"Peter Duniho" wrote in message ...
: ".Blueskies." wrote in message
: ...
: Just another example of how the 'big' airlines just don't get it. They are
: in the customer service business. They need to relearn that or they will
: go away...
:
: Sadly, that's not precisely true.
:
: I think that there is a viable niche for a true "customer service" airline,
: but the vast majority of travelers *only* care about price. The main thing
: that will kill the major airlines is their inability to adapt to the future
: of airline travel (mainly, the limitations of the hub system they currently
: use), and that only because it undermines their bottom line.
:
: As long as the airline customer puts up with whatever inconveniences the
: airlines subject them to, in the name of getting the lowest price from Point
: A to Point B, lack of decent customer service will never be a big problem
: for airlines, and certainly isn't going to make them disappear.
:
: Pete
:

If price is what the customer is looking for, then customer service requires that they get that price. Many of the
airlines are bleeding money like it is going out of style, and they are treating their front line folks very poorly. The
front line folks can't help but show their frustration. Automated kiosks are fine, but you still have to have a 'credit
card' with a correctly spelled name on it so it will match. Many folks don't have this and they have to deal with a
human. Many of the big guys think they have to do all the airplane maintenance and that sort of thing when the thing
they should be doing is turning the planes around and keeping them in the air, full capital utilization. Some of them
are still living in the regulated world where they used to be paid by the gov't simply to service a little airport. At
least these days many of them are operating with higher load factors...