Discount carriers used to be the darlings of air travelers, if not travel columnists. With low fares and high standards of customer service, what wasn’t to like?
Then JetBlue had its embarrassing Valentine’s Day meltdown more than a year ago, in which dozens of flights sat on a frozen JFK airport tarmac for up to 11 hours. And then Southwest had its humiliating safety scandal for operating almost 50 planes that missed their safety inspections. It faces a record $10.2 million civil penalty.
It’s enough to make you want to fly one of those pricey network airlines, isn’t it?
Actually, no.
I asked readers to nominate their favorite airlines, and wouldn’t you know it, the low-fare airlines still kicked butt. I also boarded a Southwest flight after the inspection snafu, and found no evidence that the carrier had fallen out of favor with fliers.
Why? Here’s your take on each of these low-fare airlines:
JetBlue: ‘They screw up less’
JetBlue pulled some very respectable numbers last year, even when you factor in the tarmac stranding incidents. A closer look at the 2007 Transportation Department report card shows that JetBlue lost less luggage, bumped fewer passengers and didn’t generate as many complaints as most of the major airlines. Yes, even when you count the gripes about the ice storm.
But performance is only part of the reason you favored JetBlue. After all, other airlines did as well — or better — than JetBlue in many categories, but failed to make customers as happy. So what’s the secret? Passengers say it’s because they’re treated with dignity by employees who seem to genuinely care. And that kind of corporate culture is something their competitors (except maybe one, which I’ll get to in a second) just can’t match.
“The flight crews are very friendly and accommodating, there is plenty of leg room at each leather seat and the personal TVs keep everyone entertained,” says Elaine Canter, a reader from Mamaroneck, N.Y. “What a pleasure.”
Adds another reader, Aaron Gold: “They have a reasonable amount of seat room and their fares are pretty decent.”
All of that is nice. But Stan Prus, an attorney from New York, says he loves JetBlue for a simple reason: “They screw up less.”
I’ve always felt that JetBlue is one of the best airlines in America, even after the media pounced on it more than a year ago for the whole ice storm incident. But I was genuinely surprised by the passionate response from readers, whose experiences remind me of what flying was like before airline deregulation — a pleasant, civil experience that the entire family enjoyed.
Southwest: ‘They truly seem to care about customers’
Like JetBlue, this always-profitable, no-frills airline does well in the Transportation Department rankings. Not perfect, but good enough to set it apart from many of the bottom-feeding network airlines. For example, the government recorded only 266 complaints against Southwest in 2007, or 0.26 gripes per 100,000 enplanements — the second-lowest number behind island-hopping Aloha Airlines. The worst performer, US Airways, had a mind-blowing 1,828 complaints, or about 3.16 grievances per 100,000 enplanements.
JetBlue’s numbers on mishandled baggage were so-so — 5.87 reports per 1,000 passengers — which put it in the top half of the flock. (The worst record belonged to American Eagle, which mishandled more than 1 in 100 bags it put its hands on.)
But again, it’s possible to do everything right and still get it wrong. I mean, United Airlines, Continental Airlines and Northwest Airlines had a better baggage-handling record, but they failed to get as much love from customers. How come?
In order to understand the reasons, I spoke with some of the raving customers.
“Once, a Southwest pilot saw me struggling with the overhead storage of my travel bag and graciously helped me,” says Carolyn Steel, a retired stockbroker. “I was surprised and pleased to be so well treated. I am a senior and would choose Southwest over all of the others.”
It isn’t just the go-the-extra-mile service that’s delivered with a real smile, but a truly user-friendly airline, according to customers. It’s easy to change reservations, easy to board planes, easy to cash in award tickets, and, most importantly, Southwest is easy to fly. “They truly seem to care about customers,” says Diane Daniel, a writer based in Durham, N.C.
“I like Southwest because of its engaging flight attendants, its generally good on-time performance, its use of Americans-only phone agents and its round-trip pricing method, where legs are priced separately,” says reader Gibbs LaMotte. “But most of all because of its change policies: no $100 fees and no restriction on using the unused return leg of a round trip ticket.”
Why I’m flying JetBlue and Southwest
Coincidentally, I recently needed to buy airline tickets from Orlando to New York and Orlando to Los Angeles. I ended up booking one set of tickets on JetBlue and the other on Southwest. Here’s why.
On the first flight from Orlando to New York, the network airlines offered more expensive flights with a one-stop. AirTran had a comparable price, but less convenient times. A family of five with two kids under three can’t take an evening flight that gets them to their destination after midnight. It’s just not practical.
I also knew JetBlue offered free seatback TVs, but more importantly, that the flight attendants treated kids well. My five-year-old son, who is not all that brand-aware, knows the difference between JetBlue and another airline. And he almost always prefers JetBlue. How they managed to leave that kind of impression on a kindergartner, I have no idea.
On the second transcontinental flight, JetBlue was not as competitive. The major airlines came much closer to matching JetBlue’s price, and even offered a non-stop flight, which is a big bonus when you’re flying with young children.
