FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - What is soft product and hard product?
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Old Jun 9, 2011 | 5:35 pm
  #6  
number_6
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Location: Portland OR Double Emerald (QF and AA), DL PM/MM, Starwood Plat
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Hard product can also be non-airplane components, such as lounge facilities. So the food/drinks in the lounge is soft product, while showers are hard product. The real demarcation is that hard product is hard to change (requires construction), while soft product can be changed in 5 min with a phone call. So limo service is a soft product for the airline (and a hard product for the limo company, at least as far as the car goes). For airplanes, the real cost of the hard product is the airplane down time during fitout (often greater than the cost of the hardware being added).
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