The most important element of air travel is your personal space. That means the seat and what surrounds it. That’s always been true, but never more so than during a pandemic when passengers worry the person next to them may get them sick.
- Business class should be a fully flat bed and you shouldn’t have to climb over another passenger, no passenger should climb over you.
- First class means more space and fewer people in the cabin, your personal space extends beyond your seat to a serene cabin rather than a sea of people. It’s ironic that airlines have accelerated the elimination of international first class (amidst a near-total drying up of business travel) which offers the most space per passenger.
- In economy Singapore Airlines offers thoughtful touches with their seat, a foot bar, a cup holder, a bit of extra legroom. But the single most important thing that will determine your experience with a flight is whether or not there’s an empty seat next to you.
After the seat what’s next most important? I’d posit that it isn’t meal or the alcohol. It’s not the lounge on the ground before departure and it isn’t the contents of an amenity kit. It isn’t the inflight entertainment, you really can bring your own (seat power is a must but I include that in the seat). American Airlines CEO Doug Parker said Covid was an opportunity to start his airline from scratch.
So what would have been most important starting from scratch? It’s the service. I don’t mean that flight attendants need to be obsequious. I don’t even mean that they are there to serve you. After all if you fly much domestically in the States you know that flight attendants are there primarily for your safety. The head of the largest U.S. flight attendants union says,
“Don’t use the call button to ask for a drink,” Sara Nelson, the international president of the Association of Flight Attendants told TPG. “As a general rule, don’t think of the call button as your vodka-tonic button.” Nelson explained that it’s “not intended to be for ordering drinks.”
What I mean is whether or not flight attendants seek to engage each passenger or whether they’re actively avoiding engaging with each passenger individually.
Are they friendly and personable — do they stop, listen to what a passenger is asking, whether they’re having a good or bad day, and think about whether it’s possible to get them what they’re after? Or is it an assembly line, are passenger interactions something to get through before returning to People magazine in the galley?
Put another way, whether in the air or on the ground customers want to be treated as human beings rather than self-loading cargo.
- When we’re at the customer service counter we need to get where we’re going and for the most part we’re completely reliant on that airline employee to do so. We’re already having a bad day, and we’re taking the trip for a reason.
- When we’re on the plane there’s very little we can do for ourselves except for what’s in that bag underneath the seat — or maybe walk down the aisle to the lavatory, if the line isn’t too long and the seat belt sign is off (or even when it’s on). We’re not in control of when we’ll get where we’re going, how our seat opponent is behaving, so listening to how we’d like that drink gives a sense of peace, civility and control in a world without any. Skipping by us because we don’t get our drink order out quickly enough does the exact opposite.
Goodness knows there are enough passengers out there whose humanity is questionable at best. But in each instance where that’s the case, they’ve done something to reveal their flaws.
And it’s fair to say that passengers need to treat airline employees with respect, too. I’ve seen too many people unload all their troubles on someone that’s done nothing to deserve it.
However both passengers and employees are entitled to the benefit of the doubt. And when we each give that, the travel experience is so much better, in a way that no amount of turkey sandwiches or Woodford Reserve can compensate for.
All touch points matter. American Airlines Chief Commercial Officer Virasb Vahidi used to talk about the ‘circle of the customer’ where all parts of the customer journey should feel premium. That doesn’t mean expensive but that details mattered. US Airways took over, Scott Kirby was still managing exclusively by spreadsheet, and he didn’t believe customers chose an airline based on meals or red stripes on seat covers, so why spend the money? But enough of those cuts and the experience is degraded and premium customers do book away.
Often though it isn’t even about spending more money. American bolted first class seats onto the floors of their Oasis interiors in a way that eliminated underseat storage for half the cabin because they didn’t care about details – a seat was a seat, cheap is good and done is done. That cost them enough they even went back and did costly retrofits. Caring about the details can be a way to save money and deliver a better, more human and more premium experience all at the same time. It’s all in attitude and commitment to the customer.
Maybe it is easier to be nicer when the staff:customer ratio is lower but my experience is that first class flight attendants are mostly nice (and, um, er not sure the most diplomatic way to say this but… not old or ugly especially on ME and Asian carriers). They seem through some combination of genuine warmth and acting (and I profess to lack even the mildest curiosity as to the precise mixture) to care that I have a nice flight. Business class: neutral. If they have it, they’ll give it to me. If not, they genuinely DGAF. Coach: we’re here for your safety. If you are not currently on fire and plummeting to your imminent death then you should thank us and sit quietly. You are chattel. They prefer if you get that through your head. But the funny thing is that being nice shouldn’t really cost them anything. My butt fits perfectly fine in a coach seat so I don’t really care about the comfort difference, but it is impossible to not get used to first class service.
I disagree. Passengers have the option to pick a better airline by paying more. That’s what I do. But most people choose to go with a lower price which comes with crappy service. They only have themselves to blame. It’s because of them that airlines like Ryan Air and Spirit exist. And the formerly good airlines have to remove cost resulting in worse service to remain competitive. Unless you are willing to pay more every time, you are not in a position to demand better service. You get what you pay for.
You expressed all perfectly! I can’t say myself any better after flying so much! Thank you for sharing it with us.
@Gary – Are you suggesting that Amazon consider starting a common carrier airline? Whatever (many) flaws that company has, customer-centric focus is presently in its DNA.