So why did we pick the less convenient one-stop flight on Southwest, with no change of planes? Because it cost almost $400 less than the flights offered by JetBlue and the other big airlines, because the flight took only about an extra hour — and because it was Southwest.
Southwest is another airline that my kids recognize. The flight attendants hand out trinkets to keep them busy and they don’t treat them like hazardous cargo.
JetBlue and Southwest weren’t the cheapest airlines flying to New York and Los Angeles. AirTran Airways and Spirit Airlines were. But for us, they were the best choices.
Based on your feedback, they are for many of you, too.
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As the legacies continue to cut amenities, they functionally become LCCs, but with a higher price tag.
Why would I fly (insert any legacy airline here), with grumpy stewardesses, no in-flight entertainment or food, questionable refund/change practices and 31″ of pitch when I can fly Jet Blue with 34″ of pitch, television, an easy to understand and reasonable refund/change practice and potato chips?
Remember it is the cost of the ticket……as long as it is the cheapest, people will go to that discount airline.
Why pay more than $200.00?
People don’t know the first airline ticket sold in the USA…on St Petersburg to Tampa Airboats was a total of $425……in 1912…(I think I correct with the year) and how much did your great grandfather earn that 1912?
Think about it anyone who pays more for their hotel than the airfair…..gets what they
deserve.
Chris – I think the point is that good (or, at least, acceptable) customer service is free. Sure, if you pay $200 for a round trip ticket from Baltimore to Los Angeles, you can’t – or shouldn’t – expect much more than pretzels and a soda for “dinner”, and you’re even likely to get some screw-up regarding missed connections or missing baggage along the way due to lack of personnel. Unfortunately, these kinds of problems are coming to be the norm. However; friendliness, empathy, politeness, and common courtesy are all free. And it shouldn’t matter that you paid less than the other guy in order to receive these “benefits”. In these days of uncommom common courtesy and lowered expectations, I’d love to learn that the deciding factor for many people to choose who they do business with is customer service.
I feel like I’ve worn it to death, but that’s precisely the reason I’ll fly Frontier again, assuming they survive financially. They have great customer service and good fares.
I am lucky that flying “home” for my family is going through DIA. We never fly United even though DIA is a hub – we always opt for Frontier.
On a flight last year from San Antonio, I called their customer service department and learned that I could add a Vegas ticket to my flght for only $15 more each ticket. By using a multi-day layover and speaking to a really nice representative, my husband and I were able to take kiddo to see grandparents then on to Vegas for both of us super cheap.
My daughter truly enjoyed the Frontier service, with the TVs in each seat (she watched Disney channel the whole time) and everyone around us who cringed at being sat near a 4year old were sure relieved at Frontier’s entertainment as my daughter barely said a word on a 2 hour flight. We will only fly Frontier (provided the bankrupcy protection doesn’t pan out to real bankruptcy) “home.”
P.S. did I mention how good they are to military folks (ourselves included)? Even on vacation, they overheard us talking about going “home” and made an announcement over air in support of all troops on board.
What most of the major airlines fail to understand that all customers want is to be treated well. That is why Jetblue and Southwest do so well and guess what it doesn’t cost them an extra penny.
As a pilot for one of these airlines, I find it interesting to see what the public feels is important in travel today. Some days, I’m a really helpful and nice guy who loves to go the extra mile for whomever needs it from me. Some days I’m not as nice as I should be, but I still help nevertheless and always with a smile. I had an interesting experience last week where we were delayed by Air Traffic Control and knew that many of our passengers weren’t going to make their connection through our hub. I broke the rules by going and retrieving a couple of passengers bags who weren’t getting any help from our customer service personnel and brought them personally to the passengers. Of 3 people, only one thanked me and one of those who didn’t thought to ask whether I had been in his bag when I presented it to him. As he walked away he mentioned that he would remember my name if anything was missing. I’m not a “white male” and I make $36,000 a year to fly an airplane for a major airline and I love my job and take it just as seriously as anyone else in my company. But honestly folks, there’s a whole lot more going on here than the petty concerns presented by the media. I only have a college degree and some of a masters completed, I spent about $60,000 to become a pilot, over 10 years. Tomorrow I might not have a job because of the state of the industry and to make matters worse, my wife does the same thing. When I do find another job, I will have to start over at about $22,000 a year. Need I say another thing? I unfortunately don’t just speak for myself. I have at least another 3,000 pilots at my company in the same boat. That’s a lot of folks with loans, kids, mortgages, and dreams on hold as we mount this “death watch”. And you know what? I’m still going to stop with a smile and offer to do whatever I can to make your flight as enjoyable an experience as I possibly can.
Another airline that really brings it home with quality customer services is Midwest. It’s 100% business class, and they treat their passengers with a level of respect I have yet to find on any other airline. From the wide leather seats to the fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies on every flight, they really go out of their way to assure that they live up to their slogan of “Best Care In The Air”. Can any other airline boast a 5 minute check-in at LAX?
Beth, do you work for Midwest?
I’ll corroborate Beth’s assertion, whether or not she works for Midwest. I too loved their value and service for the price… the all- or mostly-business class seating, customer treatment, and amenities were great the too-few times I’ve flown them. Too bad they’re small and Northwest (/Delta?) smother them at my airport.
