Cranky on the Web (February 25 – March 1)

What Do Airplanes Do at Night When You’re Asleep? – Conde Nast Daily Traveler
A look at how airlines are getting more creative using airplanes in the middle of the night.

Are All Those Airline Fees Finally Starting to Pay Off for Passengers? – Conde Nast Daily Traveler
Some people hate fees, but it means the airlines have started posting profits and they are now really plowing those profits back into the customer experience. I look at some of what Delta has been doing.

In the Trenches: Serving Different Types of Customers – Intuit Small Business Blog
Though we serve a lot of different types of customers in the concierge business, we don’t tailor our marketing that way.

Brett

5 responses to “Cranky on the Web (February 25 – March 1)”

DesertGhost

Mar 2, 2013

It’s a lot easier to invest in product improvements when you’re making money than it is when you’re struggling to survive.

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1. Jim
  
  Mar 2, 2013
  
  If the airlines were smart, they would save their profits for the next (1) oil spike, (2) terrorist attack, or (3) economic downturn, rather than wasting it on new business class beds. But no, they are going to spend it on fancy new stuff, and then when the next (insert one of the above) hits, they will get another government bailout.
  
  Reply
David SF eastbay

Mar 2, 2013

I’ve always thought there are some markets where an airline could run middle of the night flights and attract travelers on them. Who of a certain age Californian doesn’t remember PSA’s midnight flyer.

But it is true it’s a ‘price it right and they will come’. While in India as an example flights leaving at 2am/3am are normal for travel heading west towards Europe/Trans Atlantic.

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Tom

Mar 3, 2013

Some interesting information there… But why do some routes just not get ‘optimised’? For example i’m thinking of European routes to South Africa…. All night flights of 11/12 hours resulting in the airframe landing in the morning and waiting for a full 11/12 hours earning nothing until the return flight. Why don’t they do an immediate return flight (like most long haul turnarounds) and integrate the airframe into the homebase schedules again immediately?
I’m sure there’s a good reason, but I can’t imagine what is is?
Any ideas, Brett?

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1. CF
  
  Mar 4, 2013
  
  Tom – The issue is one of demand. Same thing goes for flights between the US and deep South America. They fly both ways overnight. For whatever reason, overnight flights do far better than daytime flights in that market. There are a handful of daylight flights but they always underperform. So it can make sense to just leave the airplane on the ground instead of running it when nobody wants to fly.
  
  Reply