Can a business that takes its customers for granted — in some cases, even hates them — still rake in record profits? Does it deserve to? Those aren’t academic questions. They’re actually issues that this week’s events should have raised, but that haven’t.
I’m talking about the airline industry, of course. And the answer is yes and no, respectively.
On Monday, we learned that customer satisfaction had hit another three-year low.
At almost the same time, the International Air Transport Association raised its 2007 industry outlook from a net profit of $2.5 billion to $3.8 billion, despite a slowdown in the U.S. economy and a rise in oil prices back above $60 a barrel. (The forecast is interesting reading, by the way, even if you’re not an aviation insider.)
Another billion, and we’re breaking records.
Here’s the thing that’s bothering me. While there’s been plenty of reporting on the dreadful customer service grades, and plenty of coverage given to the IATA forecast, no one is connecting the dots and asking the big questions.
How can an industry that, for the most part, treats its customers like cargo, remain in business? Do they have passengers over a barrel? Do travelers enjoy being mistreated, the same way Wiener’s Circle patrons seem to like being berated by their servers?
Have airline passengers given up, after years of being ground down by unfriendly TSA agents, surly flight attendants and indifferent ticket agents?
Perhaps. But even they have, then we — what’s left of the journalists covering this industry and the bloggers who are looking over their shoulders — owe our readers more than simple “who/what/when/where/why” stories and postings on this topic.
What’s happening today is simply wrong. Airline employees know it. Now it’s time for the rest of us to connect the dots.
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I thought I’d mention something very practical folks can do to improve airline customer service. Go to work for an airline! Or send your sons and daughters off to the fields of war. If your child works for an airline you can travel on their flight benefits too. As JFK might have said, “Ask not what the airlines can do for you. Ask rather what you can do for the airlines.”
I work for Alaska Airlines and many of my coworkers are entry level youth or retired folks who enjoy talking to and helping people. We all love to travel! Yes the job has some tough moments, but if you are made of the right stuff and have good customer service skills, it can be a lot of fun. It’s not the job for everyone, but did I mention the flight benefits?
Alaska is currently hiring in the following cities: Anchorage, Chicago, Denver, Fairbanks, Juneau, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Oakland, Portland, OR, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Phoenix / Tempe. Bilingual Spanish speakers are in particular demand. I work in reservations and may be working from the comfort of my own home in the near future. I do not work in the hiring department and the above opinions are my own and not those of the company. Yada yada yada.
Maybe part of the new movement could be to join the ranks of the airlines and reform the sad state of customer service from the inside out. Please feel free to post this and anyone interested can email me.