Flight attendants may be given detail on an airline’s food. They rarely pay it much mind, and I usually get blank stares and shrugs when I ask something about a dish before I order it. So I’ve learned not to ask.
In addition to mini bottles of water at my seat when I boarded Alaska’s Austin – Portland flight recently there were printed menus. This was a dinner flight.
Not only did I get a description of the dishes I could choose from, I didn’t have to ask the flight attendant what the wines were. If I ask I usually get another blank stare, “red and white” or sometimes if I’m lucky they will show me the bottle.
I had the chicken, the flight attendant served the sauce on the side still in the foil ramekin because she was afraid it might be too spicy. It wasn’t, not even close, but I suppose some travelers prefer bland food. The chicken was juicy and perfectly cooked, and with the sauce quite excellent!
On the way out of Portland I flew Delta to Salt Lake City. That flight is just over 600 miles, so no meal. But the Airbus A321 had 20 first class seats (I don’t like the seat pitch, but American Airlines has a project to actively eliminate their advantage here).
The flight had seat back video, and pillows, blankets and mini-bottles of water pre-positioned up front prior to boarding. Full predeparture beverage service was offered.
Pillow, blanket, water bottle and seat back video on a 750 mile flight. Toto this isn't @AmericanAir anymore. pic.twitter.com/ctfGvBAX1n
— gary leff (@garyleff) August 23, 2018
Everyone was encouraged to take multiple items from the snack basket, with the flight attendant making sure passengers knew she had more than one basket so supply wasn’t limited.
My quick visit to the Delta Club on my connection was aesthetically a disappointment, it was overrun and there weren’t enough seats or outlets. But there was food, including mac and cheese with toppings and a salad bar.
My connecting flight was delayed, and the delay extended because – according to our captain – there were numerous mechanical issues in Salt Lake that day, their teams were stretched thin, and we only had one person dispatched to work on our aircraft.
Nonetheless updates were frequent. Flight attendants were cheerful and helpful to everyone on board. I was disappointed not to be getting home earlier, and I had questioned my decision to connect in Salt Lake in the first place just because there aren’t many backup options to get to Austin if things go south. But pleasant crew made the wait much better.
Tiffany from One Mile at a Time offered this observation:
Was asked on a panel recently what the one thing is I learned this year that I wish I'd known sooner — honest answer was that the domestic flying experience doesn't *have* to be a miserable slog, and I wish I'd left AA sooner.
— Tiffany Funk (@tebfunk) August 23, 2018
For all my frustrations with Delta’s CEO, he says in the airline’s safety video that details matter and they do.
Alaska and Delta both pleasantly surprised me, though it’s not my first or even second time flying either carrier over the past year. Of course I wish I lived in a market where JetBlue offered Mint. (I’m just glad their Austin – New York JFK flight has been upgauged to mainline.) I’ll rarely ever fly anything better than this domestically.
It is pretty amazing how American and United have completely destroyed their value by not differentiating at all in their domestic service. The only thing I can think of is American’s first class seats on their A321 service JFK/LAX/SFO.
And the stock market has priced all of this in. Market caps:
Delta- $40 Billion
Southwest- $35 Billion
United- $23 Billion
American- $18 Billion
Gary, what you have described re Alaska Air is called “COMPETITION.” Hats off to Alaska to level their playing field by acknowledging the importance of marketing, to successfully position and differentiate their particular brand between the dominant legacy US3 and the plethora of discounters. The authors on this topic, Ries & Trout, would be proud of Alaska.
Delta at least is at the head of its herd; yet, AA and UA will never catch-up until their own C-Suites are swept out the door.
Your story should be read at Amtrak’s HQ, where their current C-Suite are hellbent on a race to the bottom, disrupting and destroying every service aspect that made long distance train travel pleasant and unique. What a shock it will be for someone coming off F Class on the Acela Express to take a train to from NYC or Washington to Chicago, or, to Tampa–with no dining car. (that’s just for starts). Trains with diners persistently experience stock-outs and inadequate items for passengers, e.g., towels, soap, etc. Of course, what passes for a lounge car these days provides an attendant untrained in crafting cocktails; also not properly supplied with the requisite liquors, mixers, condiments, or equipment. When you are a SOE (State Owned Enterprise), who needs to be concerned with Customer Experience–and revenues?
Way to go Alaska. Unlimited snacks. Do you think you’re Jetblue? Haha.
@Gary
My question is did LSG Sky Chefs cater that flight out of AUS or was it double catered by PDX? Seems as though there is a higher risk of a delay when you receive catering in AUS.