. Between the Transportation Security Administration rules, weather delays, shrinking legroom and crowded airspace, flying just isn’t what it used to be. 
   So when an airline says thanks by upgrading us to first class, this ray of sunshine poking into our otherwise bleak travel experience understandably delights us. However, the essence of my commentary is a call-to-action. I am asking that our industry show its leadership and appreciation by not taking that free airline upgrade. Yes, you heard me correctly. Despite your many long and often late hours suffering on a plane away from family, I am asking American Shipper readers to do something else with that airline upgrade. I think you’ll find that this sacrifice can bring a new kind of delight to your next air travel experience.
   Let me begin with the backstory. About four years ago, I was flying roundtrip from Detroit to Portland, Ore. On the outbound flight, I did not get an upgrade from the airline as I had hoped. As a very frequent flier, I whined about it (to myself) until I received an upgrade on the return flight. However, it was not the upgrade that shut me up and stopped my whining; it was what happened as I sat in seat 2A waiting for takeoff. Just outside my window, on the jetway next to my flight, there was a frenzy of activity. Flashing lights, emergency equipment, military vehicles, police, firemen and soldiers all encircled the neighboring plane. I was glued to the window trying to guess what was happening. As I watched, the casket of a fallen soldier draped in an American flag was moved from the belly of the plane to the waiting vehicle.
   It was a clarifying moment for me.   
   I reflected on my whining and tried to reconcile with the fact that the soldier’s family was not going to be greeting him or her the way they had planned. There was no reconciling it. It made me realize that not all homecomings are the stuff that goes into TV commercials and YouTube clips. It set me on a course of trying to make a small difference by saying thanks one upgrade at a time.  
   It was on my very next flight that I started “Upgrade Soldiers.” Delta had given me an upgrade and I found a soldier in uniform in the boarding area and simply asked him to take my seat. The pride and recognition he felt was evident in the smile on his face. One of the other passengers overheard the conversation and reflected on how different it was when he had come home from his wartime service in the 1970s. The world felt like a better place to me that day and I have not stopped upgrading soldiers since. Upgrade Soldiers is a way of demonstrating respect for their service, getting them into the arms of their loved ones a bit sooner, and I’ve even heard of soldiers receiving offers of employment while seated in first class. I can’t adequately describe the personal pleasure this has brought me.
   As time has progressed, I personally have been able to share upgrades with 100 soldiers per year, or more. Through social media, the word has spread and hundreds of individuals have joined the movement and are doing the same thing. The “Upgrade Soldiers” has gotten more sophisticated and we are spreading the word by sharing our stories with a Facebook page, Twitter and even business card-based script for gate agents to read as they assist in finding soldiers to upgrade. What we don’t have is you and the broad support and leadership that should come from our industry. This industry often pulls our talent from the military and produces many of the best leaders around. Many of us in our industry make sacrifices through time spent away from home, but our sacrifices pale in comparison to those serving in the military protecting our freedom.  
   Please join the “Upgrade Soldiers” effort and put those upgrades to better use by recognizing one of our soldiers. If you upgrade just one soldier, I think you will find the world feels like a better place and you will want to do it again and again.
   For more information and to join the movement and share your stories, visit “Upgrade Soldiers” at facebook.com/upgradesoldiers, follow us at @upgradesoldiers on Twitter, or contact me directly by email.

Tom Nightingale
President,
GENCO Transportation Logistics,
Green Bay, Wis.

This commentary was published in the January 2015 issue of American Shipper.