Another benefit, relating to your original point, is that here in Minneapolis the smaller carriers (such as Midwest) use the auxilliary Humphrey Terminal. This saves a minimum of 20 minutes each way in parking/security and provides a less harried experience than the main Lindbergh terminal.
No, I don’t. I’m just a very satisfied customer who joined the “Save the Cookie” campaign last summer when it looked like a hostile takeover was in the works. They are my first choice for almost any flight, thanks to the value for the price paid.
For example, my husband & I flew from Kansas City to LAX round-trip non-stop last summer for $5 more per person than United wanted for a 2-stop flight that would have dropped us in Denver & Salt Lake City on the way out, and Phoenix on the way back. My husband was ill on the way back, due to a respiratory illness that almost all convention attendees had picked up while we were in Anaheim. They found some OTC cold & flu medicine on board that needed to be mixed with hot water, which they fixed for him and then checked on us several times during the flight to assure that we were comfortable. I’ve never gotten similar service from any other airline.
Ahh, and those cookies were definitely worth saving. They’re SO good!
Tad is right, in any service industry individuals need to stand out. It makes your value increase with little or no effort on your part. There are two kinds of rewards for great service, monetary and emotional. Money needs no explanation. It takes a little practice to get a good feeling back by doing something good for someone. After a few tries though, just a minimal effort on your part can make a world of difference to someone else, and sometimes they don’t recognize it until later. Just do the extra once and look for the smile on the customer’s face, you made that happen and most times, it costs you nothing but a little time. The good feeling (yours) is priceless. You say “No way I doing anything extra, what did they do for me, what do I get out of it?” All it takes is a little common courtesy, that’s what make as human, instead of animals! Do on to others as you would have them do to you. Someone has to stand up and be first, why not you? Slow down and enjoy a priceless moment! Life’s too short to be bitter and angry all the time!
Tad’s post really shows the disconnect between what passengers want and how they act. I realize that not ALL passengers are like this, but when the gate agent is telling you they can’t do something, then another airline employee (be it a pilot or baggage crew) makes an exception and helps you out, the LAST thing you should be doing is accusing them of pilfering from your bag. People say what’s important is that airline employees are polite and smile at them, then treat the airline employees like crap. It’s no wonder a smile from an airline employee is rare.
I dont think there really are too many discount carriers left. I find it odd that Southwest is still considered a discount airline. In most cases, their fares are now comparable to (and in some cases actually more than) the majors. A typical flight from Albuquerque averages between $300 and $400, and that’s what I pay on other carriers. And those are just Southwest’s “cheaper” Internet fares. Regular non-refundables are something like $700 which is not cheaper than what you pay elsewhere. They are also doing something new and devious on their Website. You click on the Internet fares for a particular flight, and when you go to the next step, you get a message saying that the price isn’t really what you just clicked on, it’s $50 higher. This is ridiculous; why don’t they just give you the fare on the original chart you click on? Yes, their service is good and they fly places other airlines don’t. But they are no longer a discount airline.
My love affair with the budget airlines digs much deeper than their low fares. It comes from their level of service which is now becoming a distant memory with the flagship carriers.
There was once a time when flying was a glamorous activity. People would dress in their Sunday best to board that two hour flight from New York to Miami. It was an exciting experience, something special that most people would rarely if ever get the opportunity to do.
Today things have changed. Flying is a regular occurrence in peoples lives. The glamor has disappeared and we often feel harassed and violated by the whole security process. The desire of majority of air travelers today is simple: get me from point A to point B in as short a period as possible for as cheap as possible.
When flying the flag carriers we are often forced into long queues only to be treated badly at the security checkpoints and then to find out that our flight is delayed. Surprisingly enough I more often than not find that when I fly the budget airlines my travel experience is expedited. It is rare that when flying JetBlue that my total time from entering the terminal until the time when I get to the gate at the notoriously slow JFK International Airport is more than 20-30 minutes. This at a time when we’re often told to arrive anywhere between 90-180 minutes before our plane leaves.
Because Southwest Airlines often flies from secondary airports such as Long Island’s McArthur Airport in Islip (40 miles East of NYC) the queues are even shorter. My total time has been as low as 7 minutes with Southwest Airlines. This is the service that I want, that I expect and that I demand.
The budget airlines never offered us great drinks or food as an incentive to fly with them. Rather they offered us a basic service for a low price. They got us from point A to point B, quicker, faster and more reliably than their flag ship competitors. They are nicer at the check in desks and seem to care more about their passengers. This new breed of airline is trying to appeal to the new generation of fliers who don’t care about glamor.
Well said Chris! So true. Why is it so hard for the major airlines to understand this?
Even Amtrak offers a more enjoyable travel experience than flying does, these days. Wide comfy seats, plenty of room between your seat and the seat in front of you, and you don’t have to go through the ridiculous and time-wasting security lines or take your shoes off and put them back on. You can bring a bottle of water aboard, no problem. And as much liquid as you can carry. Get up and stroll around whenever you want. No seatbelts. Viva la train!