Grieving aunt relieved Alaska Airlines is changing bereavement policy

It started on Sunday when Paula Kohring, of Everett, got some of the worst news of her life. Her nephew, who lives in Alaska, was in a coma after a freak rugby accident and he wasn’t going to come out of it.

Amidst the shock, Paula knew she had to get it together to help her six kids deal with losing their cousin, Aaron, and the travel logistics. She was going to have to get up there quickly.

In arranging travel, she came up against what she calls the worst customer service of her life. To her surprise, it came from her beloved Alaska Airlines.

“I said our nephew had been in an accident and was on life support,” she paused in disbelief. “He was brain dead.”

“It’s pretty shocking,” she said. “He’s a healthy 26-year-old. I keep expecting to get a call to say that he’s woken up, but I know that’s not going to happen. They’re already making plans for organ donation.”

At first, the airline representative told Paula she would get a discounted bereavement fare. Then, as the agent came to understand the full picture, Paula says the woman changed course.

“She said, ‘Oh, that won’t qualify you because he’s on life support.’ I thought maybe I misunderstood and I said, ‘Well, he is on life support, but that’s only so family can come and say goodbye.'”

Then, Paula says, she found herself having to convince someone of the one thing she didn’t want to believe.

“She said, and it was kind of in a mocking tone, she said ‘Well, his heart is still beating, so he’s alive.’ You know, you want your loved one to be alive and to have someone say that thing that you would love the most to have happen in just such a casual manner … it was more than I could take.”

She hung up. Paula wasn’t going to try and spell it out further and, anyway, she was crying too hard at that point. She waited before writing to Alaska, hoping to get a writer friend’s review first, but she did send an email to KIRO’s Dori Monson Show.

On Monday, through KIRO Radio, Alaska Airlines heard about the incident and reacted swiftly. Within a few hours, a supervisor called Paula and apologized on behalf of the entire company.

“He offered to take care of the return travel,” Paula said. “That’s pretty awesome. They made me cry again, but this time for a good reason.”

Paula doesn’t believe this kind of treatment is representative of Alaska Airlines. She’s never experienced anything like it in the 20 years she’s been flying with them.

Needless to say, Bobbie Egan, Media Relations Director for Alaska Airlines, doesn’t think so either.

“It’s heartbreaking to have learned about this situation,” she said.

“As soon as we did, we followed up to see how we could make things right. It’s not the way we do business,” Egan said.

The airline’s policy is expected to change in August. Egan says it’s something the airline has been working on for a few months and it’s twofold. Customer service agents will have more authority to be flexible when working with people in special circumstances like Paula’s.

The bereavement fare policy will also change so that it’s actually the cheapest option. Right now, Alaska’s bereavement fare is available, but that doesn’t mean it’s the cheapest. Soon, the discount will be 10 percent off of the lowest-priced option, regardless of the cost.

For Paula, what matters now is that she can get on the plane and focus on her nephew, her sister, and her kids.

“Yay for Alaska Airlines,” she said. “They’ve restored my faith in their company.”