The airline industry, stung by the terrorist attacks and a downturn in business travel, spent most of the past year trying to convince Americans that flying is safe and affordable. Now, as business slowly recovers, carriers are dangling small perks to reacquaint the public with the idea that travel can also be enjoyable.
JetBlue Airways is encouraging passengers to relax a little with placards in the back of seats that show how to do simple yoga postures without standing up.
Continental Airlines is serving higher quality food to coach passengers on trans-Atlantic flights. And American Airlines is spending millions of dollars on TV and print ads to ballyhoo several inches of legroom added throughout every plane.
PHOTO: AP
"They're trying to get everybody in the mood again," Gloribel Rodriguez, 18 and a frequent flier, said on a recent morning at New York's La Guardia Airport. Rodriguez, who swayed back and forth in a rocking chair near a large window with views of incoming and outgoing planes, said it's only natural for airlines to pay more attention to passenger comfort after months of focusing almost exclusively on security.
"They know they need to satisfy the customer," said Rodriguez, who flies to Puerto Rico once a month to visit family. "If we're not happy, they have no money."
These minor service changes, while seen as a way for rivals to distinguish themselves from one another, do not overshadow the fact that carriers remain much more intensely focused on cutting costs.
With passenger traffic down 12 percent in April compared with last year, security and insurance costs on the rise and profit margins thinned because of reduced airfares, major US carriers have canceled meal service on short domestic routes, removed pillows and blankets from the cabin and shut down airport lounges.
Taken together, though, these recent announcements of extra amenities represent a subtle yet significant shift in marketing strategies, said Robert Mann, an airline consultant at RW Mann & Co in Port Washington, New York.
"It's a return to marketing 101," Mann said. "The airlines are back to the product differentiation factors ... to take the edge off this perception that the airports should be avoided."
Houston-based Continental last week announced it would begin serving chicken breasts instead of chicken thighs on trans-Atlantic flights and that breakfast will be upgraded from a cold croissant to a warm bagel with cream cheese. The only catch behind these and other modest culinary improvements is that Continental will subsidize the changes by charging US$4 for each alcoholic beverage served on trans-Atlantic flights, an amenity that used to be free.
Mann said Continental's version of a sin tax could backfire, though, if passengers don't actually believe the food tastes better. "There are risks associated with a couple of these campaigns," he said.
American Airlines, for instance, has hinted to Wall Street that it might have to reinstall the seats it took out to create more legroom, and that would effectively be a waste of advertising dollars, Mann said. The Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier denied having second thoughts about eliminating seats to make its jets roomier.
Food for thought
For its part, low-fare carrier JetBlue, which has never served meals, is using a mixture of calisthenics and quirky humor to try to make its customers happier.
"A flight attendant may ask you if you need something," JetBlue's in-flight yoga manual says. ``Tell them that we all need inner peace.''
New York-based JetBlue is also encouraging travelers to release tension before they board the plane in recognition of the fact that much of the travel-related stress these days comes from navigating airports. In a partnership with health club operator Crunch Fitness, JetBlue is installing heavyweight punching bags that travelers can take a whack at once they get through security at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport.
"It's amusement and entertainment," said Gareth Jones, a spokesman for JetBlue. "In many ways, it's just communication with our customers."
It's worth noting that Southwest Airlines, the only major US carrier to record quarterly profits since Sept. 11 and one that has stood apart from the industry by limiting frills, said it will continue that strategy.
"When's the last time anyone bragged about an inflight meal?" spokeswoman Linda Rutherford said. "We'd rather you saved money on the cost of the flight and be able to have a steak dinner when you get to your destination."
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