Who's to blame for the airline mess? You!

By James Wysong

Travel columnist

updated 1:39 p.m. ET Aug. 15, 2007

James Wysong Travel columnist • Profile • E-mail

Hang around the airline industry long enough and you hear stories of the Good Old Days. In the Good Old Days, CEOs were selfless, employees were cheerful and passengers dressed up to fly. Management and union workers got along like family, and stewardesses cooked eggs-to-order in first class. Airlines cared about people, not numbers, and every flight was a wonderful travel experience — even in coach. Or so the story goes.

Does anybody actually remember the Good Old Days? Were they ever a reality? I don't know. All I know is that when I look at the airline industry today, I see nothing but dissatisfaction. Customers are unhappy, stockholders are nervous, management is desperate and union workers are furious. Flying is no longer a gracious extension of personal service, but a desperate, numbers-driven game in profit and loss. A cattle car might serve just as well.

How did it get this bad? And who is to blame? Greedy unions? Greedy managers? Some officious bureau of the government? Yes, all of the above have some share in the blame. But I have recently taken a harder look at another villain, who also bears some responsibility for this mess. And that villain is you.

Now, before you slam me in the "Comments," hear me out.

Circumstances have changed since the Good Old Days of air travel. More people than ever choose to fly if their journey is over 300 miles. Southwest Airlines, the only U.S. airline success story in the last 10 years, met that new demand with a simple business plan: provide safe, low-cost air transportation with flexible schedules and new airport destinations while offering as few amenities as possible. You, the American public, responded so favorably that the major airlines had to redesign their operations to accommodate your wishes.

Now, guess what matters most to American travelers when it comes time to buy an airplane ticket. No shocker here — the price! In fact, the big three factors are price, schedule frequency and frequent-flier miles. Customer service is way down on the list. That's why the airlines have cut everything possible, including personnel, salaries, pensions and onboard amenities: to keep the ticket price down — just as you asked for.

Now, I'm happy to criticize airline executive management every chance I get, but in fact these overpaid CEOs are just dancing to the tune of their airline's shareholders, who have the same bottom-line mentality as their customers: Keep the price down, keep the numbers up, and watch the profits grow. They aren't at all interested in your travel experience, just in the numbers. They don't even care if their cut-rate service drives away business. Why not? Because they know that all the other airlines are in the same boat. So what if you get fed up with US Airways and switch to Delta? Chances are some other disgruntled customer is switching the other way. Numbers? No net change!

As far as executive compensation goes, if you were the CEO of a billion-dollar company, would you give up your millions and your golden parachute to show solidarity with the front-line workers? I'd like to say that I would, but you just don't know unless you are in that situation.

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