Another excellent post! I've never flown Spirit. Though I've flown Indian Airlines, British Overseas Airways Corp ("Better On A Camel"), Pan Am, TWA, American Airlines, Delta ("Gets You There - Almost," slogan around D/FW in the 1980s), Northwest Orient, Lufthansa, KLM, Air France, etc. Since roughly 9/11, for a variety of reasons that turned out to be more excuses, airlines in the US have increasingly charged more for less: less service, less comfort, less consideration, less pleasant adventure. Add to that Boeing ("The Sound of Bolts Flying Off," according to SNL), and even Airbus rush to manufacture, rush to increase profit margin, rush to not increase pay, rush to charge for jet fuel (the CHEAPEST by-product of oil refining after asphalt) even when oil prices are lower, and the experience of 'taking flight' has turned into the equivalent of herding cattle onto trucks to transport them. You're right. Nobody needs a monoply in the rude, cheap, and extra-fee category of 'air travel.' But it sure would be great for a small fly-by-night operation to return to serving 'customers' as CUSTOMERS, as in the people paying (less, maybe) for MORE, rather than less for less.
I’ve never flown Spirit. I can’t speak from personal experience. But I’m an MBA student, and we learned that it’s cheaper to retain a customer than recruit a new one. Makes sense.
Maybe champagne is a bit too much at this price point, but good customer service is a minimal request. I’d be curious about turnover and company culture. In my opinion, happy employees are at the core of solid customer service.
I think so. There are miles between managers and leaders. It’s not an easy journey to get from one end of the spectrum to the other, but there’s value in the process.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvpAVL1HMxM
"Spirit in the Sky"- Norman Greenbaum
Another excellent post! I've never flown Spirit. Though I've flown Indian Airlines, British Overseas Airways Corp ("Better On A Camel"), Pan Am, TWA, American Airlines, Delta ("Gets You There - Almost," slogan around D/FW in the 1980s), Northwest Orient, Lufthansa, KLM, Air France, etc. Since roughly 9/11, for a variety of reasons that turned out to be more excuses, airlines in the US have increasingly charged more for less: less service, less comfort, less consideration, less pleasant adventure. Add to that Boeing ("The Sound of Bolts Flying Off," according to SNL), and even Airbus rush to manufacture, rush to increase profit margin, rush to not increase pay, rush to charge for jet fuel (the CHEAPEST by-product of oil refining after asphalt) even when oil prices are lower, and the experience of 'taking flight' has turned into the equivalent of herding cattle onto trucks to transport them. You're right. Nobody needs a monoply in the rude, cheap, and extra-fee category of 'air travel.' But it sure would be great for a small fly-by-night operation to return to serving 'customers' as CUSTOMERS, as in the people paying (less, maybe) for MORE, rather than less for less.
Flown Spirit once with no choice. Wouldn't make the same mistake twice. I suspect it will fade quickly..
Funny, I just heard from an old associate who loves those cheap fares enough to put up with the rest. I'm not one of them. Thanks, James.
I’ve never flown Spirit. I can’t speak from personal experience. But I’m an MBA student, and we learned that it’s cheaper to retain a customer than recruit a new one. Makes sense.
Maybe champagne is a bit too much at this price point, but good customer service is a minimal request. I’d be curious about turnover and company culture. In my opinion, happy employees are at the core of solid customer service.
A salient point about retaining customers. I bet the same holds true for retaining employees.
I think so. There are miles between managers and leaders. It’s not an easy journey to get from one end of the spectrum to the other, but there’s value in the process.