Tom Gruca’s Post

The following real life example of front line employees coming up with a winning idea comes courtesy of Bill Murphy Jr. who puts out an outstanding newsletter called Understandably that is worth subscribing to (it's free with an option to pay to support). Are you taking advantage of the collective wisdom of your entire team? This is a simple change that Delta Air Lines uses to turn planes around faster, which gets passengers on their way faster than the conventional method. -------------------------------------------------- It saves a minute or two every time a jet rolls away from the gate. Multiply that by 1,000 Delta flights a day at big airports like Atlanta, and you start saving lots and lots of time. The best part is that it wasn't a bunch of high-priced consultants or MBAs who came up with the idea. Instead, it was a group of front line Delta employees: customer service agents at the Atlanta airport came up with the idea, a Delta spokesperson told me. The problem they solved starts with the design of your average airport terminal. Think of a plane lined up outside, perpendicular to the gates, its nose facing the glass. To get to the runway, a tug has to push the plane back away from the gate, then turn it 90 degrees so that it's lined up with the taxiway. Then, the pilots fire up the engines, and the plane slowly taxis away. But it turns out there's an easier solution. And I like to imagine Delta's customer service agents and ground support equipment people, watching this routine a thousand times a day, and then suddenly realizing: "Wait. What if we push the planes out at a 45 degree angle?" Zing! Yes, it's actually that simple. It was a relatively easy change to make to the airline departure process, Delta's Michael R. Thomas told me, but it has some really far-reaching effects. First, it takes less time to push a plane straight back at a 45-degree angle than it does to back out straight, stop, turn, and then push it again. Second, the 45-degree angle means planes can start their engines earlier, instead of waiting until they're through the 90-degree turn. Third, when planes turn at 90 degrees, they block airplanes at the one or two gates behind them. Pushing back at 45 degrees means they don't block each other, so more tugs can push more planes at the same time. "So now you're also shaving time off the adjacent gate, too. With so much traffic across Atlanta, these incremental little time savings have a big impact," Thomas said. "It's kind of a quirky thing, and I think it's pretty neat."

These days, everybody seems to believe in Santa Claus. I believe that the below quotation from the book by Michael Crichton "Airframe" is very relevant indeed not only to the aviation industry only, but for many other industries and people around: "................................................................................ “My guess is you’ll find more fake parts.” Amos stood, sighing. “More and more planes have fake parts, these days. I suppose it’s to be expected. These days, everybody seems to believe in Santa Claus.” “How’s that?” “Because they believe in something for nothing,” Amos said. “You know: government deregulates the airlines, and everybody cheers. We got cheaper fares: everybody cheers. But the carriers have to cut costs. So the food is awful. That’s okay. There are fewer direct flights, more hubs. That’s okay. The planes look grubby, because they redo the interiors less often. That’s okay. But still the carriers have to cut more costs. So they run the planes longer, buy fewer new ones. The fleet ages. That’ll be okay—for a while. Eventually it won’t be. And meanwhile, cost pressures continue. So where else do they cut? Maintenance? Parts? What? It can’t go on indefinitely. Just can’t. Of course, now Congress is helping them out, by cutting appropriations for the FAA, so there’ll be less oversight. Carriers can ease up on maintenance because nobody’s watching. And the public doesn’t care, because for thirty years this country’s had the best aviation safety record in the world. But the thing is, we paid for it. We paid to have new, safe planes and we paid for the oversight to make sure they were well maintained. But those days are over. Now, everybody believes in something for nothing.” “So where’s it going to end?” she said. “I got a hundred bucks,” he said, “they’ll reregulate within ten years. There’ll be a string of crashes, and they’ll do it. The free marketeers will scream, but the fact is, free markets don’t provide safety. Only regulation does that. You want safe food, you better have inspectors. You want safe water, you better have an EPA. You want a safe stock market, you better have the SEC. And you want safe airlines, you better regulate them, too. Believe me, they will.”......................." END OF QUOTE Crichton, Michael "Airframe" page 140 Kindle out of 409, Kindle edition.

Well, here we go again! Southwest Airlines is the latest to feature in the Passenger Shenanigans Chronicles. Reports are flooding in of travelers allegedly faking mobility issues to switch up their seating game. Folks, this isn’t just a few bad apples; it's practically a fruit basket. Let's break it down: 1. **Fortunate Timing:** The convenience aligns perfectly for those cunning enough to exploit the loopholes in Southwest's boarding policies. Talk about strategic planning! 2. **Ethical Pitfall:** Manipulating the system isn’t victimless. Genuine passengers in need might face unnecessary skepticism. Our moral compass seems a bit skewed here, wouldn’t you say? Expect airlines to tighten up quickly. Bad news for the “temporarily indisposed,” but good news for actual fairness. What should we predict? - **Stricter Policies:** Airlines could introduce more rigorous checks. Are we looking at a future where mobility documents must be scrutinized like passports? - **Tech Investments:** It's a safe bet we'll see an uptick in high-tech ticketing systems aimed at minimizing these antics. AI surveillance anyone? Cynicism feels almost too effortless here. The reality feels like low-budget reality TV, yet here we are—watching, commenting, and wondering about human nature. In a world where credibility’s already hanging by a thread, could this be the final knot? To those out there genuinely in need, we see you. The community’s faith in sincerity isn’t gone. Just tested. As always. https://lnkd.in/emdgfXDV

