Air Travel Series (#1)
This article will be the first in a series to examine the challenges of air travel, the customer touch-points during the travel process and what customers themselves can do to improve their experience.
We all know the current state of airline travel. A recent 2008 study by JD Power determined (no surprise) that satisfaction is down. More than one in five passengers report experiencing a delay with the average length of the delay being 68 minutes. The percentage of customers checking bags has declined considerably, from 77 percent in 2007 to 66 percent in 2008. The reluctance to check a bag is due to the whole baggage claim experience, lost baggage and additional fees to check bags. This in turn encourages more carry-on luggage which contributes to competition for space and a more awkward boarding process. Each step the airlines make to cut costs (packing flights full, cancelling flights, layoffs, bag fees, increasing fares, charging for beverages, etc.) continues to move the industry into an ever downward spiral of customer satisfaction.
The NBC video Dark Skies reported that 2007 was the worst year ever for air travel with customer complaints up 60% over the previous year and over a quarter of all arrivals were late.
OK, that’s data. Now let’s listen to what people are saying on a more emotional level:
- “In a window seat, next to a man in the middle seat with really, really bad body odor, who’s next to a man in the aisle seat, who thinks it is appropriate to clip his nails on the plane…directly behind me is a 3-year old who is singing nursery rhymes, next to her Mom who is also singing nursery rhymes…oh the f&$%*@g joys of flying!”
- “I had just finished a conference in Florida and was flying back to California. I upgraded to First Class so I could work during the return leg home and also get some quality rest. For nearly three hours of the flight an infant was screaming bloody murder in the adjacent row. Essentially no work, no rest for anyone in First Class. I actually recorded the mayhem and played it back to the American Airlines customer service representative when I returned. The rep was amazed and sympathetic. So, what did the airline do for me after I wasted a significant amount of money on that upgrade? A big fat nothing.”
- “I am treated like a number, not a customer.”
- “I spent 4 hours inside the plane while it was on the ramp during a snowstorm in Denver. I was completely trapped against my will. It was a miserable, energy sucking and time wasting experience.”
- “I arrived at the conference, my bags didn’t”.
- “My flight was late so I missed my connecting flight. This is just one hassle after another”.
- “When I was checking in, the people in front of me discovered their bag was over 50 pounds and would incur an additional charge. Rather than paying this, they started pulling out items from their bag to reduce the weight. This process caused everyone behind them to be delayed.”
During this series of articles I will examine the options for the airlines, airports and the customers. And, by the way, airlines and airports are only part of the problem. Some of the passengers we are forced to travel with are the other half of the problem. In the next article, I am going to tell you who these people are and what you can do about it!
