Revenue VS Customer Satisfaction: Do Airlines Get it?

A £150 in potential revenue, or a delighted customer

Flying home the other day, I managed to arrive at the airport 4 hours early due to some overly conservative traffic planning. Knowing there were two flights with the same airline departing prior to my flight I asked at the desk if there was any space on an earlier plane.

Yes, space was available and £150 would make my non-flexible ticket a little more flexible.

However, I decided instead to treat myself to a good meal and settle down somewhere with my laptop before arriving home just before midnight feeling tired, and as usual less than enamoured with the airline.

Revenue vs Customer Delight

The airline have obviously calculated that taking £150 from me now is a safer bet than their chances of selling the available seat with the extra four hours I’d allowed them by flying early. Further, perhaps the inconvenience suffered might persuade me to buy a more expensive ticket next time.

This is a reasonable bet, albeit a defensive strategy designed to maximise cash return instead of customer delight.

I left the counter feeling that the airline had been fair, but not overly helpful. To the question “How was your flight” my answer would be “Ok”, or “Terrible” in the case of additional delays, grumpy staff, irritating fellow passengers and other realities of flying.

Alternatively the airline had an opportunity for me to leave the counter with the feeling that they had been helpful, that they had my interests and comfort at heart, arriving home 4 hours early, less tired and extolling their virtues. “How was your flight?” “Excellent, they let me on the early flight and I was home early.”

Ok, an extra £150 is cash in the bank and I’m just a single customer.

But multiply this scenario over thousands of customers over many years. Given the choice, you’ll choose the airline you trust to make your journey easier. You’ll even pay a little more because you like them, and because you don’t feel like they take every opportunity to extract more of your money. When the airline is mentioned over dinner people will relate positively and not negatively. People will not try to avoid you.

The airline develops brand power, a power that can often be measured in billions of pounds and mark the difference between a firm in decline and a firm with prospects. The difference between the airline of choice and the airline of no choice. The difference between profit and loss.

Undoubtedly the airline have calculated all of this as well. However, looking at the industry I would argue that a number of airlines have gotten their sums badly wrong..

Photo courtesy of diamond geezer via Flickr under a Creative Commons Licence