Dr. Neil Hair

The Musings Of A Professor Of Marketing.

The solution to the airline industry - a relationship marketing perspective

Reidel CrystalIt starts with a friendly smile, someone interested in whether you really have given yourself enough time to check in for your international flight or whether you will need help to clear security a little quicker to get you to your gate. You approach the ticket desk and instead of being greeted with the screech "NEXT" you are asked politely for your tickets and your passport. Recognizing that this is your 20th flight on that said airline you are thanked and offered a free upgrade to first class so you can experience the feeling of turning left at a planes entrance and not right as you usually do to join the rabble. Further you are reminded that from here on in at intervals of ten you will always be upgraded as a sign of appreciation for your loyalty. You sit in your nice fully reclinable chair and don a pair of Bose 3 noise canceling headphones and sip your genuine French champagne with not a five dollar bill in sight. Further, you are reminded that it is perfectly acceptable - in fact desirable - that you press for assistance if there is anything we can do to make your travel with us more enjoyable. This of course includes an inflight neck and shoulder massage and if you should so wish, more alcohol than you would find in a small Irish town. Internet access comes as standard as does the ability to shower and change before clearing customs and immigration at your point of arrival. You arrive feeling wonderful, you relationship with your airline in tact and when people now ask you how your flight was they cant shut you up for the positive things you want to say.

Welcome to airline travel as it should be.

 

7 Comments so far

  1. Rose September 22nd, 2006 3:16 pm

    Was that a pig - up there? I’m sure I just saw a pig…

    R
    x

  2. neil hair September 22nd, 2006 4:12 pm

    and YOU can continue to fly rabble class ;)

  3. Rose September 22nd, 2006 4:55 pm

    there goes your inflight neck and shoulder massage…

  4. Nicholas Lin September 22nd, 2006 7:38 pm

    EOS
    http://www.eosairlines.com/

    Fly them next timeJFK to London (STN) only.

    US$3000 - 6000 (RT) it should be decent :S
    so tell me how it goes…

  5. Chafic Chahine September 23rd, 2006 12:08 am

    In addition to EOS there is MaxJet (http://www.maxjet.com) and SilverJet (http://www.flysilverjet.com) [the SilverJet website is currently down].

    As for in-flight massages, check out this article:
    http://www.breakingtravelnews.com/article/20060829073518884

  6. Gaurav September 23rd, 2006 3:21 am

    slight problem.

    showering and changing isnt really an airlines issue but rather the terminal/airport/govt issue.

    emirates 1st class offers you for $10,000 a frigging ride that would make your eyes pop out.

    point being, you dont have to treat the peasants in economy bad.

  7. H November 15th, 2006 4:01 pm

    Turning left is pretty good - as long as it sin’t sitting bolt upright in the flt deck for 11 hrs and 40 mins from Shanghai to LHR!!
    Emirates 1st class is very good, get yr own pod thing and oodles of in flt entertainment but the 500+ channels are in Economy and Business too so don’thave to pay the earth. (EK don’t have in flt masseurs either, only massage things in the bed/seats which were ordered 8 yrs ago but still pretty good. Virgin DO have masseurs but you still haev to be lucky and get yr name picked out of a hat. If you don’t get picked on the way out then you have priority on the return sector - provided you are flying upper class again!) Best option - take a friend/partner/wife/good masseur with you and have it on tap all flt wherever you sit : )

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