Jonathan Johnson

Designed the brand, customer experience, and operating model for Kargo Coffee, a drive-thru hospitality concept in Tampa built around a repurposed cargo-container format.

The project began with the guest experience rather than the menu alone. Developed the brand positioning, visual identity, service personality, customer journey, packaging direction, loyalty concept, menu architecture, and operating layout, then translated those decisions into the systems required to deliver the experience consistently at the frontline.

Built the supporting operating infrastructure, including service standards, employee roles, leadership responsibilities, training expectations, beverage and food-production standards, equipment procedures, HR templates, performance tracking, and a site-specific operations manual. Also helped shape labor planning, pay structures, operating hours, menu efficiency, waste reduction, and startup financial assumptions.

The project demonstrates a zero-to-one approach to experience design: defining what the customer should feel, determining what employees need to do to create that feeling, and building the operating system around both.

Led the design and operationalization of Aero’s end-to-end premium guest experience across four international bases in the U.S. and Europe. The work extended beyond service delivery into the physical and emotional guest journey itself, including the bespoke cabin environment, onboard service rituals, food and beverage, amenities, guest-facing products, and the experience of customers traveling with pets.

Partnered across Operations, Commercial, Training, Safety, vendors, and other stakeholders to translate brand intent into a repeatable operating model. Built service standards, playbooks, training, workflows, and leadership expectations so the experience could be delivered consistently across markets without losing the highly personalized character of the product.

The experience was continuously refined using customer feedback, complaint trends, and operating data. Within nine months, NPS increased from 41 to 67, customer satisfaction improved by 14 points, and service-related complaints declined by 32%.

https://aero.com/the-experience

Oversaw the physical guest journey for seasonal international flying at American Airlines’ Las Vegas operation, coordinating the experience from check-in through departure, arrival, and onward connection.

The work included check-in processes, international passenger handling, gate reconfiguration, boarding, catering enhancements, CBP arrival, transfer processes, and coordination across airline teams, airport stakeholders, vendors, and government partners. Rather than treating each function as an isolated operational task, the focus was on how those functions came together from the customer’s perspective.

The project required balancing regulatory and operational requirements with service quality, wayfinding, passenger flow, staffing, vendor performance, and the realities of international travel. It provided early experience in designing and managing complex customer journeys across multiple physical environments and organizational boundaries.

https://news.aa.com/news/news-details/2018/American-Airlines-and-Japan-Airlines-Announce-Nonstop-Service-from-Tokyo-to-Las-Vegas-for-CES-2019/default.aspx?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Designed and launched the Exclaim! guest-experience program during development of Live!’s Maryland hotel operation, creating the service standards, training infrastructure, and operating practices needed to translate the property’s hospitality vision into consistent frontline behavior.

Developed SOPs, workflows, onboarding, training, service-recovery practices, and service expectations across Guest Services, Transportation, and Reservations/Contact Center operations. The program was designed for hundreds of employees and aligned department leaders around a common understanding of how the guest experience should look and feel from one touchpoint to the next.

The work required connecting culture and operations: defining the desired experience, preparing leaders to reinforce it, giving frontline employees practical tools to deliver it, and building accountability into opening-readiness activities.

https://www.hotel-online.com/news/the-cordish-companies-expands-live-brand-with-launch-of-live-lofts-to-open/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Operating partner to the founder/CEO across client experience, service delivery, operations, staffing, budgets, and strategic initiatives for an early-stage technology venture studio.

• Lead client-experience operations supporting 30+ customers across 20+ client sites, shaping onboarding, support, service delivery, and the systems connecting each stage of the journey.
• Maintained 97% enterprise client retention while supporting a $5M book of business.
• Reduced typical client onboarding from approximately 90 days to 28 days by redesigning ownership, handoffs, workflows, and implementation processes.
• Designed scalable client journeys and service models that balance high-touch relationship management with standardized support, self-service, and repeatable workflows.
• Integrated CRM, automation, AI-enabled workflows, self-service resources, and playbooks to personalize service while reducing manual work and operational friction.
• Partner across Product, Operations, Technical, and Training teams to identify customer friction and translate feedback into experience and operational improvements.
• Own operating budgets and P&L responsibilities across client and organizational priorities.

