1 to 2 hours: Taipei, Manila
2 to 3 hours: Ho Chi Minh City, Cebu, Shanghai
3 to 4 hours: Beijing, Incheon, Osaka, Nagoya, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Penang, Tokyo

Now let’s look at flights beyond four hours:

Mid Haul: Sapporo, Jakarta, Surabaya, Denpasar, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai
Long Haul: Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Cairns, Brisbane, Sydney, Auckland, Dubai, Bahrain
Ultra Long Haul: London, Paris, Frankfurt, Johannesburg, Vancouver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Toronto, New York

So I’m not sure how you come to the conclusion that the majority of their flights are within 2 to 4 hour flight time. Also, compare that to a US airline and you will see far more flights within the 1 to 3 hour time frame by far. That’s a very different market. Even the 1 to 2 hour market is very different from the 4 to 5 hour market.

Also, you say let’s not forget about the low cost carriers, but I have yet to hear that Air Asia is a beacon of good service and amenities. I do know, however, that they’ve taken over many of the short haul flights that Malaysia was running because they couldn’t run them efficiently.

As for India, it will be very interesting to see how that plays out considering every airline is bleeding profusely right now. Certainly, there are some cultural differences here. They say that certain cultures expect free food and there’s no way to get around that if you want to have a successful business, for example, but in the US people have proven that it’s not important.

My guess it that while customers may make decisions on Quality, Cost, Delivery, and Service as you say, they put a much greater weight on cost than elsewhere. In fact, though people like to say otherwise, they’ve proven with their wallets time and time again that the majority of decisions are made on price and schedule. (Is that quality or delivery?)

While people do want better service, they aren’t willing to pay for it on shorter haul flights. Yes, this is a sweeping generalization. Some routes like JFK to LA can support higher levels of service, but the majority of intra-US travel won’t.

Let us compare. If you were to take ASEAN carriers SQ, CX, TG, MH, the majority of their flights both in terms of numbers and passengers are in the 2~4 hour flight times. Fares between Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur are extremely competitive. I would put them on par with US fares, or probably cheaper. Let us not forget the low cost carriers Air Asia, Tiger, IndiGo, SpiceJet and others who are giving the mainline carriers a run for their money.

In India, the average flight is 1:30 weighted average, and fares are in the $60 range. Yet, even a low cost carriers dole out free bottles of water, and full service carriers will serve a hot meal/snack on a 1 hour flight.

And people costs are high in India, Singapore, and Hong Kong. The typical cabin crew earns about $2000 a month in India, $4K in Singapore and Hong Kong.

Commerce aside, the starting point for good customer service is attitude. In Asia, air travel is treated like the hospitality business. In the US it is people movement, and therein lies the root of the rot. Having lived in the US many years, I know Americans are hospitable, warm and welcoming. Why does this attitude go out of the window ?

Any where in the world, customers will always use the QCDS parameters to make their buying decision. Quality, Cost, Delivery, Service. In air travel, Quality would translate to reputation, and Delivery to schedule.

In the world, I have not found a country superior to the US when it comes to retail customer service. Retailers compete on price, but that will only carry business so far. Branding and loyalty is built on the service.

Ultimately rude behaviour will beget rude behaviour, and that is what needs to change.

Your attempt to equate 30% of flights being delayed with 30% of an airplane’s parts failing is wildly simplistic. It is so much bigger than problems with the actual airplane, which account for a very small portion of delays. You have to take into account infrastructure constraints, weather problems, and crew delays. None of these touch the airplane at all.

By that measure Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Virgin, Cathay, should not exist as airlines. Forget the fact that Singapore Airlines with one of the best on board services, is also one the world’s most profitable.

Stores like Nordstrom who are renowned for their service also should not exist.

You consider an airline getting 70% accuracy as good. A Boeing 747 has 4 million components. At 30% inaccuracy that would be 1.2 million parts failing. I doubt you would be willing to get in to that aircraft. Nor do I see you using a FedEx or DHL or UPS, if they had such poor performance.

Heck even Domino’s Pizza gives a time bound and product quality guarantee.

Even a Motel 6 or any other “low cost” lodging chain, greets you with a smile and a warm welcome. If cost was the only governing factor, there should be no 4 Seasons, no Burg Al Arab, or no Ritz Carlton.

Airlines, in the US, and their staff seem to have forgotten that ultimately they are not merely a transporter, but they are also in the hospitality business. With the added “protection” of “security risks” airport and airline crew have reached new heights of obnoxiousness.

Other countries in the world too have aviation systems, but no where have I found the callousness of the US.

No wonder US airlines are forced to dole out free upgrades like candy, with the unfortunate side-effect of only lowering the value of the business class.

Am I glad I do not have to fly within the US any more. My sympathies to those who still have to.

However, during all of this wonderful time, I also remember being blamed by passengers for delays due to fog/snow/etc, employees being swung at by passengers frustrated at a delay beyond the agent’s control, and having things thrown towards you. In other words, passengers’ attitude has not changed from years past to the present with regard to delays/cancellations and have always taken it out on airline employees.

Airline employees will put up with a lot, but there is a point when it becomes too much to take. Personal attacks on employees by passengers is just as uncalled for as the snarls given by employees. Rudeness is unjustified on both sides but it happens. No longer is “airline” a career for ground employees – most have to take on a second job just to get by. Pay has been reduced with give-backs and, in most instances, you can receive higher starting pay at In-and-Out Burger.

Management now expects employees to work flights as a single employee with a “floater” employee to assist once boarding begins. The stress can be horrendous. Yes, automation helps, but nothing can take the place of another employee or two to handle problems one on one. Why such a reduced workforce? Pricing. You cannot expect the same service for reduced costs.

So – while I also long for the good old days – today’s air travel is what it is. A cheap way to get from point A to point B: faster than greyhound but catering to the same crowd.

I’m hoping to go to New Zealand this year. Like Cranky I absolutely love Air New Zealand’s product. As an AAdvantage member, however, I’ll probably end up on Qantas (not, by any means a shabby second) simply for the miles and because American flies to neither location. So, I’ll put up with hit-or-miss service on AA to LA then look forward to a wonderful 12-hour flight on an airline that has gotten it right far more than wrong.

There are many people to blame for surly service, but we also have to remember that there are a lot of people giving excellent service out there as well. So what could be done (without thinking about cost) to increase customer service levels across the board to meet the higher levels that we do often see?

*Management could give front line personnel more latitude to help the customer instead of requiring them to follow procedure so often

*Unions could stop fighting the desire to offer pay for performance to the front line (If you ever flew Delta’s Song unit, you probably had great service from the non-union flight attendants. They picked the cream of the crop and put them on Song.)

*Unions could stop acting like they’re going to be able to return to the previous high pay levels, because it’s just not going to happen. All that does is get the hopes up of senior flight attendants and makes them angry.

*Management could schedule the flight attendants to fly less so that they have time to rest and prepare more for each flight

*Management could staff more flight attendants onboard each aircraft

Of course, many of these cost money. I’m sure there are plenty more things that could be done, but none of them are easy. It would be nice for someone to really tackle this more, but to keep costs low, we aren’t likely to see much change.