As a regular flier around the world, I would always experience the mental shock of coming down the levels as I transited from my Singapore Airlines flight, on to a domestic US carrier. It did not matter whether it was American, Continental, Delta, United, or US Airways, it did not matter if the transition was from economy to economy, or from Business class to domestic First class, it was a always a jarring, thud of a drop. Never mind that I was probably the only person in the domestic First class who had actually paid a First class fare, compared to my upgraded cabin mates.
In my life, with over a million flown miles on Singapore Airlines, and the highest level of frequent flier (Solitaire PPS) achieved after 5 continuous years of loyalty, I have been upgraded only once.
I am not complaining. It was this fanatical devotion to non-dilution of their premium classes, and slavish offering of the best customer service, that put the premium classes of foreign airlines like Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Etihad, Singapore Air, Virgin Atlantic, and others, way way above, their full service "cheap" US carriers, even on international routes.
The US "full service" carriers led the world in, to the glamorous world of air travel, and also in, to the decline of mediocrity, with their generally poor service, all the way from the reservation till baggage collection, or in many a case, attempted baggage collection. Distributing free class upgrades like candy, only lowered the quality of service in the premium classes, and with it, brand equity, even further.
Twice, I have faced drinking water rationing on an international flight, both with a US carrier, both in Business or First class. Once with United ex Heathrow to JFK, and once on Delta from LAX to Tokyo. 8 or 10 hours with one small bottle of water ?!?! Why ? The catering department forget to load enough water!!!! Compare this with Emirates which offers its First class passengers showers on-board its Airbus A380.
Global road warriors will agree that Emirates and Singapore Airlines are the two airlines which epitomise the highest levels of commercial aviation passenger comfort and customer focus, in all classes. If Emirates is the King of full service carriers, Singapore Airlines is surely the Queen.
Photo by : Lianhe Zaobao
I was shocked to read, the queen has decided to move its guests out from her full service 5 star palace. On November 4, Singapore Airlines announced it has decided to start charging passengers a US$50 surcharge for confirmed exit row seats in economy class. On the same date the same airline also announced it was lowering its fuel surcharges.
This follows most US airlines deciding to charge for "options" like check-in baggage, flight attendants are resisting US Airways' moves to charge for soft drinks, US Airways even charges for pillows and blankets. What aspect of these airlines' actions would even remotely, make us consider them "full service" ? "Full dis-service" may be.
Many of us have seen this spoof of an airline announcement by MAD TV. In 2007 we all laughed at the ludicrousness of this announcement. No more.
In India, in their quest to show low "airfares", airlines have taken "componentisation" of the total fare to extremes. Basic airfare, fuel surcharge, congestion surcharge, transaction fee, and the list goes on. Gentlemen, we know our basic math, and can total up all the charges. Treat us as adults.
Coming back to Singapore Airlines. Previously, the economy class exit rows were normally occupied by the Krisflyer members. At a time when company budgets are shrinking and executives are required to fly economy, the additional legroom of an exit seat is one of the soft perks the loyal, but harried traveller, can look forward to.
With only 2 to 8 seats per flight, even Singapore Airlines' spokesman Stephen Forshaw will agree, it is not a revenue raiser. My question to CEO Cheong Choong Kong, why risk the alienating your passengers by this move ?
There could be logic in this move, but customer perceptions do not follow logic. Either you are a "5 Star" airline or you are not.
3 comments
Good analysis Devesh. I'd have personally expected SIA to be the last airline to do that. Every little move like this can have a multiplier effect on the brand perception of the airline. SIA certainly doesn't want to be perceived as being in the same bucket as the "cheap" US airlines.
In my recent brand analysis of SIA, I had concerns about the consistency of their product quality, but their service held up.
I'm not sure how much bad buzz this latest move is going to create - but certainly doesn't look like a sound move right now.
Hi Devesh, I was surprised to hear this about SIA, shocked actually!
Airlines have been treating the average passenger as if he has no brain for way too long. I think it is time that they recognized that people are able to tell the difference between the cost of the ticket, surcharge, tax, congestion etc. What's interesting is that even a couple of friends who work with private airlines seem to think that everything other than the ticket price is "taxes"! When I first heard this from a senior executive at Jet, I tried to point out the fallacy, but to no avail. She insisted that it was "taxes". Anyway, I have given up explaining to airline executives the fundamental flaws that they make in handling customers.
Cheers to you for this very exciting blog.
Nimish
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