The future is mobile

Given the rapidly changing interactional/behavioural habits of the traveler, it has become important for airlines to target them where they can be found. Close your eyes and think for a moment about what the word mobile phone means to you: I’m quite certain that most of the readers here will at once think of an iPhone, Android phone, Blackberry or a similar device. It seems that the growth of social media – Facebook and Twitter primarily – as a valuable engagement tool to drive business goals has only helped create a more complex landscape. The growth of iOS and Android (especially iOS which is not just available on phones but on iPods and iPads as well), coupled with the ability to create custom apps to target customers and offer them value-added services right on their cellphones has changed the way airlines are thinking about customer engagement and driving revenue, customer service etc. In the past we’ve illustrated how mobile has been an important part of various airline initiatives in the social era: travel distribution, social loyalty and location-based-service initiatives. However, this case-pack deals purely with how airlines have specifically created mobile apps (in particular, on the iPhone and iPad) to engage customers while driving revenue and customer service as well.

Before we move on to the case-pack, here is a checklist of ways in which airlines have tried to differentiate their apps while offering value to their customers:

1. Booking: Some airlines, such as Turkish Airlines, have made it ridiculously easy to book tickets from within the apps in a crazily small amount of time. Customers love it of course: the easier and quicker you make the booking process, the more likelihood that the sale will be completed.
2. Convenience: British Airways allows boarding by flashing the QR code powered boarding passes that can be shown directly from an iPhone. Way to go paperless!
3. Travel inspiration: Lufthansa and KLM have created apps that are excellent at making the users of their apps drool at the prospect of travelling to delicious destinations on these airlines.
4. Complimentary travel services: A number of airline apps now allow customers to rent a car, know the weather and do more at their destination that is not strictly airline-related.
5. Augmented reality: A new player but one with huge scope for engaging the customers who’re usually more than happy (and mostly fascinated) to use the service for things such as navigating an airport or finding places to redeem loyalty points (Qantas).

That’s it, for now! Enjoy the case-studies!

Do let us know what you think of this Top 10 case-pack. Comments, suggestions, brickbats are all welcome in the comments section below. Alternately, you can tweet us @simpliflying.

• Top 10 Travel Distribution Initiatives by Airlines: Reinventing the booking cycle to drive revenue (from #eftamerica)
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• The Top 10 Viral Videos by Airlines (plus bonus videos)
• [Infographic] How mobile is re-shaping travel distribution (gasp!)
• Customer Service 2.0: Top 10 Airlines and Airports performing Customer Service through Social Media

Halfway through my flight from Washington (IAD) to Seattle last week, I received a special surprise along with my ginger ale…a napkin that doubled as the most useless piece of marketing communication I’d ever received:

Umm…well, I don’t really need any more friends, thanks.

It must have been my lucky day, because after I spilled my drink and grabbed my napkin to clean up, I found the second most useless piece of marketing communication I’d ever received on the back!

Why? Are you going to help me play the stock market?

Innocent though it may be, this United napkin is a classic example of communication without a point. Without making any effort to communicate a single benefit the passenger will receive in exchange for following the call to action, it goes beyond my reason why any passenger would rush to turn on their smart phones upon landing and become a UA Facebook fan, or start tweeting UA (which, I might add, they may not even be able to find since this doesn’t specify United’s Twitter handle). To that last point, could you imagine the potential PR disaster that could happen if a passenger tried to “stay in touch” on Twitter, and ended up communicating with a United detractor (or someone who was simply unresponsive) instead?

While UA has @UnitedAirlines, think of how many alternatives are out there (@United, @UnitedAir, @UAOfficial, etc.) that United has NO control over. At least this napkin may have added a few followers to Manchester United footballer Rio Ferdinand’s Twitter stream (which, for the record, is the first handle that shows up when you search for “United” in Twitter). This is like putting a photo of a telephone on a poster, with the phrase “call me” next to it, and nothing else. You wouldn’t sit next to the phone expecting it to ring, would you?

145 million impressions gone to waste?

Keep in mind, United flew 145 million passengers last year. That’s nearly 400,000 impressions these simple napkins can make every single day. If you had a simple message to convey to that many people, wouldn’t you go to painstaking lengths to make sure you got the message spot-on right?

There are two simple lessons this awful napkin brings to light:

If you are going to make a call to action, 1)  at least make an attempt to communicate a user benefit for answering that call, and 2) make sure to provide clear instructions of exactly how to follow the call to action.

