Originally Posted by channa
The point of this survey (which should also be the point of this thread) is product quality among carriers. In other words, the question being asked is: All things being equal, where does each carrier stand in terms of product quality? Clearly with NW's lack of IFE, cloth seats, no meals or even snacks, and high average fleet age, they're behind the pack. All things being equal, if one is flying in coach, a leather JetBlue seat with DirecTV, extra legroom, and a snack beats a NW cloth seats, no IFE, and a $1 bag of trail mix.
Channa,
In all seriousness, what *is* a carrier's product? I've taken some graduate courses taught my some well known industry consultants, and one particular guy LOVED to get up and say that the *schedule* is an airline's product. I think he's right, but I did challenge him and say that I think the *price* is just as much the product as the schedule.
Beyond that, what is part of the travel experience but not the product? What you described above is the "inflight experience," but I think it is only a part of the overall product.
You're right about the "all things being equal" but the truth is, and you know it, all things ARE NOT equal. Hence, we have several different network/legacy carriers and then LCC's to boot.
But that's not a reason to make excuses for a poor product. If anything, it should make people more confident in their selection of a sub-par product. There's nothing wrong with admitting NW's product is inferior to LCC's and other majors, but it's tolerated because of other aspects such as frequent upgrades, bonus miles, and partner network.
Again, what is the product? I think that still needs to be defined. I think that the whole travel experience is part of the product... Everything from the physical seat we sit in, to the IFE on the aircraft, the inflight meals, the quality of gate agents (and reservations!) hub terminal layouts, hub selection, flight schedule, and even the FF program. Heck, one might even include the website as part of the product. Basically, what you're trying to say with this "survey" is that United offers movies. NW does not. UA is therefore better. NW provides unlimited complimentary domestic upgrades to FF's, UA does not. Is UA still better? The answer is really "Who cares?"
So what does all that mean? I *don't* fly several carriers for a variety of reasons, and a lot of it has to do with route network/airport selection. Do I care about flight schedules? Truthfully, within some loose guidelines, not really. Do I care about price? Yup. Do I care about IFE? Nope, I bring my own. Free peanuts/snack? Nope, I bring what I want to eat. Do I care about free upgrades? You bet. A website that is easily navigable and provides me with selection of flights based on both price AND time? Most definitely. Do I care about the ability to fly into very specific airports? Oh yeah. Likewise, do I try to avoid particular airports because they are a PITA for connections? Yes. I bring my own pillow, too. Everything I bring on board is better than any domestic carrier will provide you in Y and most often times F.
Truth is, asking what carrier is "the best" and "the worst" is completely subjective and in the eye of the consumer. If you would ask me what I thought of the *inflight* experience, I would probably tell you that without upgrades, it is subpar. In fact, I would tell you that. The truth is, though, there is so much more to an airline than the actual inflight experience, and as a result, surveys such as these are meaningless.