Department head for a 125+ employee international guest-experience organization across the U.S. and Europe. Reported to the SVP of Flight Operations and directly led four General Managers overseeing approximately 100 frontline employees, with ownership of a $3M annual operating budget.

• Designed and operationalized Aero’s end-to-end premium guest journey across the cabin environment, service rituals, food and beverage, amenities, pet experience, and key physical touchpoints across four international bases.
• Helped shape the bespoke cabin experience and selection of guest-facing products, materials, amenities, and consumables, translating brand intent into a cohesive physical and service experience.
• Built the multi-market operating model, service standards, playbooks, training, workflows, and leadership expectations required to deliver that experience consistently across markets.
• Increased NPS from 41 to 67 within nine months, improved customer satisfaction by 14 points, and reduced service-related complaints by 32%.
• Led and developed four General Managers across distributed teams, creating consistent expectations for service delivery, employee performance, and leadership accountability.
• Used customer feedback, complaint trends, and operational data to identify experience gaps and continuously refine service, products, processes, and frontline execution.
• Led multi-site workforce planning, training, performance management, service delivery, vendors, compliance, and operational readiness.
• Reduced catering waste by 21% and annualized costs by approximately $600K through sourcing changes, process redesign, supplier management, and tighter controls.
• Led readiness for new markets and organizational change in partnership with Operations, Commercial, Training, Safety, and vendors while protecting experience quality and operating reliability.

Directly led a formal employee population of up to 375 flight attendants in Delta’s LAX-based operation, with additional responsibility across SFO and the SNA co-terminal within a combined 1,500-person West Coast inflight workforce.

• Directly led employee populations of up to 375 across a 24/7 guest-facing operation, with responsibility for workforce performance, attendance, scheduling, investigations, service delivery, and customer experience.
• Developed frontline employees through structured coaching, performance management, service recovery, policy enforcement, and individualized improvement plans.
• Held collateral responsibility for NPS/CSAT and operational reliability, using customer and operating data to identify service issues and drive frontline action.
• Led pursers and international service delivery, protecting Delta One service standards and adapting frontline execution as COVID disrupted premium-service protocols, staffing, and customer expectations.
• Assumed expanded multi-base responsibility during COVID-19, supporting workforce restructuring, operating protocols, employee communications, investigations, and readiness.

Cross-trained and deployed across Customer Operations, Customer Care, and Cargo within American’s Las Vegas operation, providing unusually broad exposure across the station’s customer-facing and operational functions.

• Oversaw the seasonal international guest journey from check-in through gate configuration, boarding, catering enhancements, CBP arrival, and transfer processes, coordinating across airline, airport, vendor, and government stakeholders.
• Led frontline execution across ticketing, gates, baggage, ramp, cargo, international operations, station control, special-assistance services, and vendor-supported operations.
• Managed staffing, attendance, performance, discipline, training, safety, compliance, customer experience, vendor performance, and irregular-operation recovery in a unionized environment.
• Improved operational performance through stronger staffing deployment, service processes, vendor accountability, structured issue escalation, performance huddles, and KPI reporting.

Joined during development of Live!'s Maryland hotel operation to build guest-experience, training, and operating infrastructure supporting launch readiness.

• Developed SOPs, workflows, service standards, onboarding, training, and service-recovery practices across Guest Services, Transportation, and Reservations/Contact Center operations.
• Designed and launched the Exclaim! guest-experience program across hundreds of employees, aligning frontline service expectations, leadership practices, and opening readiness.
• Led cross-functional launch and change initiatives through department leaders, improving service consistency, employee adoption, and accountability across guest-facing operations.
• Coordinated experience delivery across Guest Services, Transportation, and Reservations/Contact Center, aligning handoffs, service expectations, and frontline execution across multiple points in the guest journey.