Hope to see United (if not other airlines), buck up! What do you think?

Steven Klimek is an airline strategist who has previously held commercial and marketing positions with Singapore Airlines, Qatar Airways and ATPCO. He will be a regular contributor to Simpliflying, and can be found online at http://airticulate.com or on twitter at @AIRticulate.

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• Meet the new Chief Marketing Officer of United Airlines – Dave Carroll. He sings and plays a guitar!
• Rohit Bhargava feels that United Airlines lacks a brand personality. Is he right?
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• [INFOGRAPHIC] How Airlines Use Twitter – customer engagement done right, or gone wrong?

Some airlines have booking engines on Facebook, some provide customer service only on Twitter while some initiate extensive, integrated social media campaigns to drive brand engagement. This month onwards, SimpliFlying will publish a monthly feature highlighting the best of such social media strategies by airlines.

This month we bring to you the 10 best Facebook contests by airlines, as Facebook has become the “real” playground for airlines to showcase their creative brand strategies. This is because of the more immersive and multimedia-rich features of the Facebook platform itself.

In recent times, a number of airlines have organized some rather interesting contests on Facebook. For some airlines, such as All Nippon Airways, contests are a way of gaining more fans on their Facebook page and generating more awareness about it. For some, such as Hawaiian, contests are used to promote route-launches; for others it might be about a new product such as Turkish Airlines’ new Comfort Class. Of course, some, such as Cebu Pacific choose to be fantastically creative and drive engagement by directly channeling the power of their followers’ cults. Ultimately, these contests prove with more certainty than ever that airlines are getting serious about their social media strategies. Moreover, airlines which haven’t hopped on to the bandwagon have much (if not everything) to lose.

So, which airline did you think have the most creative and innovative Facebook contest amongst those shared in this presentation? Or do you know of others that have impressed you? Let’s hear it on Twitter and in comments.

Some fascinating facts about this presentation:

1. It became the most Tweeted presentation on Slideshare within 2 hours of it being uploaded
2. It was in the Top 10 Slideshare presentations within 5 hours of being uploaded
3. And it was the #1 presentation on Slideshare within 8 hours of being uploaded!

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• The SimpliFlying Social Media Cheatsheet for Airline Marketers

It was great that United Airlines actually responded to the letter in the magazine itself. And that’s where the positives ended. Of the five key points raised by the customer, only one was directly addressed. In fact, the response went on to totally digress from the topic and talked more about the airline’s new premium cabins, and not customer service. That got me thinking, it’s probably not just the cabin crew at United who needs lessons in customer service, but even folks from Corp. Comms.

This is very ironic, because just a couple of weeks ago, at the Loyalty 2010 event, while having lunch with Robert Sahadevan, United’s VP of Loyalty, I was very impressed by the focus they have on their frequent fliers and premium passengers. Hence, this response was disappointing, to say the least.

I thought I’d do my bit here for United (and help other airlines too, who need to get their basics right – you know who you are)

Step 1: Listen to the customer

The key word here is LISTEN. Not look. Not hear. But listen. The difference is stark. If you look or just hear, then you hardly absorb any of the content, let alone understand. It’s very important to seek get an idea of why the customer is saying what he’s saying.

Step 2: Identify the key issues mentioned by the customer

Once you’ve listened to him, identify the key issues the customer has expressed – both positive and negative. In this case, there are five key issues, as I’ve highlighted below (click on the image for larger font). They include the Business Class passenger’s request for water not being answered, to the responses he received from the flight attendants.

Step 3: Address the issues

Needless to say, after the issues have been identified, they need to be addressed. Even if you intend to dodge the bullets, do it subtly. Not the way United’s response totally ignores the issues raised and goes off on a tangent. It almost seems to me as if a United Airlines Corporate Sales person has written this reply!

Not only are hardly any issues been addressed, Rahsaan appears almost proud of the fact that he’s doged every bullet in his response. From his LinkedIn profile, Rahsaan seems too experienced to get this wrong. This gives me the feeling that this may have more to do with United’s policy governing Corporate Communications, than a personnel’s overlooking the issues. Which is a scary thought!

Step 4: Apologise, if you’re wrong

Nowhere does the response from United Airlines make any mention of what they’re going to do to change the situation. In fact, they don’t even accept that they’ve done anything wrong. Let alone apologize for it. Frankly, the letter seems as if it’s been written by a computer, not a person. A personal reply needs to be just that – personal.

