Inconsistency - Why People Hate Airlines
People absolutely love to hate airlines, but why is it that some airlines anger people a lot more than others?
I always hear the argument that successful airlines are those that underpromise and overdeliver. Take a look at Southwest Airlines. When you buy a ticket, you expect a seat and you expect to get to your destination, but that’s about it. When they sling a snack box at you and have flight attendants that actually smile, you’re thrilled at how the experience exceeded your expectations.
Of course, that type of scenario leads to far fewer complaints than those airlines that overpromise and underdeliver. In fact, in August, the most recent month available from the DOT’s Air Travel Consumer Report, Southwest had a very low .15 complaints per 100,000 passengers. That translates into 13 whole complaints sent to the DOT that month, but if they were perfect at underpromising and overdelivering, they wouldn’t have had any at all, right?
The root of the problem is related to consistency, or rather, lack thereof. Every company sets expectations. In Southwest’s case, they usually set expectations low enough that most inconsistencies tend to fall on the positive side, but on at least 13 occasions last month, it went far enough the other way that people felt compelled to write complaints to the DOT. That means there were plenty more people who weren’t pleased but didn’t bother to complain (at least, not to the government). Airlines that promise more will likely find inconsistencies more often having a negative impact than at an airline like Southwest.
So while airlines can try to promise less, that’s not a business model that suits everyone. Many airlines pride themselves on service promises that are much more difficult to meet. What those airlines can do is try to find a way to be more consistent and actually fulfill their promises. Common sense tells me that the easiest way to provide consistent service is to keep your rules as simple as possible. The legacy airlines have done an excellent job of adding crazy exceptions and complexities into their rules that make consistency almost impossible.
Let’s look at baggage check-in for an obvious example. Delta says that bags must be checked no later than 30 minutes before departure except in Atlanta, Denver, Vegas, LA, and Orlando where it’s 45 minutes and in San Juan, St Thomas, and St Croix where it’s 60 minutes. Oh, and that’s just for domestic travel. If you’re going internationally, you have to check your bags 60 minutes prior except in Bogota, Nassau, Providenciales, and St Lucia where it’s 2 hours, Moscow where it’s 3 hours, and Istanbul where it’s inexplicably 3 hours and 15 minutes.
You’ll be surprised to know that even golden boy Southwest has fallen into this trap. It’s a 30 minute cutoff everywhere except for Baltimore, Chicago/Midway, Denver, Vegas, LA, Phoenix, Orlando, and Washington/Dulles where it’s 45 minutes. So why the added complexity? My guess is that this is an example of good intentions gone wrong thanks to anchoring on previous policies.
Undoubtedly the baggage cutoff time was 30 minutes at all airports in the past. At some point, the powers-that-be realized that some airports required more time to reliably get bags on the plane. The seemingly logical response was to inconvenience as few customers as possible, so they just bumped up the cutoff to 45 minutes prior at the few airports that needed it. I can see how this makes sense in a vacuum, but when realizing that it has to be communicated internally and externally along with thousands of other policies around the airline’s network, it doesn’t seem to be worth it. Contrast this with Frontier Airlines which has a 45 minute cutoff for all bags in all cities. A uniform policy that’s easy to communicate makes it far easier to remain consistent.
Unfortunately, it’s unrealistic to think that just simplifying policies will solve the problem entirely. Big airlines are bound to have a more difficult time with consistency by nature. The larger and more diverse the organization, the more difficult it is to keep everyone acting according to policy, regardless of how simple it is.
A thread in FlyerTalk today is actually what prompted me to write about this issue. The thread details how someone flying on United out of Los Angeles wanted to check a bottle of expensive wine and was denied. He was told that it was “a LAX-only rule, and it was instituted because someone checked wine without wrapping it properly, the bottle broke, leaked out of the suitcase staining other peoples’ suitcases, and [United] was held liable for the damage. The [Customer Service Rep] next to her then remarked ‘I had no idea we had that rule!’. Grrr…”
Really, it’s the very large size of the airline that allows something like this to even occur. A smaller airline would have more oversight over its airport operations - that would help eliminate random policies implemented by individual airports without approval from above. And if this is just a rumor and not an actual policy, smaller airlines would be able to diffuse those rumors much more quickly.
So is the solution to only fly small airlines that can be consistent? Yeah, right. That’s probably not possible, and even if it were, most people wouldn’t be willing to forgo the frequent flier benefits the big guys offer. What’s realistic is for airlines and customers to meet in the middle. Customers need to be more patient in dealing with airlines, and airlines need to work to simplify their policies to remove as much inconsistency as possible.
When I worked for DL, ticket counter, gates, the norm for getting bags on the plane was 15-20 minutes.
But then again, in 1991, Delta had a dedicated happy work force, not high school dropouts that man the ticket and gate locations now………..
Great blog… how about getting this one around? The airlines are the only business in the world that can abuse thousands of people as a matter of policy, and when they complain too loudly, Airlines bring the full force of law down on the complainer. I’ve seen people kicked off planes, abused at the gate — literally berated and yelled at by gate agents who knew they really have all the power in the relationship — with no recourse. In this case, the death of a mother of three is just more collateral damage for the “yield managers” at US Airways.
Washington Post
October 14, 2007
A.L. Bardach
I am haunted by the death of Carol Anne Gotbaum.
I didn’t know the mother of three who died shackled to a bench in the Phoenix airport on Sept. 28, en route to an alcohol treatment center in Tucson. I don’t know, beyond what I read in the newspapers, what troubles weighed on her. But I do know this: Based on my own recent flight experiences, hers was a death foretold.
[Message truncated to restrict to fair use excerpt of article]
I actually saw this article and may still comment on it. I find it to be an extremely irresponsible piece of journalism.
