Can someone explain the airlines business strategy to me?
07/19/08 12:27 PM Filed in: I don't get
it?
Flights are packed to the limit, there are flights that leave every half hour to cities like Chicago, Boston and New York yet the airlines want to blame speculators for high fuel costs. This is so stupid that any business person at the airline should be forced to go back to school. In any business if you are losing money because of high costs you raise prices...DUH !!!!!! The airlines need to raises prices and raise them substantially so they can make money and provide services that make customers feel like customers instead of cattle.
Do we really need flights every half-hour between Chicago, Boston and New York? Do multiple airlines have to fly to the same destinations at almost the same times? In short the business model for airlines is beyond broken it is falling apart and has been falling apart for a long time. And what do the airlines do to cut costs? They reduce service to the people who are willing to lay down their dollars to use their products ! This makes absolutely no sense and is like trying to sell freezers to Eskimos.
A raise in fairs would mean the following:
-Less flights in the air
-Less use of fuels
-More efficient use of loads and schedules
-More services for travel weary passengers who have been treated like criminals since 9-11
-Happy shareholders who might start to earn a ROI on airlines
-Lower demand for fuel which could lead to lower costs
Add all these up and anybody with a good business plan and at least two aircraft could make money. The airlines have not learned that people are willing to PAY to be treated a little better. The luxury market is still strong and the lines for iPhones at Apple stores the last 2 weeks indicates to me that their is money out there and people are willing to spend if THEY perceive it is worth it.
Think for a moment about the travel experience. First there are the huge security lines where you have to take off your shoes, belt and other items so they can go through an x-ray. After you wait 15-30 minutes to do that you get to the gate where often all the seats are taken. They then call you to board by row number and this is where people stop being human beings and turn into “it’s me, myself and I”. Once your on aboard they want to charge you for soft drinks and lunch that is not fit for human consumption. Now that they are changing the rest rooms less and less the experience of using one reminds one of the worst possible smell one could ever imagine.
Once you land it’s the same story. People rushing to get off the plane which often results in more waiting time. Then the airlines have the gall to say “thank you for flying with us”. Yes thank you for making the bathrooms smell like ces pools and for making me feel like a number rather than a person. Yeah I want to travel more...NOT !!
Every airline executive should be required to fly coach in an overbooked flight so they can experience first hand what it’s like to be dehumanized. Until a new business model is put into place that allows airlines to make money we will all be nothing more than cattle awaiting the call to move to the next field.
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