Customer Service "Downsourcing" -
Major Airlines Are Starting To See The Light
Over the past 15 years, major airline systems have increasingly subcontracted aircraft, crew time, and ground customer service handling from what some still mislabel as "regional airlines."
While these entities were once independently-branded carriers, the majority today are simply in the business of selling lift and airport services under contract to major carriers. Generally, these companies make few decisions regarding where they operate, fares charged, or schedule. For the most part, they sell no seats to the general public. They are now just "Small Lift Providers," not "regional airlines."
In effect, the business relationship isn't much different than other lease arrangements at major airlines. Delta leases aircraft from, say GECAS and ILFC, and it leases lift from Republic and SkyWest, too. The only real difference is that the latter two come with crews as well as airplanes. And increasingly, major airlines have also contracted out - "downsourced" - handling of their passengers at many airports to these SLPs, too. Where American or United once had their own people handling their passengers at Syracuse or at Charleston, today, those functions are often contracted out to one of their SLPs.
Saves lots of money. Maybe.
Cheap Customer Service Is Very Expensive. To be sure, replacing mainline, often unionized, agents and ramp people with lower-paid SLP new-hires represents an enormous reduction in cost.......
Rest of article at:
http://www.aviationplanning.com/asrc1.htm
Major Airlines Are Starting To See The Light
Over the past 15 years, major airline systems have increasingly subcontracted aircraft, crew time, and ground customer service handling from what some still mislabel as "regional airlines."
While these entities were once independently-branded carriers, the majority today are simply in the business of selling lift and airport services under contract to major carriers. Generally, these companies make few decisions regarding where they operate, fares charged, or schedule. For the most part, they sell no seats to the general public. They are now just "Small Lift Providers," not "regional airlines."
In effect, the business relationship isn't much different than other lease arrangements at major airlines. Delta leases aircraft from, say GECAS and ILFC, and it leases lift from Republic and SkyWest, too. The only real difference is that the latter two come with crews as well as airplanes. And increasingly, major airlines have also contracted out - "downsourced" - handling of their passengers at many airports to these SLPs, too. Where American or United once had their own people handling their passengers at Syracuse or at Charleston, today, those functions are often contracted out to one of their SLPs.
Saves lots of money. Maybe.
Cheap Customer Service Is Very Expensive. To be sure, replacing mainline, often unionized, agents and ramp people with lower-paid SLP new-hires represents an enormous reduction in cost.......
Rest of article at:
http://www.aviationplanning.com/asrc1.htm
