There's lot of buzz in the industry about customer satisfaction these days. The extreme cases are things like Kevin Smith being pulled off a Southwest flight for being too fat. I've never seen Mr. Kevin Smith in person, so I can't really say one way or another. I'm not a fan of his movies, but I don't think I'd have kicked him off the plane. I just don't see his movies.
However, I began to take more note of people around airports when they are unhappy. Every time I go to work, I ride on a plane. All day when I am at work, I am around airplanes and those that are riding on them. Every time I go home, I ride on an airplane. Things go pretty well most of the time. But, the design of the air transport system itself is not very robust. There are an incredible amount of variables, and most of them are interdependent. What does this mean? It means that if one part of the system falls apart, then a lot of other things are affected. Think Jenga, near the end of the game. This is especially true with all the harsh winter weather systems the US has been experiencing the last few months.
Most people tend to take these things in stride. They understand that shit happens and getting to your destination safely is more important that getting there on time. If you rush things with "on time" being more important than safety you might end up in a fireball on the ground. You'll be on time, but you'll be on fire. Or dead. Or both. Well, I guess there's no reason to worry about that meeting you were going to. Or anything else for that matter. Hell, you're dead! You won't even have to help clean this mess up!
What I've had a hard time understanding is those few people that, when in this situation of delays and cancellations, really blow a gasket. Now, I'm not saying that you are totally out of line for such a gasket blowing, I am just wondering where you meet a guy with a name like "gasket." Aaaaaanyways...
There are indeed some people that just fly off the handle when something goes less than perfect with their air travel plans. It's just not practical to have these expectations and then build the rest of your personal schedule around that. However, I think this flaw in passenger perceptions is one created and fueled by the advertisement industry. Every time you get on a flight you're told about "on time this" and "on time that..." Over and over. Every commercial you see on TV is never one that shows a long line at security. It never shows a newly GED'd TSA person rifling through your underwear because they felt like it. It never shows a delay. Never shows an aircraft swap. Everything is all wonderful and great in the advertising world. Who in the hell are these people that make this shit up and what are they on???
It would be a far better idea to be honest in advertising. Think about it! "Hey, welcome to PilotStig Airways. In the last 5 years, we've run about 10mins late on most of our flights. However, we haven't crashed a single damn plane! Thanks for joining us!" Let's compare that to XYZ Airline... "Ladies and Gentleman, welcome aboard XYZ Flight 1234 with service to New York LaGuardia. It's our pleasure having you on board and we hope you enjoy your flight. We are expecting an on time departure. Please think of us again when booking your next air travel experience. Here at XYZ, the most on time airline, we value your safety and comfort. Thank you for choosing to fly with us. Last year, we only crashed 2 aircraft. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight to LaGuardia."
Which company would you chose based on those two cabin announcements?
The fact is, flights get delayed and/or canceled for a lot of reasons. Weather is a common one. Mechanical problems are another. But think about it... you're buying a ticket on an airplane. You are trying to get from A to B. That's it. Transportation. That is the product that you are purchasing. Maybe it works as expected and maybe there are some let downs. Not too different then many other products you buy. Let's say, you don't like the product the airlines have to offer and you want another one. The automobile has been a phenomenal invention. It's staggering to think how much of an impact the automobile has had on the human race. How many people out there drive to work? Or drive to the store? Raise your hands. I thought so.
Driving has its issues as well. Lets say you're trying to get from Dallas to New York City. That drive will take a loooooong damn time. If you had bought an airline ticket, you will get there in one day, and spend a day there, then come home then next. 3 days. If you drive, you will be looking at at 2 days each way... 4 days in transit to spend the same 1 day in NYC. That's 5 days total for this trip, versus 3.
