wrose99

WSJ: Giving your customers what they value is part of your turnaround plan. How does pulling pillows off of certain planes help?

Mr. Arpey: In the domestic operation, managing the pillows, cleaning the pillows, and keeping them in inventory drives a lot more expense than you might otherwise recognize. By taking them off the airplane, we drive simplicity and lower expense. And in most of the domestic short-haul markets people were using those pillows less and less. So it's an example of emulating our low-cost competitors. Those are some of the tough decisions that we need to make to get our costs down.

WSJ: How much are you saving from this?

Mr. Arpey: Hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

WSJ: But how would you feel if you wanted to sleep on the plane and didn't have a pillow?

Mr. Arpey: I'd bring my own pillow.

Spike-

Wished for follow-up question...

WSJ...Does that pillow count as a carry-on?

Mr. Arpey...I think that concludes the interview.

Note: Fiction.....

omegadeal

On long flights, especially international I do bring my own pillow. It is one of those "Fom" pillows that you can get at brookstone for like $30. It form-fits into crevices and has been great. I have to strap it to my bag, and sure it looks funny, but it is worth it. I think there are knock offs at Bed Bath and Beyond for as little as $10.

I even sent one to a friend of mine who is fighting in Iraq. He said it was great.

IMO those pillows they gave out were worthless anyway. If nothing else people should get one of those self inflating travel pillows if they need one.

ByrdluvsAWACO

If I need a pillow I bring my own. Since people are so trailer-trashy these days, I've seen the pillows drooled on, sneezed on, and used as footrests(with and without shoes). I simply refuse to use them.


If a pillow is wrapped in plastic, does that mean it has been laundered as Mr. Arpey suggests?

freeupgrade

This is so pathetic - how the *** would Arpey know if people "are using those pilloes less and less in most of the domestic short-haul markets?".

Also, I love the way Arpey considers a 4 hr. 17 minute flight from Boston - DFW a "short haul". Give me a break.

tom911

I received one of those as a Christmas gift, and will be trying it out on my first of several Omaha mileage runs next week. Glad to see you like it

whirledtraveler

Isn't "hundreds of thousands of dollars a year" a real pittance in the airline industry?

Seattlenerd

I now see people who used to grab a pillow on AA flights grab blankets instead. Are those cheaper to launder?

Me, I miss the pillows because there were good for lower back support. At least American doesn't have much of an image to lose (in my humble opinion only, in this essay I penned earlier this month).

PresRDC

I would think so, but the problem is that all those "pittances" eventually add-up to substantial savings.

MDSD

That's easy. As he says to the WSJ: I try to spend as much time as I can when I travel...riding in jump seats.
So, he not only knows why we travel, but what we're doing during it. BTW, anyone ever spot him lounging in a jump seat?

N771AN

I commend Arpey for getting rid of those germ invested clumps of cotton they dare called pillows. I for one am happy they're gone. I can't believe people actually used the slobber covered things, much less complain that they are gone.

Neal

So they really do clean those things??? Apparently, I've never flown at the time of year they replace the dirty pillows with freshly cleaned ones.

yyzflyer

You beat me to it! They cleaned the pillows? Well that explains the huge savings then.

ByrdluvsAWACO

I thought only qualified people were allowed in the cockpit during flight.

Spyder

With all the talk in this thread about steering clear of public pillows what do y'all do in hotel rooms? I suspect hotel mattresses see worse than airline pillows.