Commentary

Category Archives for Commentary.

Gate Agent Joins Cheer Squad in Dance Routines During Flight Delay

spirit plane
Apr 07 2019

he flight was delayed and a brief delay becomes an extended delay. And then the team’s coach gets on the speaker and instructs the girls to dance.

A Spirit agent trying to make announcements about delays for another flight at a nearby gate was drowned out. And since the agent doesn’t make ends meet working for Spirit along, and moonlights as a nearby resort’s activities director, he knew the songs and dance moves.

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What’s the Real Policy for Tipping Airline Customer Service Employees?

hand holding hundreds of dollars in cash
Apr 06 2019

In January there was much buzz about the Frontier Airlines policy of supplementing flight attendant wages with customer tips.

Most airlines don’t permit flight attendants to accept tips, and they have mixed feelings on the subject — some simply want more money (although tipping may ultimately mean lower salaries), while others worry the emphasis would then shift from safety to service. But what about other agents you encounter at the airport?

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Why Loyalty Programs Always Disappoint You

zimbabwe currency
Apr 05 2019

Tyler Cowen’s new book coming out April 9, Big Business: A Love Letter to an American Anti-Hero contains this passage final its chapter “If business is so good, why is it so disliked?”

It’s not about loyalty programs per se, but loyalty marketing is one of the key ways that businesses attempt to trascend the transactional and make us loyal. Brand positioning, charitable giving, along with recognition and reward, can temporarily make us see the business as aligning with our values and integrating with our life. And then we’re disappointed:

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Passenger Downs 4 Bottles of Beer, Vapes E-cigarette, Punches Flight Attendant all Before His Honeymoon

easyjet
Apr 04 2019

In February a man downed 4 bottles of Stella Artois at London’s Gatwick airport before a 9 a.m. easyJet flight to Egypt for his honeymoon.

He boarded the plane smoking an e-cigarette and was told he had to stop vaping. He responded to the flight attendant’s instruction with a homophobic outburst — before “knock[ing] out one of the cabin crew..with two punches” and sending him to the ground and then proceeding to attack a second flight attendant who responded to the situation. He’ll be spending 7 months in jail, will his new spouse wait for him?

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Why Passengers are Increasingly Choosing Airlines Based on More than Just Schedule and Price

airplane seats
Apr 03 2019

It’s a fools errand for airlines like American or United to offer a lowest common denominator product. When a business produces a commodity product, the lowest cost producer wins. Spirit is at a great advantage because American and United will always have higher costs.

Given their cost structure legacy airlines need to earn a revenue premium. And customers are already beginning to make buying decisions on more than schedule and price a trend that is only going to become more pronounced as passengers are presented with information during the booking process on what to expect from their flights like seat power and high speed internet.

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