Airline travel is very cheap for long distances. Don't buy that? Lets just run through an example. DFW to JFK. Google Maps shows that drive taking 25 hours, covering 1,588 miles. Let's assume you drive a car that gets 24MPG. Why did I chose that number? Because I always value the word of 1980s football players when choosing what car to purchase for my family, that's why! Howie Long keeps running his pie-hole about how great the Chevy Traverse is, while cashing a very large check from GM for doing so. So, for travel time, we're now looking at 4 days of driving with 2 nights hotel stay in, say Knoxville, TN. (roughly 1/2 way) Lets look at some costs:
Gas:
1,588 miles / 24MPG = 66.16 gal @ $2.66/gal = $176.03(one way)
Hotel:
2 nights @ $100/night = $200.00
Food:
Oooooh, lets go on Rachel Ray's $40 a day for 4 days travel = $160
Oil:
You're driving 3176 miles round trip, time for an oil change! $38
What are we looking at here? $750.06 Not to mention 25 hours of your life that you will spend in a car, and never get back.
Let's say we need to do this trip next week. Prices for some airlines with taxes included are:
American: $372
Delta: $388
US Air: $389
Continental: $394
I think people default to the "I'll just drive" argument because they feel that is an option that will put them more in control. They are behind the wheel. They can go when they want, stop when they want, so on and so forth... And that's a fair point. Doesn't get you there any faster, but that sense of being in control of your own destiny does have some value to it. When you are one little part of the airline travel experience, you are one of several million passengers traveling. Not everyone can be treated like royalty.
Let's consider a different angle. When was the last time you took a long road trip? Did you hit any traffic? Did that slow you down? Did you ever miss an exit? Did you ever get lost? Have you ever had a flat tire? Did that delay your arrival time? Did you ever pull over to a gas stop and look around for something to eat, but never find anything all that good. If you did find something good to eat, did you ever stand in line for a long time trying to pay for it? Ever had shitty coffee at a gas station? One this is for sure. The bathrooms are a LOT bigger than in airplanes.
My point is, all modes of travel for long distances have their short falls. They all have their costs as well. Airlines are a steal when you are flying a distance such as the scenario we ran through here. Even with checked bag fees. You are paying very little for the service of air transportation, so keep your expectations low and take lots of deep breaths. Getting there at all is indeed more important that making damn sure the flight isn't running a single minute late.
Keep in mind also that your ticket price is paying for the multi million dollar CEO salaries. Not to mention all those bonuses, too. Also keep in mind that whats left of your ticket price after the CEOs take their cut is what pays for the aircraft, Jet A, maintenance personnel and the flight attendant and pilot salaries.
And people act shocked that a regional first officer makes less than $20,000 their first year? Please...
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Middle seat discount
I had a commute flight aboard an Airbus A319 recently. When I got my boarding pass, I saw my seat. 19E. The 19 didn't bother me. It was the E that made me feel as if I ate some bad fish. I'd be occupying the dreaded middle seat and the flight was quite full. What's more... this flight was going to be over 2 hours in duration. *sigh*
I was one of the last ones to get on, yet somehow I was able to nickel and dime enough space here and there to get my rollaboard and flight case stowed in separate locations throughout the cabin. Not ideal, but it works. I actually think it's an acquired skill. There should be a small course offered by airlines to help passengers learn, at a minimum, the basics of this skill. Even an online course would suffice. Have you ever seen a person by themselves, sitting in their seat with nothing at their feet or in their laps, yet over their heads is a HUGE DOWN JACKET taking up 2 or 3 rows worth of overhead space? These are the people that should be required to take this course prior to being allowed to purchase a ticket. If they won't take the course, they can't purchase a ticket.
When I got back to my row, I noticed that the man in the window seat was already there, but the isle seat, 19D was still open. Now, I'm not a religious or spiritual man, however, as I settled into my middle seat and fished out my seatbelt, I was hoping and praying that the person slated for 19D would be a no-show.
The wait was torture. The minutes became hours. The seat remained open. A few sparse passengers were still trickling into the cabin. They all kept taking seats before getting back to row 19. I dearly wanted to hear, "Ladies and gentleman, the forward boarding door has been closed..." I wanted to hear this more than I wanted to take my next breath. I just kept pretending to hear the closing and latching sounds of the boarding door, over and over. I didn't realize it, but my eyes were closed I was concentrating so hard.
*FLUMP!* My eyes snap open to the sound of a carry-on bag being plopped down in the seat next to me. I look to my left... He made it. Oh joy...
There was no overhead space left, so the flight attendants had to gate check his bag. As he settled in, he tried to make pleasant small talk about how he barely made the flight... I did my best to remain professional and cordial as visions of him being hit by an electric cart as he ran through the terminal filled my head.