AA is a pseudo low cost carrier. The market has spoken, and pseudo low cost is where the demand is.
Of the airlines I have flown, only some of the USA airlines have cabin crews that treat passenger indifferently or bad and several decades ago, none did that. Asian airlines are uniformly good and in some cases, great. Even on AirAsia, a low cost Asian airline, the cabin crews are always pleasant. To be sure, I have always had good interactions with Alaska Airlines, Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways cabin crews.
Almost all I care about is the width of the seat. Airplane width benefits passengers, length of plane benefits airlines. Who cares if the plane has extra rows. An Airbus 320 is 6” wider than a Boeing 737 which is why you get an 18” wide seat vs. 17”. That inch makes a huge difference. Yes, leg room is nice but prices for an extra 3” have gotten ridiculous.
@jns … All interactions everywhere are diverting entertainment . I don’t think of them as good , indifferent , or bad . I think of everything as funny or more funny .
For example , Trump and the legal system’s analysis are becoming more funny all the time .
Should flight attendants be graded on friendliness? Like a secret shopper arrangement. Enough low scores / complaints and the FA gets a refresher training on customer service.
Singapore’s long distance seats are 18″ wide. Of the US airlines, only Delta’s A350s have seats that are that wide.
Singapore’s long distance seats are pitched at 32″. ZERO US airlines have as much legroom as Singapore.
Let’s not even compare the quality of food and wine.
LITTLE things matter a lot when summed together.
Oh, and people do watch the built-in screen more than their tiny phones, and are much more satisfied when traveling on an airplane with screens. Facts.
Airlines are like a bus or train transportation carrier. They are to get you there.
This is all driven by union FAs. When your direct point of contact with customers is surly, dismissive, arrogant and lazy, then all of your carefully designed marketing strategies, corporate policies, and investments in product are meaningless. Lock them out. That’s the only chance you can compete with Delta.
Taxpayer-subsidized airlines are selling cheap self-serve buttocks-in-seats airfare to passengers accustomed to Starbucks app phone screen interaction with the barista. That handwritten name on the cup and eye-to-eye friendly interaction with the barista ended many years ago. Now, it’s order on the app, grab and go.
No passenger wants to converse with another passenger. The only passengers wanting to engage a trolley dolly are the passengers wanting to set up the trolley dolly for tiktok clicks and a lawsuit win.
Contrast airlines with cruiselines: weird divergent travel styles in transport from point A to point B
I don’t know what airport Karl May flies out of but I can’t imagine that there is any airport that includes every airline in which we can choose by price. It is ludicrous to say that we can just improve our flying experience by paying more. When AA is the sole carrier out of an airport, believe me, we will have the opportunity to pay the highest fare that the market will bear.
“Self Loading Cargo” is very close to describing the experience at AA. Even better would be “Self Loading Baggage” since AA obviously doesn’t care where you or your baggage ultimately arrive.
If AA cared about the premium passenger experience, their system would not put the oldest, retired in place, FA’s in the premium cabins.
The absolute best thing that AA leadership (ha) could do to improve the passenger experience would be to fly on an asian airline and see what they are missing if they even remotely believe they are providing a premium experience.
It is more difficult to complain about the FA experience right now because the FA’s believe they are under compensated and it may be understandable why they appear for their job each day in a crappy mood. However, there are no signs that improved contracts for FA’s will positively impact the passenger and I haven’t heard anything that is going to improve contact with the GA, customer service, nor any other human contact with AA personnel.
AA sucks and many of us have no choice if our job or travels must engage their services.
I fly across the Atlantic and Pacific once (RT) each year for pleasure. I am always in business and would never consider an option where my seat isn’t at the window and on the aisle. I often have European business class seats. The last time, I was the only person in the two rows of business in an E195. That was nicer than American naroowbody first class. I really wish US carriers did not put those not paying for first class in first class.
I agree with Mark Johnson about many of us, including myself, being trapped into one airline if we have to fly. I add though, AA executives do know they do not provide the level of service Asian and other international airlines provide. They simply do not care because they do not compete with those airlines domestically. All U.S. airlines are bottom dwellers, just some are carp while others rise a bit to catfish level. By controlling hubs and preventing competition from overseas airlines they do not have to provide any service. I do pay for service, purchasing First Class tickets always. As someone who has flown frequently for over 30 years, I can say First is not much better today than economy was in the 1980s and 1990s. U.S. carriers are constantly figuring out how to downgrade the experience. But that has repercussions. Due to cost and the terrible customer experience, more business is being conducted by online meeting and more people are choosing to drive for shorter trips. I much prefer to drive now on short trips where I have some control over the quality of the experience, than depend on a FA that may ignore me the whole trip even though I paid extra for a First Class seat. I know a lot of my business associates and friends are doing the same.
Title needs to be changed to ‘Airlines Outside of Asia…’ have you ONCE seen one of the major Asian Carriers do what the US and European carriers do? No… therefore, title needs to be changed.
@ jns
Until AA ruined Jet Blue. AA long knew Jet Blue was a better airline with better EVERYTHING.
So AA got rid somewhat of their competition under the guise of “working together.”
@jns. Simple explanation and one that many travelers obviously do not do . . . you manage your expectations.