There’s nothing wrong in apologizing if you’re in the wrong. The least United can do is to learn from the likes of Southwest Airlines and JetBlue – remember the famous video apology by then CEO David Neeleman?

Step 5: Thank the customer for his feedback

Nowhere does the United response thank the customer for taking his time to send the (very valuable) feedback. Not at the beginning. Not at the end. That’s the least they couldn’t have done, isn’t it?

—-

If you’re from United Airlines and reading this, I’d love to hear your take on this situation. Was it a one-off? May be Customer Service should be responding to such letters, not Corporate Communications.

What do you think? What are some of the best practices of airlines that do customer service right? Let’s share our suggestions with United Airlines so that they can make flying better for all of us!

• United Airlines brand may go for a spin as customer feedback line is terminated
• The day airlines’ Twitter accounts were hacked, and three steps to reverse the brand damage
• Meet the new Chief Marketing Officer of United Airlines – Dave Carroll. He sings and plays a guitar!
• Rohit Bhargava feels that United Airlines lacks a brand personality. Is he right?
• Southwest vs. United: Why Authenticity Wins, Even In TV Advertising

Staying true to the real-time nature of social media, within minutes, the news of hacking was doing rounds all over the internet. Of course, it’s only to be expected, when United Airlines sends an abnormal Tweet to it’s 56,000 followers. Though United later removed the specific Tweet, the damage was done.

Reversing the brand damage to the airlines, in 3 steps

This is a situation that any airline jumping on the social media bandwagon can face. So, what’s the best way to deal with it? Here are three simple steps.

1. Be quick. Delete the malicious tweets from your updates (obvious!), but do it quickly. United Airlines took 1 hr 6 mins before their public tweet was deleted. It could have been quicker.
2. Be candid. Send out a public Tweet apologizing and clarifying the matter. Brussels Airlines sent out a Tweet (below) but United has not reacted that way yet [Update, 9am EST: United just sent out a clarifying tweet]. It’s important not to resort to traditional means like a press release. They are too formal, take too long to get to the public, and target the wrong audience. Most importantly, Twitter is personal. So, be candid, like Brussels Airlines.
   
3. Be thankful. Identify the person who alerted you and thank him publicly. He’s likely to re-tweet it and tell all his friends how nice you’ve been to him or her. And you have instantly cultivated a brand advocate! Cathay Pacific did this very well today (even they weren’t hacked)

So, what do you think about the way these airlines reacted? How can they deal with such incidents better? Let’s hear it in the comments, and over on Twitter (@simpliflying).

• How #QantasLuxury turned from a feel-good-contest to #epicfail – social media crises management case study
• Airlines on Twitter Monthly Report for July 2011 reveals that more airlines have Twitter accounts than loyalty programs
• Airlines on Twitter Monthly Report for August 2011: Cebu Pacific joins the big league and scores high!
• Social CRM for Airlines – Managing the Cult and driving true value (Plus: upcoming webinar)
• Airlines on Twitter in June 2011: Delta Airlines is the breakaway “listening and talking champion”

——

Over the course of two days, I saw two stark examples of what could easily be considered the best and worst of airline advertising messages encompassed in two ads done for domestic US-based airlines. Let’s start with the worst from United:

What makes this ad so ineffective? First of all, the call to action to experience their first and business class has almost nothing to do with the visuals and storyline of the animated character. She could just as easily be in economy class. Or on another airline. And the last thing I want to think about is all the creatures in the sea when I’m on a transcontinental flight. If I’m lucky, I won’t see any – which means my plane stayed in the air where it belongs. The beautiful animated characters and music have little relevance to our lives and have been a random choice for as long as United has been running this campaign.

The choice of Gershwin for the music has become a signature for United and most consumers would recognize it as their “theme song” – but again there is no built in message or purpose for this beyond brand awareness. And as one of the largest airlines in the United States, I think it is safe to say that awareness isn’t really what United needs in the first place. Ultimately, as a United customer, I end up watching that ad and wondering to myself what else they chose not to spend money on so they could produce this ineffective message and buy expensive media time to show it (it first aired during the Beijing Olympics).

