FlightChic
Veteran
- Feb 18, 2007
- 954
- 0
You promised you wouldn't tell anyone!
Fuel Expense Isn't The Crisis
Michael J. Boyd 06.03.08, Forbes.com
Here's some heresy. The airline industry's real problems are not fuel-based. Just parking airplanes, reducing capacity and dropping suddenly-unprofitable routes only make a dysfunctional airline system a little smaller. That's because most carriers have ignored controlling the No. 1 cost metric in the scheduled airline business: minutes.
Yes, minutes. That's the No. 1 resource and the No. 1 cost driver in every airline operation. They are the baseline airline metric. Cut minutes. Cut costs. It's that simple. Everything is driven by how airlines use minutes. Maintenance costs. Labor costs. Fuel utilization. Customer service. Revenue. How an airline structures itself to use minutes can be the determinant if it makes money or just produces red ink. High fuel costs have only made this more obvious.
But minute-management is totally ignored in many aspects of the business. Any frequent traveler can see it, if he looks. Some airlines will protest, "We look at all aspects of our operations on an ongoing basis." Sure they do. About as effectively as Ray Charles directing traffic.
Too often, airlines operate on the basis of just moving airplanes, which is not the business they're in. They are in the business of moving human passengers from Point A to Point B, often with an intermediate connecting point in between. Airplanes really don't care when or how they get someplace. Passengers do. And that means a need for total worship of the value of minutes.
Yes.Is the industry saying that by shrinking overall capacity they can drive the lowest fare higher?
I think WN's load factors are generally less than most other airlines'.So WHY record load factors even on SWA?
Not quite. Paradoxically, DL employees are doing quite well precisely because of unions - at other airlines. If other airlines were not unionized, DL employees would be seeing much worse compensation and terms of employment.Just look at Delta. They are doing quite well without a union.
"Is the industry saying that by shrinking overall capacity they can drive the lowest fare higher?
Yes.
I think WN's load factors are generally less than most other airlines'.
Just seen on www.justplanenews.com an article via the arizonacentral newspaper that US is said to be considering selling sodas for $3.00 and pillows and blankets at $5.00 a piece. Now i dont know but I think $3.00 for soda might be steep but then again this is the sandcastle with the stooges at the wheel we're talking about!
Is there any way we could get our hands on literature besides Attache or Skymall for the pax to read? A few people magazines, sports illustrated, US weekly, Time? I bet pax would pay for reading material, $5 each.......or we could lend them noise canceling headsets for a fee......why just pillows and blankets? I cant tell you how many times I forgot reading material and had to read the IS Airways magazine the 8th time in a row....
Perhaps we could just remove the galleys and replace them with vending machines.
Here is an idea for you Tempe. How about you just raise the fares $1.00, that would more than cover the .50 cents the soda costs. Plus there would be .50 cents profit on each and every ticket. Then you would not be seen as nickel and diming all of our customers. You know the same customers you may actually want to purchase another ticket in the future.
Boneheads!
That sure would be easier on us! Then they wouldn't even need flight attendants! Oh Wait. I forgot. We're not there to serve food and drinks. We're on the airplane because we are trained safety professionals! Not doing a beverage service will allow us more time to read about and discuss safety related issues with our colleagues.