Comments

John,

Thank you for posting about the best airline in America. I kid you not, I just bought shares of the company today. A real bargain at $5.77 a share. Way undervalued in my opinion. I like Frontier too.

Posted by Scott Peters at March 19, 2009 5:22 PM

Great, John! Thanks for that!

Posted by Judith Ellis at March 19, 2009 5:45 PM

Great idea John - would have preferred a Henley classic of course :-)

Posted by Trevor Gay at March 19, 2009 6:05 PM

Scott, Frontier seems to be giving SW some competition (http://www.comparethebrands.com/compare/98) but like I always say, you can't beat hip hop for a short hop. Trevor, I know SW attendants sometimes sing country songs on their flights though perhaps they don't know the Eagles songbook (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy0Yf1CAsuQ).

Posted by John O'Leary at March 19, 2009 10:23 PM

Cool - as well as fun I bet it was actually more effective as well - how many frequent flyers actually listen to announcements?

Posted by PaulH at March 20, 2009 2:51 AM

Judith 5 words great, Trevor almost 8! patrick

Posted by patrick at March 20, 2009 5:14 AM

John - YOU could do that! I can just see you in your Texas hat belting out a Lonestar number :-)

Posted by Trevor Gay at March 20, 2009 8:13 AM

Patrick 8, without his name 7, as if we would not readily recognize his brevity fetish.

Posted by Judith Ellis at March 20, 2009 10:12 AM

Trevor, I actually sang a lot of country in my honky-tonk band of the late 70s and early 80s. (Loved that Merle Haggard song: "It's Not Love But It's Not Bad.")

Re the basic point of my post, I'm still amazed that more companies don't find imaginative AND inexpensive ways to delight customers - as SW has consistently done. They've written the handbook on it but few businesses are reading it.

Posted by John O'Leary at March 20, 2009 1:18 PM

Absolutely John - the best companies clearly strike the delicate balance between between going 'over the top' and 'just doing enough' to delight customers. Too much rapping or country music if I'm just wanting silence is as bad as not having any creativity. It's all about knowing your customers I guess.

Posted by Trevor Gay at March 20, 2009 1:30 PM

"Too much rapping or country music if I'm just wanting silence is as bad as not having any creativity. It's all about knowing your customers I guess." Fair enough, Trevor. But of course giving safety instructions is government mandated (in the US at least) and SW found a way to make it fun - and in the process got the info across to customers who might have otherwise missed it, as Paul pointed out. (Once a flight is underway I personally don't want to hear from anyone.) Any airlines in your neck of the woods that do fun things? I think I've only flown on Ryan Air in the UK.

Posted by John O'Leary at March 20, 2009 2:19 PM

Yes, I remember when the SW flight attendants used to put on an exciting "safety" show, including celebrity impersonations. But then the FAA forbad that. Have the FAA rules changed?

Posted by Mike L. at March 20, 2009 6:07 PM

Sorry John – I misunderstood your point in my earlier comments – yes it is great that people make the compulsory safety announcements fun – at least it gets people’s attention. I’ve not come across much creativity in my flying experience regarding the safety announcements in our neck of the woods. I imagine Virgin airlines would be more likely than any UK company to make the thing interesting but I’ve flown Virgin a few times and it has been a very traditional safety routine. Brits are probably a bit conservative about such things. I do recall a brilliant train announcer on a Virgin Train who cracked a couple of jokes over the tannoy system that went down well with the passengers in my carriage. I always say it not compulsory to be miserable at work and often I think we take ourselves far too seriously at work. Even in the serious world of healthcare we should smile more – I’ve never believed it undermines professionalism to have fun at work – fascinating topic which I think I will Blog about…..

Posted by Trevor Gay at March 20, 2009 6:37 PM