Blog 7: Airline Industry in for a Crash?

The airline industry is puzzling. Many would consider the ability to fly an incredible luxury. Airplanes give you the ability to meet friends and family for holidays, to travel the world, or to vacation anywhere. Others would consider airplanes a necessity. They are needed to travel to and from work, to meet clients in Hong Cong, to deliver goods to developing countries. So this is what I don’t understand: how an industry that is both a luxury and a necessity is failing to make any money.

The answer, I suppose, is that the airline industry is both capital intensive and labor intensive. They rely on extremely expensive machines that need frequent repairs and a lot of maintenance. And there are hundreds of people ensuring that each flight goes according to plan, well, at least as best they can. Furthermore, airfare prices are incredibly dependent on fuel prices. YIKES!

And, how can an airline compete when fuel prices are skyrocketing and consumer income levels are dropping? How can an airline make customers believe that the service they are providing today is actually worth two hundred dollars more than the same service they provided at Thanksgiving last year? There has to be a way that airlines can add to the perceived value of a flight.

It all comes down to the customer experience, beginning with the level of service they provide. So, I started thinking about the most important things when I travel.

1.) Take off on time. There are few things that are more annoying then boarding an aircraft 30 minutes before a scheduled departure time, and then sitting at the gate for an extra hour while someone is dillydadying around with the engine. I love that they are keeping me safe, but isn’t this something they could have addressed while I was trying to kill an hour waiting for my flight to board. After all, I was instructed to get there at least two hours before my flight and security surprisingly only took 20 minutes today! I’d appreciate faster maintenance on the ground; whether that means more or brighter mechanics, I’m not sure.

2.) Don’t lose my baggage! There is nothing that screams "I'm never flying on American again!" more than if they lose my bags!

3.) Cheap. No matter what, I’m always going to look for the cheapest fair. But I think that is just because no airline has jumped out at me and caught my attention enough to say: "Hey! The guy over there WILL get you to Chicago, but he WON'T do it as safe, as efficiently, as hassle-free as I will!" That might just be worth the extra penny!

4.) If bad weather is coming or they are expecting a delay...let me know before I leave my hotel/house. If I'm vacationing in New York City and my plane is going to be two hours late, I'd rather have those two hours to enjoy the beauty of central park than the inside of terminal E at Newark.

Maybe my requests are a little too much to ask. But I think that airlines need to significantly consider ways to improve their systems. A first mover in this industry could seriously benefit from an innovation that put them ahead of the others. Otherwise, it's looking like we may be searching for new ways to travel as the airline industry continues to lose. But I don't know if any of us are really ready to let go of our flying freedom.