In contrast, here’s the Southwest ad:

What makes this ad so effective? The first reason is that it is topical. At a time when most domestic US airlines have started charging passengers to check their bags, Southwest is one of the few that has not done this. The ad smartly focuses on one attribute that actually DOES set Southwest apart from their competitors: that your bags fly for free. The execution of the ad is strong as well, featuring a man who is presumably a real baggage handler smiling and generally looking happy to be taking care of your bag. The voiceover humanizes your bag – noting at one point that your bag can even bring its “little bag friends” for free. I love my bag – so I respond to that message. Chances are, you do too. At the end of the ad is a simple, yet effective call to action to pack your bag and go on that trip that you might have been planning for some time, because you’ll save money with Southwest and your bag will fly for free.

Clearly the audiences for these two spots are different. Southwest is going for the leisure traveler on domestic travel while United is targeting the business and first class crowd for international travel. Yet their different approaches underscore the shift that is taking place in marketing today. The more authentic message focused on something people actually care about will trump the artistically created piece of fluff that lacks any strong insight or message any day.

The irony, perhaps, in this post is that because I live in the Washington DC area – I travel all the time with United and rarely on Southwest. In the past I have often pointed to United as the brand that I would most like to work with because they have such a clean slate of possibility. If they could rethink their entire approach to marketing, add more personality and use social media more effectively – they could completely reinvent people’s perception of their brand.

There are some early signs that this is starting to happen – including United starting a twitter account. What it truly needs is a vision from the highest level of marketing to rethink their advertising and pour more internal support into the nacent social media activities starting within the company that have such big potential but are likely underfunded and underappreciated. In case United is listening, drop me a line … as a loyal customer and hopeful marketer, I’d be happy to help.

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• Rohit Bhargava feels that United Airlines lacks a brand personality. Is he right?
• Why do I regret having never flown Southwest? It’s the humor!
• Why Should I Friend you on Facebook or Twitter, United?

I love Fall weddings! The bustle of summer is gone and the holidays are still a distant thought. You can relax and enjoy the ceremony letting your thoughts turn to the blissful life ahead for the new couple. Even bridesmaid dresses look good against mesh of Fall colors in the background.

So why am I so disappointed about Continental taking their vows and joining the Star Alliance family on October 27th? It is the one time in my life I want to be the guy who stands up on a pew and shouts.. “Stop the Wedding”.

Star Alliance is clearly marrying up as Continental has the best product and service of all the major US carriers. Customers flying in on carriers such as Singapore and Air New Zealand can finally connect on a domestic Star Alliance Member (Continental) who knows that product, service, and accountability are the cornerstones of delivering on brand promise.

My chief concern about the pending union is the domestic company Continental will be keeping with United and USAir. I can’t imagine a greater disparity in service. I relayed my concerns to a Continental representative at a recent industry trade show to which they responded, “Well, we are hoping that our joining Star Alliance will help bring the level of service up on the other US partners.” Speaking from personal experience, if I had a dollar for every person I know that hoped their partner habits and quirks would change after the vows. I’d be a rich man. As a frequent traveler moving to a United hub, I pray this partnership will be the exception to the rule.

The good news for United customers is they will be able to use their status when flying on Continental. Premier members will find out all the things they are missing like automatic upgrades, the newest fleet of planes, and having your luggage be first off the plane. The commitment to excellence extends beyond the first class cabin to once extinct amenities like free meals at meal time, pillows, blankets, and direct TV. The brand promise begins at check-in, continues to the back of the plane, and onto the luggage carousel before you leave. Like the Virgin brands, they don’t forget their job is to create an exceptional experience.

Great brands create an emotional response and nothing creates emotions better than a wedding. With that in mind, a wise person once shared the following advice with me. “The most important thing to remember about a planning a wedding is that the Big Day isn’t about you. It’s about the people who are experiencing it with you. Focus on making the people comfortable and happy, yes even that embarrassing uncle.. and the day will be perfect.”

Darren Dunn is currently Director of Sales at WorldMate Inc. The World’s leading travel management application for smart phones. He has spent 13 years in the online marketing space working with destinations and travel suppliers around the globe. He flies about 150,000 + miles a year and appreciate airlines that are passionate about service and culture.

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Airline branding at its best! And no, they don’t break guitars.

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For the vocally inclined, lyrics are included in the video. Enjoy the song, and the video. To have even more fun, try counting the number of unique planes seen in the video, and state your answer in the comments. The backstory follows.

The Backstory

When Dave Carroll came out with his first United Breaks Guitars video, I wrote an article that explained why Dave has become the de-facto Chief Marketing Officer of United Airlines.  The article was a huge hit, even getting a mention from the revered Chris Brogan.

