Newsstand - Spirit executive's e-mail crash lands

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070825/BIZ/708250317

If there's anyone out there who wonders what really goes through the minds of airline executives in these turbulent times, just e-mail Ben Baldanza, CEO of Spirit Air.
According to consumerist.com, a customer sent him a message relating a by-now familiar sequence of events for any traveler -- her flight was delayed nearly three hours so she and her husband missed a concert, which was the sole reason for their trip.
Baldanza read the note, then crisply ordered one of his minions to handle the whiner.

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He's never flown with us before anyway and will be back when we save him a penny.

Sounds accurate and probably still true after the whiner got the email reply.

B-cubed used to be with USAirways and was famous for proposing that paying customers who bought discounted fares receive no (zero, nada) tier mileage credit for them, arguing "That's not necessarily the kind of loyalty we want to reward. We want to reward those people who pay a premium for the services we offer""

At least he's a consistent b*&%&(.

(CEO) Baldanza read the note, then crisply ordered one of his minions to handle the whiner.

Typical union attitude... :)

Sounds awfully Urban Legend (http://www.snopes.com/business/consumer/bedbug.asp)ish to me.

Sounds awfully Urban Legend (http://www.snopes.com/business/consumer/bedbug.asp)ish to me.

http://www.alexrudloff.com/2007/08/20/ben-baldanza-from-spirit-encourages-awful-customer-service/

Sounds awfully Urban Legend (http://www.snopes.com/business/consumer/bedbug.asp)ish to me.

No, it sounds just like the Baldanza we know and love.:D

B-cubed used to be with USAirways and was famous for proposing that paying customers who bought discounted fares receive no (zero, nada) tier mileage credit for them, arguing "That's not necessarily the kind of loyalty we want to reward. We want to reward those people who pay a premium for the services we offer""

At least he's a consistent b*&%&(.

What an awful idea... rewarding customers based on $ value.:rolleyes:

Sounds awfully Urban Legend (http://www.snopes.com/business/consumer/bedbug.asp)ish to me.
The complete email, with headers, is available at http://www.alexrudloff.com/2007/08/20/ben-baldanza-from-spirit-encourages-awful-customer-service/

That would be a lot of effort to fake.

What an awful idea... rewarding customers based on $ value.:rolleyes:

So my $300 ticket adds no value to the airline? Then why did they sell it to me?

Apparently the rest of USAir, and the rest of the industry agrees that those of use who fly 100 times a year at $100-$150 per segment (vs. approx $36 in costs, $0.12 CASM, 300 mile flights) are worth something.

I have no problem with 1.5x, 2x, etc., multipliers for premium fare buckets. I do have problems with a marketing exec saying very frequent flyers aren't worth anything.

You agree with him, I assume?

What an awful idea... rewarding customers based on $ value.:rolleyes:

I have no problem with 1.5x, 2x, etc., multipliers for premium fare buckets. I do have problems with a marketing exec saying very frequent flyers aren't worth anything.

It seems to work for BA, which gives zero tier points for something like the lowest 8 fare classes, ensuring that no amount of flying in the cheap seats will ever make one elite.

(And I wish them all the success in the world with it... 'cos it doesn't work for me at all.)

UK and US markets are very different. It didn't seem to work very well here, did it?