Posted by: Mitch/Ralph on: October 23, 2009
I have mentioned in previous posts that companies which focus tend to do better. Case in point today is Allegiant Air. What do they do? They fly from out-of-the-way cities to desirable destinations … dirt cheap. Based in Las Vegas they fly from places like Bangor ME, (hi Joanie), Fargo, ND, Great Falls, MT and Monterey, CA [...]
Posted by: Mitch/Ralph on: October 2, 2009
In previous posts we have discussed the power of focus. We have also mentioned the need to eliminate all costs that don’t add value for your customers (Lean Thinking). Yesterday I saw a great example of both that I wanted to share. If you focus, eliminating waste is much easier. Trying to be all things to [...]
Posted by: Mitch/Ralph on: August 18, 2009
It was reported last Friday that Republic Airways had “won” the right to buy Frontier Airlines despite a lower bid than Southwest Airlines submitted. Both companies have valid strategic reasons to buy Frontier, and Southwest’s larger size allowed them to bid more … and yet they still lost. Why?
Culture trumps strategic opportunity at Southwest. They [...]
Posted by: Mitch/Ralph on: July 14, 2009
Many years ago in some of my speeches I told a story about a flight from JFK to Boston (the Pan Am Shuttle) that had landed in Hartford due to weather in Boston and been delayed four hours. The passengers were not allowed off the plane to get alternate transportation to Boston. A passenger complained [...]
Posted by: Mitch/Ralph on: June 29, 2009
I was reminded again that what gets measured gets managed and if you don’t have metrics alignment within your team, you can end up at cross purposes. In the airline industry, gate agents are measured against on-time performance. I am not really sure what flight attendants are measured on, but it is not on time [...]
Posted by: Mitch/Ralph on: May 12, 2009
A short time ago I lost part of my power adapter on an American Airlines flight. I travel with my laptop and a Targus power adapter so that when I am on a flight with seat power I can use it to avoid running out of battery power (those DVDs take a lot of juice). I carry an [...]
Posted by: Mitch/Ralph on: May 8, 2009
I witnessed something tonight that I wish was surprising or shocking. Unfortunately it wasn’t. I was sitting on my American Airlines flight from Dallas to New Orleans as they closed the cabin door a few minutes early. Nice, because that probably means we are leaving early. Suddenly a young lady jumps up and declares that [...]
Posted by: Mitch/Ralph on: March 19, 2009
Or should I say the airplane. I don’t fly US Airways very often for at least the reasons noted in a prior post. While I too commend Captain Sully and his crew for their terrific efforts, one of my goals is to never find out if the flight crew I am with is good in [...]
Posted by: Mitch/Ralph on: March 8, 2009
I write a lot about airlines because I fly a lot and they are prime examples of how to become a commodity in a market where differentiation opportunities are plentiful. However, yesterday a story came to my attention that is just too good not to share.
You may know the airlines require extremely obese people to buy [...]
Posted by: Mitch/Ralph on: March 3, 2009
The fastest way to cut customer complaints is to make it so hard or pointless to complain that they don’t bother. Research studies published several years ago suggested that only one person in 26 with a reason to complain would do so. Despite the expression “I would rather you complained to me than about me,” many [...]