I had actually forgotten just how shitty it can be to spend a multi-hour flight in the middle seat, between to other fully grown men. "Uncomfortable" doesn't really sum it up. Sure it's not comfortable, but there isn't even enough room to do anything to take your mind off the discomfort. I tried to work on a crossword, but it wasn't long before I maxed out on my knowledge, getting about 10 of the clues. Defeated, I stuck the crossword in the seat back pocket.
As we took to the air with 4 man-knees touching, I tried to drift off to sleep. I got a few head bobs. I tried to turn my head one way or another. Just didn't work well. Somehow, I managed to actually get a few bits of sleep and I survived the flight. My back was actually a little sore when I got off the plane. My neck was stiff, too. This is when I had an idea.
No airline is going to change the standard cabin seating layout. Just won't happen. When profit is your number one concern, you aren't going to put less seats in an aircraft. You're not going to spend money paying maintenance personnel to take the seats out either. I propose instead, on the premise of customer service, if you fly in a middle seat, with a person on either side of you, 50% of your ticket price should be refunded. There is just no reason that your experience should cost full price. However, if you knew you were getting 1/2 of your ticket price back, you'd feel like you were getting something back for your discomfort.
I think it's worth a shot.
I was one of the last ones to get on, yet somehow I was able to nickel and dime enough space here and there to get my rollaboard and flight case stowed in separate locations throughout the cabin. Not ideal, but it works. I actually think it's an acquired skill. There should be a small course offered by airlines to help passengers learn, at a minimum, the basics of this skill. Even an online course would suffice. Have you ever seen a person by themselves, sitting in their seat with nothing at their feet or in their laps, yet over their heads is a HUGE DOWN JACKET taking up 2 or 3 rows worth of overhead space? These are the people that should be required to take this course prior to being allowed to purchase a ticket. If they won't take the course, they can't purchase a ticket.
When I got back to my row, I noticed that the man in the window seat was already there, but the isle seat, 19D was still open. Now, I'm not a religious or spiritual man, however, as I settled into my middle seat and fished out my seatbelt, I was hoping and praying that the person slated for 19D would be a no-show.
The wait was torture. The minutes became hours. The seat remained open. A few sparse passengers were still trickling into the cabin. They all kept taking seats before getting back to row 19. I dearly wanted to hear, "Ladies and gentleman, the forward boarding door has been closed..." I wanted to hear this more than I wanted to take my next breath. I just kept pretending to hear the closing and latching sounds of the boarding door, over and over. I didn't realize it, but my eyes were closed I was concentrating so hard.
*FLUMP!* My eyes snap open to the sound of a carry-on bag being plopped down in the seat next to me. I look to my left... He made it. Oh joy...
There was no overhead space left, so the flight attendants had to gate check his bag. As he settled in, he tried to make pleasant small talk about how he barely made the flight... I did my best to remain professional and cordial as visions of him being hit by an electric cart as he ran through the terminal filled my head.
I had actually forgotten just how shitty it can be to spend a multi-hour flight in the middle seat, between to other fully grown men. "Uncomfortable" doesn't really sum it up. Sure it's not comfortable, but there isn't even enough room to do anything to take your mind off the discomfort. I tried to work on a crossword, but it wasn't long before I maxed out on my knowledge, getting about 10 of the clues. Defeated, I stuck the crossword in the seat back pocket.
As we took to the air with 4 man-knees touching, I tried to drift off to sleep. I got a few head bobs. I tried to turn my head one way or another. Just didn't work well. Somehow, I managed to actually get a few bits of sleep and I survived the flight. My back was actually a little sore when I got off the plane. My neck was stiff, too. This is when I had an idea.
No airline is going to change the standard cabin seating layout. Just won't happen. When profit is your number one concern, you aren't going to put less seats in an aircraft. You're not going to spend money paying maintenance personnel to take the seats out either. I propose instead, on the premise of customer service, if you fly in a middle seat, with a person on either side of you, 50% of your ticket price should be refunded. There is just no reason that your experience should cost full price. However, if you knew you were getting 1/2 of your ticket price back, you'd feel like you were getting something back for your discomfort.
