I think I may have come up with the WHY to explain the airline financial crisis. They’ve decided to become transportation companies, rather than what they really are, service companies. A transport company worries about the lowest possible cost associated with moving a truck full of pineapples from A to B. Or machine screws. Or gravel.
Air travel for humans is not a commodity item, or more correctly, should not be a commodity item. When passengers treat it as one and airlines treat us a commodities that must be moved as inexpensively as possible, then the customer has no loyalty to the transporter.
A Service company, by contrast, recognizes that the customer has an infinite number of choices at cheaper or more expenses prices and tries to build customer loyalty by treating the customer well. Hotels went through this in the 60’s. Occupancy rates fell when the major chains, Howard Johnson and Holiday Inn at the time, got eaten alive by the Motel 6, Red Roof Inn, Best Western chains that offered low prices but limited service. There are now choices in the hotel industry at just about every price point from dirt cheap basic bed, bath and TV, to decadent rooms that have more luxe than most can be expected to stand. You choose which you prefer.
Airlines are about to go through that unpleasantness. Until they recognize that treating all their customers as extraordinarily powerful consumers who can dictate the airlines’ fortunes on a whim, airlines will be running to Washington and Ottawa and Bonn and London with their hands out crying the fiscal blues. The governments should, but wont, say: Screw ya. Treat us nice and we’ll be loyal. Give us a fair price for better service and we’ll stick with you. A frequent flyer program is nice, but it really is nothing more than luggage tags with your name on it. Big freakin’ whoopee! I just want some room, a snack or a meal a drink and someone to talk to me like a human, not a five year old with ADD. Until then, hey, lowest price rules.
And if USAirways goes Tango Uniform, I can only wave “Buh Bye” Serves them right
RoadDave 