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^^^I can argue that the airlines do provide a product. They provide a seat on a plane to a place.
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This is an intangible service. Not trying to hijack the thread or anything...just trying to use what my parents payed four years for me to get...a degree in marketing.
It seemed that in all of my policy and management classes this is all we talked about. College professors think SWA hung the moon. Operating costs, price per seat per mile, hub fees, etc...
Airline travel used to be a luxury for the "to do". Now you get a small seat, that allows you to wear the person on one side of you, and a smelly armpit from some trailer trash wearing a wife-beater on the other side of you. I always try to be presentable when I fly....Point of the Story is....these are different times and the "prestige" has left airline travel. The majors are going to have to get with the times or else go bankrupt. These low cost carriers market to both ends of the spectrum. The business traveler...and the NFL fan wanting to go see his team play for the weekend. People are willing to be "inconvenienced" for a hundred bucks.
People point fingers at so and so getting paid too much and so and so not working enough...la la la...get people flying again and we will all be happy
. These marketing departments and the government, yes the government because they have a lot to loose in this whole ordeal, need to prove to people that it is safe and fun to fly. I don't know how to do this, but a dip• kid planting boxcutters and bleach isn't helping anyone. If anything it is pushing the industry back a few notches. Yes I know the TSA is a joke, but the "uninformed" passengers see the fancy little machines and think they work miracles, even though the guy behind the "TV" is probably trying to beat the guy in the other terminal in a friendly match of online Spades.
Just my $.02