What Customers Want
Last week I was catching up on my stack of BusinessWeek magazines while lying on the beach. I read with great interest “Fear and Loathing at the Airport,” by Chris Palmeri and Keith Epstein, which discusses the sad state of the U.S. air travel system. It’s a great article that covers lots of ground, but being that I obsess about all things customer service, I was especially struck by the following:
One of the big reasons flying is so miserable is because airlines schedule more flights at desirable times than airports can handle…. On a typical Tuesday morning in August at New York's John F. Kennedy International, the airport has enough capacity for around 44 departures between 8 and 9 a.m. But airlines schedule 57, guaranteeing delays, even under perfect conditions.
The carriers are well aware that their commitments to travelers are often impossible to keep, but they make them anyway because they like to give passengers what they want.
Airlines like to give passengers what they want? Do travelers really want to be told that their flight departs at 8:30am, when in fact it’s highly likely that it may not actually depart until 9:30am? I doubt it. Personally, I would rather have to book a 9:30am flight knowing that it will truly leave at that time so I can plan my schedule accordingly. I’ll bet that anyone who travels with any frequency just assumes delays—and adjusts their schedules to leave plenty of room for the unexpected. But is that really what they want? I think not.
I think travelers would prefer transparency and honestly from their air carriers. And for them to schedule 44 departures—not 57—when that’s all the airport can handle.
And while we’re on the subject of airlines…
I was reading the article “Rise of the ‘She-M.O.’,” about the growing number of women being appointed to CMO positions (in the June/July issue of Pink magazine) a few weeks ago, shortly after an especially unpleasant travel experience. This included waiting 40 minutes after checking in at the self-service kiosk to hand over my suitcase to the Delta agent, another 30 minutes to get through security, and then a nearly two-hour flight delay—oh, and let’s not forget waiting almost an hour to retrieve my bag once we arrived in Las Vegas. It also included the disappointment of getting a boring old Delta plane, instead of “fully loaded” Song plane, after Delta’s advertising had set the expectation for me that my “reward” for a booking a long flight with them would be a great experience on a comfy plane with personal entertainment.
The article asked several of the CMOs their marketing mantra. Joanne Smith, vice president of marketing for Delta Air Lines, said, “It’s the service stupid. It underscores the fact that the brand is the experience, not the advertising.” Let’s just say this: Delta’s advertising is much better than it’s actual experience. And if the brand is the experience, then in my opinion Delta should adopt the terrific experience its Song spin-off used to offer, instead of using those cool planes with the same bland Delta service. Yes, the check-in agent smiled and was friendly when taking my bag, but considering the raft of delays, is that really enough? The answer: Next time I fly out West, I’ll be flying JetBlue.
