Uchikura & Co., LLC

The Alaska Agent Must Be Fired

 

I made a simple typo when booking my ticket. “Uvhikura” instead of “Uchikura.” Same person. Same passport. Clearly a mistake.

 

When I contacted Alaska Airlines, the agent told me it would cost $190 to fix it.

 

$190… for correcting a typo.

 

That’s not policy—that’s bad judgment.

 

There is a difference between protecting rules and understanding reality. Any reasonable person can see this was not a name change. It was an obvious spelling error.

 

Here’s the interesting part.

 

I booked through Expedia. I contacted them, and they handled it immediately. They spoke with Alaska Airlines and got it fixed—for free.

 

So let’s be clear:

 

The problem was not the system.
The problem was not the airline.
The problem was the agent.

 

One person said “pay $190.”
Another got it done for free.

 

That tells you everything.

 

When frontline employees don’t have the authority—or worse, don’t have the judgment—to make simple decisions, they damage the brand more than any competitor ever could.

 

If Alaska Airlines cares about customer trust, they need to look closely at this.

 

Because this wasn’t a policy failure.

 

It was a people failure.