I was interested in a story at CNNMoney.com today … Airlines still in upheaval, 5 years after 9/11. If you’ve flown lately you’ll like agree to the upheaval part of that story. I for one… do not agree it’s related to 9/11. Otherwise you’d have to agree with the fact that airlines were a booming business … enjoyed by most customers … long before the terror attack. 
No way folks…. Airline lags have are more related to inattention to their fliers than to aftermath of 9/11. No questions though the terror attack likely sped up the financial crashes that airlines would have faced … even without any attack.
According to Chris Isidore … CNNMoney.com senior writer … “What's not quite as clear is how much the changes that have shaken the major airlines since 2001 are due to 9/11, and how many would have been seen anyway due to broader economic and competitive issues totally separate from the attack.”
It’s five years after the Sept. 11 strike of horror, and the nation's airline industry is still well below altitude, even with more passengers risking further acts of terrorism and still waiting for the kind of service they should be buying with their tickets.
Did you know that a record 738 million airline passengers flew in 2005, and according to Isidore that figure is up 10 percent from the previous record set in 2000.
While it’s true that American Airlines (Charts), Delta Air Lines (Charts), United (Charts), Continental (Charts), Northwest (Charts) and US Airways (Charts), competed with new lower-cost competitors entering their markets, and while fuel prices soared over the last five years … it’s service and poor ratings that hold back this industry.
Here are a few brain based tactics that could lift air industries above their failing marks with customers and with their banks:
1. Emphasize service! Passengers now see more choices and lower fares on many routes … show and deliver quality service that sends them to yours.
2. Compete with low-cost carriers because the trend is here to stay. Customers like it. Instead offer and deliver service that show them they get their money’s worth with your airline.
3. Stop blaming lower-fare carriers and higher fuel costs for the poor service you offer and work on extraordinary community building among your employees and fliers – the kind that will increase our loyalty.
4. Prevent lost bags -- this ongoing poor service returns in lost revenue and lost sympathy from your customers. Lost bags cost your industry and your fliers! I’ve had bags flown to distant cities without me ... several times and in some cases had to speak at major conferences without any materials.
Airlines were weak financially long before the attacks – and for many of the same reasons … they are still weak financially. Isidore pointed out that …”Two of the largest carriers -- Delta and Northwest -- are operating under bankruptcy protection, and two others -- United Airlines and US Airways, have flown in and out of bankruptcy court, with US Air making the trip twice before it was purchased by a smaller rival.”
Too often this industry depends on tax payer’s handouts to pull them out of the red … while they misuse public funds and keep passengers seeing red.... A reversal could lift the industry far beyond it’s grounded positions before the attack … all with a few brain based tactics that would return serotonin bound customers for a flight back with their renewed fliers. can you imagine this boost to the industry!
Comment Preview