After the first song, there was a huge hue and cry in the media about the PR disaster United faced. So when Dave came up with his second song, about his interactions with Ms Irlweg, I decided to give ideas to United (and other airlines) on how they could innovatively handle negative reactions on social media. After all, every reaction online need not be termed as the “worst PR disaster ever!”

I decided to write an article with ten tips for United Airlines. Then thought it would be much more interesting if I came up with a YouTube video response instead – talking about the things United could do to rescue their brand. When I mentioned this to Z, he suggested, why not have a song in response instead? That triggered off a series of events…

From an idea to a music video, in three days!

Wed, 19 Aug, 12.39pm: I call Jamiel Said, a rising star on the Singapore music scene, and a former schoolmate, to check if he’d be willing to help us create the next big thing on YouTube. He agrees. I think I had it easy because Jamiel was still in his sleep =p

Wed, 19 Aug, 8.45pm: I write out the 10 tips for United, and they don’t rhyme at all! After brooding over it for 90 mins, I come up with five verses,  and the chorus, which officially becomes the first song I’ve ever written. And it’s about an airline!

Wed, 19 Aug, 11.20pm: After performing in downtown Singapore, Jamiel heads over to his keyboardist’s place, to come up with a melody for the song. Only musical geniuses like him can do such things in minutes, having barely looked at the lyrics.

Thur, 20 Aug, 11.40am: Jamiel, Z and I huddle together in my living room, trying our best to make the lyrics fit the melody. Bad approach. In the end, Jamiel re-writes the whole chorus, and Z chimes in with his gems to finalize the lyrics and melody, which are in sync. I realize that one pro, and two amatuers make a good team =)

Thur, 20 Aug, 1.20pm: After a well deserved lunch, Jamiel pulls out all of his recording equipment (I was thrilled to see so many musical gadgets for the first time in my life!), sets up his mini-studio and starts recording on his Macbook Pro. I forget to turn off the home phone ringer, and face the consequences.

Thur, 20 Aug, 6.10pm: After over six hours of recording and re-recording, we have what sounds like a song. And the melody is stuck in my head (de de de de dee deeee de de…). We decide to call it a day, but Jamiel goes home and fine-tunes the song late into the night.

Thur, 20 Aug, 7.00pm: I start thinking  about the music video and realize that we’d surely need a non-Asian looking Ms Irlweg. I start calling up all of my “ang-moh” lady friends, hoping to get someone to agree for a shoot the very next day, during office hours, on a beach! Uphill battle, I know… but I get rescued by Isabelle, a dear friend of a dear Swiss friend. Phew!

Fri, 21 Aug, 11.00am: Just before I head to pick up Jamiel and Isabelle and go to the beach, I pen down my thoughts on what the different should scenes look like. After getting lost a little, we all reach Changi Beach, which is just behind the runway in Singapore. We’re in luck, as the big birds are landing over the beach!

Fri, 21 Aug, 2.10pm: We have shot a few scenes for the video. They’ve been very candid, and funny. But some things went wrong. Nobody brought speakers, so we literally sing the song aloud to know which verse it is. The only sheet of printed lyrics flies into the sea while we’re busy shooting a scene. Z risks his life to get it back from the water. It’s all smudged. But we’re all having a ball of time. Just then, we realize that a cop has fined Z for not topping up the parking coupons in his brand new sports car! Remember Murphy’s law? I run to drive mine off, before the cop reaches my car!

Fri, 21 Aug, 3.50pm: We have lunch and head back to our homes. I fire up my Macbook and start going through 3gb of footage we shot. I have no clue how I’m going to fit all this on the song, and make it look seamless.

Fri, 21 Aug, 11.45pm: After seven hours of non-stop editing and tinkering, I’m ready to export the HD music video file, quite satisfied with my effort. I love Apple!

Fri, 22 Aug, 12.35am: Jamiel comes over to my place so that I can transfer the 400mb file to him, and we go through it together. We’re happy! And decide to launch the video on Mon, 24 Aug. By now, all that’s in our heads is the tune… (de de de de dee deeee de de…)

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the process. So, when was the last time you did something for the first time?

