When Profit and Service Collide
Flying was once an adventure, an exciting experience that took you to far flung places in relative comfort. That comfort now comes with a price, a hefty one.
The price of your ticket, for most airlines, now only includes the seat you sit in. Virtually anything and everything else, costs money. These ancillary costs (costs other than the ticket itself) are what are helping airlines stay in business. Yes, they are recording profits, but only because they are able to charge for things they used to give away for free.
Unfortunately for flyers, this has coincided with efforts to squeeze (literally) more and more people onto aircrafts in order to continue to offset the ever increasing costs of running an airline.
Now, not only do you have to pay a la carte for everything, but if you want to actually be comfortable during your flight you need to upgrade to economy plus, or business class or first class. Otherwise, you will find yourself with the person in front of you in your lap making it virtually impossible to even read a book, much less work on an electronic device.
So, if you can afford it, flying can still be a pleasurable experience, once you make it past the shuttle bus queues, ticket lines, security checks, and boarding cattle call; but it will come with a hefty price tag.
The sad part is that for those who need to fly there is no alternative. No other method of transportation can get you there as quickly and in some cases not at all. You have to fly, and if you have to fly on a budget, you have no choice but to take it.
However, remember the one thing that’s constant? Change.
Every industry, every business, at some point or another, changes. Sometimes quickly, other times more slowly, but at some point, new technologies, new innovations, new advances create a shift and businesses who seemed destined to last ‘forever’ suddenly find themselves scrambling to keep up or go away all together.
Never have the customers of airlines been treated so poorly and with a complete disregard for their needs. Complaints are rampant and yet nothing changes for the consumer. The airlines hold all the cards… for now.
When the time comes. When something, someone, or something comes along and that ‘shift’ happens, remember the profits you’re making now Airlines… remember the lack of customer service you are providing now. Don’t be surprised when those same customers leave you in droves when the shift occurs.
For the very few Airlines who try to buck the trend, who find creative ways to help all their customers enjoy their flights; who continually strive to build more comfortable planes, run their business so that they don’t charge more than absolutely necessary to stay in business and believe that flying should still be an adventure, changes are you won’t see the same exodus of loyalty.
Not simply because of your focus on profit with customer service rather than at the expense of it, but because your innovation and drive will likely be the ones who create the shift in the first place.
Lisa Lee is the author of “The Heart of Teaching.“
Lisa is a 35-year veteran educator with the honors of being named “Teacher of the Year” in DeKalb County, Georgia (2007) and Runner-Up “Teacher of the Year” for Colorado (2017). Over the years, Lisa Lee has taught in Georgia and Colorado elementary, middle, and high school classrooms, with a specialization in Gifted and Talented and a focus on the students who don’t always fit in a box.
An experienced TEDx speaker, Lisa embraces the TEDx platform as a gateway to deliver her messages of connection and relationship building that she so strongly believes in.
Her personal life philosophy is that “We’re put here on the planet to make life better for others. Period.” This belief is the foundation of her messaging in that making connections with others and building community can change lives.
Lisa lives in the Denver, CO area with her wife, 2 grandtwins, and her dog Rosa Barks.
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The Heart of Teaching
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