I’ll be interested to see why you think so. She makes a compelling case that the sector is, for a variety of financial and infrastrustural reasons, in meltdown. US Airways abuses the traveling public as a management-level policy decision: it’s their business model, so to speak; the only way to make the numbers work.
The breaches of promises and damaged people are an afterthought. Phoenix is a metaphor for this sad state of affairs. Remember, all this poor woman wanted to do is get to Tucson…
I wasn’t sure if I was going to write about it, but your interest in the subject has convinced me to do it. Look for a new post on this in the morning.
[...] after reading this opinion piece in the Washington Post yesterday and getting comments about it on another post, I decided to say something. See, you can blame airlines for a lot of things, but blaming them for [...]
I was told the other day that JetBLue will be charging more money for a little more leg room. Since I book all the reservations for our world wide company I have put a postit on my computer reminding me not to use JetBlue. I was approache by our CEO that “that was it” with using that Airline. Whats next, renting the seat belt during the flight. Woops!, shouldn’t give them any ideas.
James - I’m a little confused why you would avoid JetBlue for charging for more legroom. They’re basic legroom is still 2 to 3 inches more than most other airlines. They’re now charging if you want an additional 4 inches on top of that. I personally don’t see a problem with it at all.
Conversation overheard between gate agent and manager
(Further confirmation that airlines deserve to go bankrupt for how they treat their customers)
Agent: This passenger left his cell phone and I picked up when he called it. I let him know he could come back to this gate or we could send it to lost and found and how to retreive it.
Manager: Never do that again. Don’t answer the phone, it makes us liable in case we lose it between when they call and when they come back for it.
I have worked for Delta for the last 10 years prior to going to other and better things. I don’t think it’s that people hate the airlines in general, I don’t think people like change period. Yes, I know it’s a pain in the butt with the new rules and what not but lets really look at the whole picture to what people are angry all the time - I am a private pilot and own my own place but don’t fly as much as I like with the cost of Jet A around $5.50 a gal and cost just as much for the airlines to fill up a plane…guess who is going to pay for it? The consumer! And now they are charging for things like checked baggage and a pre paid seat…even now you have to pay for a coke and chips on a plane! Yeah, that would get someone a little upset. Now let’s not forget TSA….3oz or less of liquids and Gels plus now you have to get to a small airport at least 2 hours early just to get to your gate on time to deal with security. Now with most airports allowing you to check in up to 45 mins before departure, it’s not like the old days anymore folks….I know this might sound harsh to say but “Get over it”. It’s a viscous circle that has caused this…9/11, the high cost in fuel, TSA, more people are flying with fewer flights that equals to this madness. But people have love-hate relationships with any company these days, even I will admit that but come on guys…Far as the Customer Service side of this, yes, the airlines can do a lot better with in reason like being a little bit more nice and telling you more information but you can’t ask them to do something that they can’t do – check your bag past the cut off, get you on a oversold flight and never demand anything. You really can’t blame the airlines 100% for this, it falls back to the TSA, the DOT and the Economy. Make you kind of wish Amtrak was still ever so popular….but if you really hate the airlines so much, there is always driving. Sorry if this sounds harsh but really, there is a lot more politics to as why there is madness.
Hondo: I decided long ago to do just that, drive instead of fly. Its such a hassle to fly anywhere, with the airlines cutting back, the TSA and the extra fees for bags, cokes, even seating. Not to mention the rude and “don’t give a flip” attitude of airline employees. It may take longer, but I’m more comfortable.
Hondo,
You must be paid by the airlines to lurk in blogs like this and defend them. Who else would write so many words defending an industry so screwed up. If I ran my company like the airlines, treated customers like the airlines treat us, I’d be in bankruptcy too.
Jimmy,
So right. Does it even take longer - at least much longer - especially if you have a connection? I fly around the east coast mostly. If you count from the time you walk out the door and drive to the airport until the minute you hit your hotel - it’s often just an hour or 2 longer. And I arrive in such a better mood.
Randy,
I do not work for an airline anymore…I think you missed that where I said I went on to better things
I think alot of you guys are reading too much into this and are missing the point but then agian I don’t think any of you realize the ecomonics of how things run in the airlines, it’s pretty disturbing.
Jimmy, I agree about driving…I rather drive than fly, but I also have my own C172, just find a small airport, park it, get a rental car and drive away…lol
I flew with Delta Airline on 1st July 2008 to Rio De Janeiro. What a waste of my money. At Atlanta airport a so called “passport check” was done pre boarding. Two Delta airline employees were doing this. They issuing contradicting orders to the boarding customers which resulted in absolute chaos. When my turn came the African American Delta Airlines employee 1) Could not find my visa for Brazil and 2) Decided to tear/rip my TN registration from my passport. Upon my question why are you doing this he replied ” You don’t need this. You can get it back when you come back”. At this stage I was not going to argue with him because the boarding was allready late and for fear of intimidation and getting Tazered I decided to not pursue this matter. The TN was still valid till end of August 2008. What right does an airline employee have to remove documentation from a passenger’s passport??? I will pursue this matter further my company’s lawyers.
I will never fly Delta airlines again and if possible I will not go to the United States Of No Civil liberties again.
Now I know why people fly planes into your buildings.
Just remember in history all empires come to a fall
NKK - To call you an ignorant and racist prick would be treating you too kindly, so I won’t even bother. Everyone has had problems when they fly, and while people certainly have a right to complain about it, your reaction is the most offensive I’ve seen.
To think that your one bad encounter with a Delta employee somehow is a sign that the killing of thousands of innocent people was perfectly understandable is absurd, to say the least. The unnecessary inclusion of the employee’s race implies that not only are you insensitive and self-centered, but you are also racist, especially since you have presented no evidence to show that race was somehow involved here.
I suggest thinking before you write next time.