I think it's worth a shot.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Replacing pilots with computers?
One of the notions that has been tossed around for a long time now is the idea of replacing pilots all together with computers. I know the airlines would LOVE this since computers don't need rest, paychecks, retirement, or health insurance. Ahem... Skywest... Sure, you have to buy it and maintain it, but I'm sure they can find someone to build the computers for less than they pay flight crews.
The primary reason talked about with this idea is safety. Now, I'm all for safety and it is generally believed that half of all airplane crashes are due to pilot error. OK, fair point. So, the idea is that if you replace the pilots, you will then reduce the number of aircraft accidents by half. Sounds great! After all, even a single aircraft crash is too many. I think we'd all love to find a way to halve the number of airplane crashes.
However, replacing the pilots will NOT halve the number of crashes. You might be indeed removing pilot error, however, there's something HUGE that is being ignored with this idea. Everyday, countless auto-pilot errors are caught and handled by real live pilots who fly airplanes for a living. I couldn't tell you how many times when everything is going along fine, then the computer decides to do something retarded. It's the pilot's job to catch that error and fix it, or even take over and manually fly the aircraft should there be a threat to safety. This happens a lot more than you might expect.
Is it scary? No, not really. That is our job. We see these computers day in and day out. It's our job to take over from the auto pilot when it doesn't do what we are wanting it to do. I would imagine that most pilots reading this who fly "glass" cockpit aircraft are saying, "Yeah, I can never turn my back on that damn thing!"
For the record, "Automation" is a word that is very much misunderstood in a flightdeck sense. I'm currently working on a post called "What is an auto-pilot, anyways?" The short of it is, the computer doesn't just take over and do everything while the pilots work on their laptops. Auto-pilots do serve as a great work reduction tool, but they are not what most people think they are. Think about it this way: Cruise control is a nice feature in your car, right? However, when you turn on, do you just hop in the back seat and take a nap while the car drives itself to your destination?
The day I will support a fully autonomous airliner carrying passengers is when the inaugural flight is filled exclusively with airline CEOs, Vice Presidents, and Chief Pilots. That's what I call a win win. If the technology is truly up for the job, they should have no problem getting on the plane themselves to demonstrate their trust in it. And, if it's not up the job, well, the industry will be better off.
The primary reason talked about with this idea is safety. Now, I'm all for safety and it is generally believed that half of all airplane crashes are due to pilot error. OK, fair point. So, the idea is that if you replace the pilots, you will then reduce the number of aircraft accidents by half. Sounds great! After all, even a single aircraft crash is too many. I think we'd all love to find a way to halve the number of airplane crashes.
However, replacing the pilots will NOT halve the number of crashes. You might be indeed removing pilot error, however, there's something HUGE that is being ignored with this idea. Everyday, countless auto-pilot errors are caught and handled by real live pilots who fly airplanes for a living. I couldn't tell you how many times when everything is going along fine, then the computer decides to do something retarded. It's the pilot's job to catch that error and fix it, or even take over and manually fly the aircraft should there be a threat to safety. This happens a lot more than you might expect.
Is it scary? No, not really. That is our job. We see these computers day in and day out. It's our job to take over from the auto pilot when it doesn't do what we are wanting it to do. I would imagine that most pilots reading this who fly "glass" cockpit aircraft are saying, "Yeah, I can never turn my back on that damn thing!"
For the record, "Automation" is a word that is very much misunderstood in a flightdeck sense. I'm currently working on a post called "What is an auto-pilot, anyways?" The short of it is, the computer doesn't just take over and do everything while the pilots work on their laptops. Auto-pilots do serve as a great work reduction tool, but they are not what most people think they are. Think about it this way: Cruise control is a nice feature in your car, right? However, when you turn on, do you just hop in the back seat and take a nap while the car drives itself to your destination?
The day I will support a fully autonomous airliner carrying passengers is when the inaugural flight is filled exclusively with airline CEOs, Vice Presidents, and Chief Pilots. That's what I call a win win. If the technology is truly up for the job, they should have no problem getting on the plane themselves to demonstrate their trust in it. And, if it's not up the job, well, the industry will be better off.
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