Unions Agree To Negotiate With Airline

[ktflyhome]

Hey, Piney, been gone awile myself and noticed you haven't posted much, Hope you are having a great vacation.

 

[CLT-Douglas]

Absolutely.

What do passengers value?

• Getting where they are supposed to, when they are supposed to. This is by far the number one.
  
• Having their luggage arrive with them. A close runner-up.
  
• Space. Nobody likes the sardine feeling, though this one becomes more important as stage length increases.
  
• Minimal hassle. Short lines and quick resolution of problems as they crop up are very important.
  
• Friendly service. Service with a scowl makes people resentful. This is why the Sky nAAzi name has stuck at one airline.
  
• Food. For all of the complaints of the entire history of the industry, they still want it.

You may notice that I don't list upgrades, but they're implicitly there in space, service, and food.

The real question is how much people are willing to pay for these things. There's no single answer to this, which is why airlines must start to differentiate if they wish to succeed in the new industry. In a competitive market, differentiation is the path to success. Always.

All those services except for the food are already expected by airlines. They kind of define what an airline is. What I am saying is, why should it cost passengers more to fly US to get these services then any other airline in the country? Even the LCC provide this to a degree that is exceptable to passengers, and in most cases are able to get a much cheaper ticket.

I'm sorry, but this is stuff you can't really put a guarantee on for passengers. If US were to put a guarantee that all those services would be better then the competition in return for a little pricer air fare, then people would demand further compensation if they weren't satisfied. This is the reason legacy carriers are struggling domestically. In general people are already paying more to fly a legacy carrier and taking note they can get the same flight on a full sized plane with an exceptable level of service at a cheaper price on a LCC vs. a Legacy carrier.

 

[mweiss]

All those services except for the food are already expected by airlines. They kind of define what an airline is.

I disagree. Any airline can choose to do better on any or all of those metrics.

For an extreme example of getting to one's destination on time, imagine if an airline had a spare aircraft at each station. If there was a significant mechanical, no big deal, tow the spare to the gate. Now, for the vast majority of passengers, this would be far too great an expense to cover; this example is there just to show that there are more options.

AA has given more space. Has this helped their RASM? I don't know. I haven't tried to find out.

Hassle reduction? Hey, if you add enough agents, you never have to stand in line.

I'm sorry, but this is stuff you can't really put a guarantee on for passengers.

Who said anything about a guarantee? That's not the answer...the answer is to deliver consistently. It's both less expensive and more successful, as word gets around of how good you are.

In general people are already paying more to fly a legacy carrier and taking note they can get the same flight on a full sized plane with an exceptable level of service at a cheaper price on a LCC vs. a Legacy carrier.

That's because the differences between legacy and LCC, in terms of service, are diminishing. If the difference is significant, people will pay more. As I have said many times, "more" does not mean an order of magnitude.