Those of you who know me well understand I've spent a good deal of time in airports over the last 20 or so years. Delta Airlines, my current carrier of choice, has been so kind as to log my last 20 years of actual flight miles with them. If you believe their math (read on, my friends...) I've logged almost 800,000 miles with them since 1991. This doesn't cound a large number of miles I've flown on Southwest, USAirways (and their former incarnation America West), American, Continental, United, blah blah blah blah blah... If it flies in the US, I've probably flattened a seat cushion on it.
As I spent another two hours in Detroit last Sunday night awaiting my departure to Boston, it occurred to me how the airlines have struggled financially in the last 20+ years, and how their push for efficiency has meant that I am so much less efficient.
The logic is simple enough - if I cut down on frills, minimize cost, and work to generally make air travel more like riding the Greyhound, I'll make money sooner, allowing me to steal volume business from other carriers when I force them into an unholy price war that ultimately ends up slashing the price of all fares and the margins of all carriers. They wouldn't be foolish enough to sell at a price below their break even - so I can make money when they refuse to match the new fares. I can hear it in the board room now - "this fare will kill the other guys - they can't match this price, it'll bankrupt them".
Great logic - except the other carriers ALWAYS match the other fares. The plane flies to that destination regardless of the passenger load, so some revenue beats no revenue.
This is not a newsflash. Southwest has proven they can turn a plane in 30 minutes. Other airlines (Delta, most notably) have discovered that taking the gates closest to the runways, they save fuel and time taxi-ing. Efficiency is the rule here, folks. Automated systems announce flight delays, airport security is centralized so promote the efficiency and reduce CAPX spending.
The only inefficient person left is me, the traveller.
In 1991, when I began flying, arriving at the airport 30 minutes in front of the posted take-off time was sufficient. You walked through the doors and onto the plane. They actually kept the door open until the posted take-off time (and on occasion would open it back up if you yelled down the hall from less that 200 yards away). There was no airport security and TSA - your family could walk you to the gate to say goodbye (and meet you there upon return - the source of rants at the time. Get away from the door once you've disembarked - there are more of us behind you!! - but I digress). If you were at the airport 60 minutes before a flight, it's because you wanted to eat.
Now, it's standard operating procedure to arrive 90 to 120 minutes before your flight. The airline closes the door 10 minutes prior to departure and the automated system gives your seat away 20 minutes prior, if you haven't "checked in". Our friends at the TSA can cost you 30 to 45 minutes in "security screening" as you strip down to your skivvies. We screen you to insure that you're not one of the terrorists - for which you have better odds buying a winning lottery ticket than standing next to in an airport security line. Our ultimate concern about security also means that we've moved parking, car rental and baggage claim farther and farther from the gate. For most of east cost and midwest travel, it's often quicker to drive to your destination than to fly now.
Let's not begin the conversation about seat pitch as a surrogate for leg room. We're more efficient in putting sardines inside the can, too... And some airlines (who shall remain nameless) think they can extort yet another $50 out of me because my knees are only crushed when the soul in front of me decides to exert his god-given right to recline fully instead of when I wedge myself into the aisle upon embarkation.
We thought we'd be more efficient in loading the cattle car - we've minimized the number of carry-ons one is allowed to bring. Then we saw a revenue opportunity so we charged anyone actually bringing luggage to be checked $25 a bag, too. As if the 45 minute wait in baggage claim (where the efficient conveyor belts and baggage handling staff carefully protect my lifetime-guaranteed luggage like Hitler protected Poland) wasn't payment enough.
Then there's the gate agents - and the jetway operators, who in Detroit hold competitions to see how long one can leave a full plane arriving at the gate without opening the door "because they don't know how to operate the jetway" or because they're "afraid of damaging the plane by hitting it with the jetway." Truth be told, someone has to wake them up from their job-induced coma to remind them that they are supposed to open the doors so people can get out. The later the arrival from schedule, the higher the probability of being held captive by an inconsiderate ground crew. We've leaned them out, too. Two agents cover 5 gates, because there's no reason to have a gate agent present any more than 45 minutes prior a posted take-off time.
But we can't forget the efficiency of the air traffic control system. Landing on time is an anomaly - reserved for the first flights of the day. The FAA and airlines complain it's the exponential growth of private aircraft traffic that has flooded the skies. After all, why would companies and wealthy individuals choose to fly private air services instead of wasting days in airports, clearing security, fighting about the size of my toothpaste container with people who won't be in that job 6 months from now. Given the option, I'd fly private too (and do, when the opportunity avails itself).
The airlines, airports and air transportation networks are all very efficient - and have completely forgotten the customer. They underlying assumption is that I want a cheap flight and would be willing to ride in a coffin if the fare was cheap enough.
Sooo... what if there was an airline that saw my efficiency (that of the end user) as paramount in the discussion. What if this airline invested in dedicated security lines for their customers, chose the gates closest to the entrance and exits, minimized boarding and deplaning times, had your luggage waiting for you once you hit baggage claim and generally prided themselves on getting you in and out of the airport faster than the competition. It's an intriguing thought. The new metric becomes how much did you pay AND how long did you spend getting there. I'm not ignoring creature comforts - I'm a firm believer in a comfortable seat, legroom, the occasional soft drink or meal. I want the airlines to see my time as just as valuable as theirs. It's a lot to ask.
Rain still falls and acts of God are just that. Transportation is highly variable on its' best days. But I've flown enough to know that we've lost the understanding about why we fly - it's supposed to get us there faster. That's the value. In these days of instant messaging, video conferencing (oops, telepresence...) e-mail, VOIP, I could go on... the airlines have been selling us the story that nothing beats being there. It's why you fly. But if I don't get there, or don't get there at my best, have I gained anything?
Southwest, the most profitable commercial airline in the US today is no better than United in this matter (and United is, in my humble opinion, the latrine of airline performance and customer service). It's all about them. I'm merely the schmuck, the revenue, the seat mile that justifies the business. It's time to rethink the airline value proposition. Those who learn this first will be the real winners in this "new economy".
No comments:
Post a Comment