Air Travel for Business: Where Carriers Get it Wrong

Like many professional sellers, I travel all the time. Having racked up over 225,000 miles over two major airlines last year you could say that my most used office space is seat 3D. Air Canada and America are my preferred choices and I am always pleased with the levels of service they provide their elite fliers.

Concierge service, priority numbers, access to the best seats and best flights, upgrades, free food and drinks – it really does pay to be a top tier with these two airliners.

I need to be productive when I travel. For me, that means a business class seat for room and privacy, power, and WiFi. After all, this is my office! This month, I was surprised to be be missing key elements from these requirements with both carriers.

  1. Air Canada’s new wide body 787 doesn’t have WiFi on their domestic routes (Toronto to Vancouver). This plane has been in service for 2 years. How can a new plane not be equipped with WiFi?
  2. AA flights with no power outlets. Sure, there are some flights with the old cigarette type chargers but this 320 had no outlets at all and it was a newly renovated interior! For a 3 hour flight, that’s a problem for most business travelers.

My point is this: business travel is a dominant source of airline profits. So knowing that, why are they not doing everything possible to attract and keep the business traveler satisfied?

The 787 is a glorious machine. Seats are comfortable, power is accessible and plentiful, and there is lots of storage and privacy. What a miss not to have equipped it with WiFi? Looking around the cabin, 80% of the travellers upfront were business people working on their lap tops. I spotted 2 people using the inflight entertainment and two watching movies on their own machines. Everyone else was working.

[bctt tweet=”If you’re not providing your customers with expected and obvious services, they’ll look elsewhere.” username=”EngageColleen”]

Rather than spending energy and money stripping out the frills and offering a bare bones fare, (which people will complain about once they find out what is offered and excluded) why don’t airlines invest in those who gladly want to pay for the frills?

Let me know in the comments, what is your greatest gripe with air travel for business?

And, don’t forget to get your copy of Nonstop Sales Boom to dramatically increase sales in your organization.

2 responses to “Air Travel for Business: Where Carriers Get it Wrong

  1. Yes, price driven decisions can often be the wrong decisions. I hope these airlines “wise up” before they lose too much business.

  2. I have been mystified by this for years, I think connectivity on its own would drive seat sales!

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