(Thanks to AAngus Black for the tip….)
The head of the nation’s most fee-happy airline told Congress today that bringing luggage on vacation was “not essential” to travel and his airline was actually helping the poor fly by charging up to $45 to place a carry-on bag in the overhead bin. “We are certain that Spirit’s decision to unbundle services not essential to the transportation of passengers, has enabled more passengers to fly at lower cost,” said Spirit Airlines CEO Ben Baldanza. “Indeed given our low fares, it has allowed many to travel who otherwise simply could not afford to do so.”
Time was when we could delude ourselves into believing that the experience of flying from Point A to Point B was at least minimally about customer service. Let’s face it, though; air travel has never been about customer service. Not really. Traveling anywhere by air has always just barely risen above the level of a glorified cattle transport. It’s just that now airlines have stripped any pretense of customer service from the equation. No other business has the ability to hold their customers captive in the way that an airline does, so if they decide to nickel-and-dime their customers…well, whaddya gonna do, eh?
I understand that the business model is broken…but this is hardly anything new. That train left the station prior to 9.11. All 9.11 did was free airlines to openly and honestly treat their customers like cattle. Ben Baldanza’s Spirit Airlines is merely the worst and most egregious offender. While Baldanza somehow manages to spin Spirit’s pricing structure as looking out for the well-being of the proletariat, most lucid travelers simply see it as a poorly-disguised shakedown. A dollar here, five there…and pretty soon you’ve managed to squeeze your captive audience prisoner customer pretty effectively. And then you smother it in balloons and ribbons and crow about how you’re making it easier for the unwashed masses “the poor” to travel? That’s not “unbundling” your services, that’s nickel-and-diming travelers who, once they’re on your airplane, have no other option.
Then again, if you’re planning on wearing the same outfit for the duration of your trip, who needs a carry-on bag, anyway?? In that sense, 9.11 was one of the best things to happen to the airline industry. The clearly and obviously tragic aspects aside, 9.11 freed airlines to unleash their deep inner disdain for their cattle customers. Baldanza has been a pioneer in the burgeoning field of finding new and different “services” that can be “unbundled”. How long will it be before travelers will need to carry a roll of quarters when they fly, in case they want to use the restroom? How long before travelers are billed for the privilege of breathing the re-circulated air in airplane cabins? How long before sitting becomes an “unbundled” service? This all may sound silly, but Ryanair has already experimented with pay toilets and with “stand up” seating (and yes, I realize that’s an oxymoron).
Customer service really IS dead, and it has been for quite some time. If you don’t believe me, just try this simple experiment: buy an airline ticket and fly anywhere. I think you’ll change your tune by the time you reach your destination.
