I didn’t need today’s NYT article on the money-grabbing efforts of the airlines to remind me what failures they are when it comes to satisfying customers, but it least I know I’m not alone:
Add it all up, and the landscape for air travelers has changed drastically. The shift causes veteran customer service experts to shake their heads. Mary Gilly, a professor of marketing at the University of California, Irvine, said: “I think the airlines are being pretty disingenuous calling it ‘à la carte pricing.’ Please. This is not a Chinese menu.”
Yet the airlines seem to have turned a deaf ear to any grumbling that is heard in airport corridors and that resounds on industry Web sites. That’s not surprising, considering the money they’ve generated in a short time by charging for former freebies. JetBlue collected $40 million in the second quarter by charging extra for seats with more legroom. United, meanwhile, expects to yield $275 million this year from charges for baggage.
As they rearrange the dynamics of what customers can expect for their air fares, the carriers are looking at charging for everything from selecting a seat — any seat, not just a window or aisle seat, or one with extra legroom — to wireless Internet connections.
The airlines may have enhanced their short-term revenue, but in so many ways, they’ve regularly violated the ROCC of Trust, using our trip last week to California as an illustrative example. The are no longer Reliable, as on most of the legs of our trip, the planes departed late, landed late, and caused us to almost miss our connections. The tardiness was due to InCompetence: maintenance problems and not being able to find an open gate to park in. They weren’t Open and Honest, either: they weren’t able to tell us how long delays were going to take, because their pilots and maintenance technicians couldn’t agree on how long a brake repair job would take, as just one example. Finally, they didn’t display much Compassion, either, telling us not to take on too many carryon items, even as they charge us for checked baggage.
Let’s not even get started about food service, or the lack thereof. Okay, let’s get started:
Buying your own food or drinks at the airport is one alternative to being held economic hostage by the airlines, but who has time to wait in line for water when you’re late for your connecting flight? You can also pack a lunch at home — but just make sure your salad dressing is in a three-ounce container, inside a one-quart, zip-top plastic bag to get through security.
For years, the domestic airlines have reminded me of a horrific Greyhound bus trip I took home for Christmas when I was a freshman in college. Maybe someday Lufthansa will be allowed to buy up a domestic airline and our service will improve, but until then, I’m going to do as little air travel as I can. At least I don’t get charged for more leg room in home office.
Aneil
Filed under: Industry Analysis, Rants and Raves, Trust | Tagged: marketing, airlines, air travel, customer satisfaction, pricing strategies
I would rather the airlines parcel out the costs than tack them
onto my ticket automatically. For college students (and people
like myself, who still like a college existence where $ is
concerned..), you really just want to get from point A to point B.
And you would rather be able to check only one bag,, or not
be served a meal you’ll probably only pick at in mild disgust,
or have to pay for a pillow (if there are any left – I’ve often
asked for a blanket on a plane when freezing only to be told
there are no more….if it’s an item passengers have to buy,
maybe airlines won’t be so likely to run out.
Also, the pillow/blanket sold on Jet Blue includes a gift
certificate for $5 to Bed Bath & Beyond – which most people
will probably lose, but for the cheap and thirty–there are a lot
of basic items there that you can buy – and lots of wedding
registries..so if you Do use the gift certificate, suddenly the pillow/blanket is only $2. And it’s clean.
Also – Jet Blue already has 2″ more legroom than at
least most other airlines. The ‘leg room’ they’re selling is even
More leg room–to those interested. The standard legroom offered
on JetBlue is great for me, at 5′5″, even though I’m a little
cramped on other airlines. If I were taller, I think I would be
happy to fork over $10 (or whatever it is) to have more legroom.
But as it is, I’m glad I’m not paying for someone else’s legroom.
I’ve read and heard great things about Jet Blue, and their approach makes eminent sense to me. On other airlines, I’m not sure I’d want to use a “free” pillow that everyone else has used.
I typically have paid $15 extra to get an exit row seat on Northwest when I can so that I can have extra leg room and board early — one of the few bargains left on flying these days.
Aneil
[...] Offensive actions that are also inauthentic harm an organization’s stakeholders twice. First, they harm stakeholders by their offensiveness, plain and simple. Second, they harm stakeholders by demonstrating that the organization doesn’t keep its word. Each time an organization fails to keep its word, our trust in that organization erodes. [...]