Agents- The face of an Airline?

I came across an article in CNN.com titled “Confessions of an airline agent” in which a anonymous former airline agent relates some of his/her experiences as an agent and traveler and some of the things the airlines allow to happen in order to cut costs. For example, they are limiting training to new agents, “leaving inexperienced agents on the front line to deal with passenger complaints”. Now, I understand why is it so hard to reason with agents in case of delays. Usually, the agent is the last person informed of what is going on, which is the reason most travelers are left in the dark when there are schedule changes.

The airlines need to refocus their strategies to make room for customer satisfaction. Some of the things they need to work on are updating their systems, improving their luggage handling methods, and adding Internet connectivity at the gate to have the agents better informed. I think it is unfair that the airlines are leaving the agent helpless to face screaming disgruntled travelers. The number one responsibility of the airline is service, which includes customer service and that can only be achieved by training their employees & by giving them the necessary tools to assure the customers expectation are met. Also, travelers need to learn that the agents are also human beings that are not entirely responsible of malfunction of the airline.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2008/TRAVEL/04/28/airline.agent.confessions/index.html