The Answer – Full Lyrics

What did you get when you broke his guitar?
5 million views and a YouTube star
You might think that it’s a disaster
But don’t you worry this song’s answer

Every YouTube video by a passenger,
They may not be trouble’s messenger
How you may wonder,
by accepting your own blunder
How you may wonder,
SimpliFlying has the answer

When you say sorry,
Please say it sincerely,
If you don’t mean it
Don’t you ever say it
So you may wonder,
Whats the best way to approach it?
Let me answer
By listening to your passengers

What did you get when you broke his guitar?
5 million views and a YouTube star
You might think that it’s a disaster
But don’t you worry this song’s answer

Don’t ignore the people who comment on this video
They care about you too, United, don’t you know…
Go and Ask them… what you could have done better
Embrace them,
Love them
And they’ll love you back

So, listen carefully
There will be lots of feedback
Invite them to your Facebook
Where you can engage them back
So don’t just stand there,
And look as if you care
So don’t just stand there.
Cuz it’s not really fair

What did you get when you broke his guitar?
5 million views and a YouTube star
You might think that it’s a disaster
But don’t you worry this song’s answer

So, put up all your training videos on youtube
Let us see what you’ve done, how it’s been improved
Don’t paste “fragile”
Have stickers with Dave’s face instead
And they will smile
One more guitar saved again

Don’t be so boring
Lighten up, won’t you?
Your employees… can have fun with this too
Ms. Irlweg… get featured in Dave’s video
Ms. Irlweg…

What did you get when you broke his guitar?
5 million views and a YouTube star
You might think that it’s a disaster
But don’t you worry this song’s answer

De de de de dee deee de de, de de de de deee dee de…

Did you enjoy the song? Do you think United Airlines will get it? How can other airlines avoid the same type of embarrassment? Let’s discuss in the comments or over on Twitter (@simpliflying)

• Meet the new Chief Marketing Officer of United Airlines – Dave Carroll. He sings and plays a guitar!
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• Thoughts on the United and Continental merger – as quoted in the press

1. Legacy airline brands come with legacy baggage

Unions, legacy systems, government bureaucracy, old planes, old workforce, high costs, bankruptcy… these are all words that can be easily associated with Air India, Alitalia, Japan Airlines, Air Canada and many more legacy airlines. And these are all aspects that do not allow these airlines to function efficiently in the current climate.

The airline industry has evolved drastically in the past decade. With each new shock (9/11, SARS, H1N1…) we see new stars emerging, which have streamlined costs, efficient operations and specifically targeted markets they go after. And they beat the hell out of monolithic airlines that legacy carriers have become. Just read CAPA’s report on Japan Airlines vs Air Arabia to get a glimpse into what I’m talking about.

2. Legacy airline brands are not agile enough

Like an elephant trying to shake off bees attacking it, legacy airlines look clumsy trying to shake off what they call threats – low cost carriers, low premium demand, fluctuating oil prices, consumers’ reactions on social media etc. In fact, these should be looked upon as opportunties. Let’s look at airlines’ approach to social media, for example.

United Airlines is still struggling with responding to “new media” sensations like Dave Carroll’s “United Breaks Guitars”, as Southwest Airlines interacts with its fans on Facebook and JetBlue helps over a million of its customers on Twitter.

Singapore Airlines is still not on social media, just as AirAsia is making merry in its backyard. And there’s no point arguing about different market segments. I’ve flown AirAsia this summer with folks in a suit with a laptop, mostly heading to Kuala Lumpur in the morning and returning to Singapore in the evening. No wonder the 777s Singapore Airlines fly on this route are flying half-full.

A lack of agility among legacy airlines results in lost opportunities. And this is proving deadly.

3. Legacy airline brands are “stuck on stupid”

At the aviation summit in Sydney, the CEO of AirAsia X caused a bit of murmur in the audience with his opening slide entitled, “Bastardising the Low Cost Model”. You want to know why? Because most airline executives are “stuck on stupid” (a term coined by Seth Godin in Tribes). They want to carry on the practices of yester-years in today’s changed environment. And that makes them look stupid. Nothing against them personally, but why can’t airlines have multiple business models? In fact, it’s the airlines which are questioning the traditional legacy model, or even the traditional LCC model, who stand to succeed. The rest will perish.

Who to look out for?

Who’s doing it right? In my opinion, airline brands to look out for are Lufthansa (and family), Qantas & JetStar, LAN Airlines (kings of Latin America), Southwest (which continues to innovate) and AirAsiaX. Airlines that have great potential, but need to wake up and smell the coffee to lead in the future too – Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Thai Airways and Delta Airlines.

So, what do you think? Is there a future for legacy airlines? What do airlines need to do to serve the customers better, and turn a profit consistently? Let’s discuss in the comments or over on Twitter (@simpliflying)

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