The Collapse of the Airline?

[Grendel]

Slack maintenance grounds thousands (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/10/AR2008041000991.html) of flights, crushing fuel prices prompt ballooning fees (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/08/AR2008040803667.html)...how much can what is arguably the worst customer service industry in the world stand?

The average person will not continue to pay ever-increasing prices for ever-deteriorating experiences (e.g. airlines refusing to refund their new baggage check fees when they lose or otherwise mishandle your bags).

Can airlines survive with business customers shouldering a greater and greater proportion of their revenue base? And, how long before businesses turn to technology to avoid travel and sell it to their formerly face-to-face customers by pointing out how much money it's saving them?

[toxicangel19]

Slack maintenance grounds thousands (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/10/AR2008041000991.html) of flights, crushing fuel prices prompt ballooning fees (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/08/AR2008040803667.html)...how much can what is arguably the worst customer service industry in the world stand?

The average person will not continue to pay ever-increasing prices for ever-deteriorating experiences (e.g. airlines refusing to refund their new baggage check fees when they lose or otherwise mishandle your bags).

Can airlines survive with business customers shouldering a greater and greater proportion of their revenue base? And, how long before businesses turn to technology to avoid travel and sell it to their formerly face-to-face customers by pointing out how much money it's saving them?


this is why i drive folks.......
i think eventually it will turn into nothing and really its the airlines fault for not taking control of the situation sooner and not looking into everything...sometimes the things you consider small turn out to be major problems in the long run.

[Lucio Argento]

Airlines are collapsing rapidly. Several smaller airlines have already crumbled under the weight of increasing fuel prices. Now we got thousands of flight delays and cancellations. There will be more as well. This doesn't bode very well at all.

[Grendel]

Airlines are collapsing rapidly. Several smaller airlines have already crumbled under the weight of increasing fuel prices. Now we got thousands of flight delays and cancellations. There will be more as well. This doesn't bode very well at all.But could it bode well, though, in forcing the development of a functional business model in the economy we're facing, now?

[Lucio Argento]

That's a good point. It does send a message to the airlines, so maybe they will start to change their business model. Big companies tend to be stubborn when it comes to change though, so it might take a little while before we actually see these changes.

[BooBerry]

I hate to think about all this because I love traveling and I know what a bitch it is when you're sitting in an airport for hours, even overnight, and just want to get home and you can't.

Was actually planning a couple months back a trip to Hawaii and now look at all those Hawaiian airlines that just bit the dust. Glad I don't plan too much in advance otherwise I'd be screwed.

[H78]

I understand the overall point of this thread, but its title is just silly. Airplanes aren't going anywhere, they're just as necessary as the internet when it comes to corporate America.

However, I do agree the average person may struggle to afford purchasing tickets for personal matters if the fuel market doesn't improve.

Big Oil's ignorance needs to be stopped, and now. I seriously think government intervention is necessary at this point, no matter what constitutional rights may be violated in the process. Something needs to be done to limit corporations monopolizing the current economic and social structure of our country.

And no, I'm not a communist, I just believe at some point government regulation needs to be set if it's in the best interest of the vast majority of the American population.

[Grendel]

I understand the overall point of this thread, but its title is just silly. Airplanes aren't going anywhere, they're just as necessary as the internet when it comes to corporate America.Perhaps I should've been more specific. Clearly, the issue is the commercial airline industry, not planes, themselves.

As to your second point about necessity, I have to disagree. While, in the current state of affairs that's true, that's in large part simply out of custom or that "it's always been done that way." (The worst reason in the world for anything, if you ask me).

The internet and other communication resources are precisely what can free corporate America from the reliance it has on air travel. A lot of companies like facetime because it makes them feel important, not because it's actually an effective way to get things accomplished. Certainly some folks will cling to that, but only up until the point when a serious financial case can be made for moving in a new direction. With the skyrocketing cost of jet fuel, that point is fast approaching.

[H78]

A lot of companies like facetime because it makes them feel important, not because it's actually an effective way to get things accomplished.

That is completely wrong.

I work in the medical software industry and it is an absolute necessity to have a software applications specialist present when a hospital goes live with new software.

I actually work with bedside medication verification (which is the software that checks to make sure a patient and their prescribed medications match) and if it wasn't for face-to-face training and troubleshooting, there is no doubt in my mind you would hear of medical errors FAR more often. I could tell you things that would blow your mind about the catastrophes that people in my field help hospital staff avoid solely because of our presence. If it wasn't for our in-person meetings and seminars, hospital staff would be completely lost and patient safety would be compromised.

Are there occurrences when communications technology makes in-person meetings obsolete? Absolutely. But communications technology is not even close to being a universal solution for many organizations (see: banking informatics (hardware/software) and government database implementations...and that's just scratching the surface).

WebEx is not a solution for the still-majority of people in this country who are not technically savvy.

[Grendel]

That is completely wrong.Begging your pardon, it would be wrong...if I had claimed that there are no situations where in-person contact is necessary.

I did no such thing.

Once again, I'm speaking in broader terms about how American business tends to function, hence, my framing it as "a lot of companies." And, to that end, there's a great deal of travel that serves no useful purpose in terms of accomplishing a given goal or project. And now that the costs are increasing so dramatically, "not useful" is becoming "actively detrimental" to the bottom line.

And as for "the majority of people who aren't tech-savvy," how many of the individuals most directly involved in the businesses employing such high-volume air travel are so technologically disinclined?

[H78]

Begging your pardon, it would be wrong...if I had claimed that there are no situations where in-person contact is necessary.

I did no such thing.

Once again, I'm speaking in broader terms about how American business tends to function, hence, my framing it as "a lot of companies." And, to that end, there's a great deal of travel that serves no useful purpose in terms of accomplishing a given goal or project. And now that the costs are increasing so dramatically, "not useful" is becoming "actively detrimental" to the bottom line.

And as for "the majority of people who aren't tech-savvy," how many of the individuals most directly involved in the businesses employing such high-volume air travel are so technologically disinclined?


Ummmm, ok. Apparently you've never read this. (http://www.internetisseriousbusiness.com/)
I reward all smug replies with a Rick Roll.