In my operations class, I talk a lot about the advantages of open seating that Southwest Airlines has used to board passengers. It makes a lot of operational sense because it keeps the turnaround times to a minimum, increasing the utilization of their key resource (planes). Of course, it does increase passenger anxiety because they are asked to make a split-second decision of choosing their seats. They announced that they will not be following this process in the future. While the details of the new process is not completely known, it will be interesting to see how this will impact their turnaround times, on-time departure record, and customer satisfaction. https://lnkd.in/eptNQPfJ

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Can you imagine changing something so engrained in your identity after 50 years, based on Customer Sentiment? In the case of ✈ Southwest Airlines, the move to change seat selection policies made headlines and since we personally fly SW a lot this definitely got my attention. Customer sentiment-based decisions may improve the overall SW flying experience for customers AND bring more revenue to the company, which is a huge driver for change. Seating based pricing models, and "unbundling" are expected to boost per-flight fees, and improve the bottom line. When the sentiment data was collected has not been shared as broadly (like was it over years, months, or other). But, I will bet it took a year like 2024, with reduced revenues for SW, for the change become reality. This harkens back to 2023 for me, when many Tech companies continued on their roadmaps when the world around them was crumbling. Taking time to consider what customers needed then, could have reduced churn for many, and maybe organically grown businesses for some. Want to continue the conversation? DM me or comment below! ----- Read on to learn more about this change....Article below by Bill Murphy and Inc. Magazine

Did you know Southwest Airlines added a cool $140 million to their annual revenue just by cracking jokes? Yup, their staff makes flights fun with humor, and it’s paying off big time. Passengers on these flights choose to fly with Southwest 1.5 times more per year than others. This shows how powerful customer experience can be. It’s not just about comfy seats—it’s about creating those memorable, enjoyable moments. Southwest’s strategy highlights how small details can lead to huge revenue growth and customer loyalty. Props to Southwest for proving that in business, a good laugh can be as valuable as good service.

This is a very thoughtful article by Gary Leff (View from the Wing). One benefit missed was the ability to bring your dog on board, no matter the size (to my knowledge but did require a seat charge). Due to the fact our dog is far too old to endure a normal airline's baggage accommodations... we decided to fly JSX specifically because to this benefit. That being said, JSX still has a lot of "growing up to do" before any major airline should even care about them. 1) Their routes are extremely regionalized and booking across regions (with connections) cannot be done online (i.e. DAL -> LAS -> OAK... and this causes issues with baggage handling during the trip). 2) There is an upcharge for seat selection (on top of an already pricy ticket). 3) On time departures are not their strongest quality. 4) Luggage handling is more on the customer's end after arrival than their staff's. 5) Routes could use some improvement (they continue to change, cities they once served no longer exist, time tables are not always the most convenient) Even with these issues, this service is one that is needed and I hope they hire the right leaders to fix some basic operational gaps. If you are flying within the region (amd have only one leg) I do recommend giving them a try!

An airline surveys its passengers about the types of in-flight snacks they’d prefer—a piece of cake or a plate of fruit. 🍎 🍰 As you'd imagine, the passengers overwhelmingly say that they’d rather have the fruit 🍎 When the flight attendants roll a real cart down a real aisle on a real flight, an overwhelming majority of passengers ask for the cake 🍰 We, Kenyans like to say 'Kwa ground vitu ni different'....meaning things aren't always as depicted. My work involves talking to customers and trying to understand them and often times expressed behavior is not actual behavior 🤔 An excerpt from product plan says that; 'Talking to your customers isn’t always the most direct path to the truth. Sometimes they won’t tell you what they’d really want, because they’re in denial about it themselves.' 👤 I'll be sharing how to best understand actual customer behavior in the next post, I'll link it here to follow 💡

Plus Sizes, Want Plus Seats. 🤔 #Tricky: While it’s understandable that plus-size individuals might find airline seating uncomfortable, comparing airlines to other modes of transportation like SUVs and trucks isn’t entirely fair. In America, there’s a preference for larger vehicles that can easily accommodate larger body sizes. However, the airline industry operates under different constraints—specifically, the need to manage weight and balance for safety, and to maximize the value of available seat miles. These factors limit the ability of airlines to offer more spacious seating without sacrificing efficiency or increasing costs. Thus, while empathy for plus-size passengers is necessary, the unique challenges of air travel make accommodating every body size more complicated than in ground transportation. https://lnkd.in/gazfzT8r