Customers notice when they’re left behind

Perhaps this could be discounted as one traveler’s mad-as-hell moment, but I feel like the airline industry could be descending into a situation where people finally get fed up and start finding long-term alternatives to flying. My populist rage is boiling over not because of a recent flight experience — though, to be honest, for years none of them have been anything close to “great” — but due to a news story from Monday  detailing the latest industry-wide price increases. The price hikes are not even that significant, averaging out to $2 per one-way fare and $4 per round trip. But customers notice a little thing like this when it occurs amid a bigger-picture backdrop of declining service. First of all, as a USA Today report noted, airlines typically disclose fare hikes when operating costs, particularly those for fuel, rise significantly. But oil prices have trended down nicely for consumers the past few months, meaning people are experience less sticker shock at the gas pump and more of it when they’re trying to book a flight. Fuel savings aren’t being passed to airline consumers. What about the rest of the commercial-flying experience? The big-time mergers and consolidation of air carriers, from United and Continental down to superregionals like Southwest and AirTran, have not brought down ticket prices either. In fact, some routes have disappeared altogether. I used to count on flying home on AirTran to Akron-Canton Airport to see my parents quickly and affordably, leaving either from airports in Milwaukee or Chicago. None of those routes exists anymore. Rather than pay the higher costs for the remaining direct flights on other airlines, my family and I will just drive the seven hours to Northeast Ohio from now on. We recently moved up slightly in car with semiannual road trips to my parents’ house in mind. Too many similarly ticked-off flyers are a social-media disaster waiting to happen. After my college’s homecoming weekend last week, the top of my Facebook feed featured a highly shared and liked post from a fraternity buddy of mine irate — not just because our football team blew the homecoming game with a dismal second half — over his experience flying on a low-budget regional airline to and from Chicago. His list of grievances included: a $50 carry-on fee, $45 checked-bag fee, $15 seat selection fee, no reclining seats, no beverage service on a four-hour flight and no onboard Wi-Fi. He’s vowed to never give that airline another penny. Is there a lesson here for franchise brands? I think so. These beefs with the airline industry are anecdotal, but the point they illustrate is that customers notice when they’re getting nickel-and-dimed. It’s not just the death-by-thousand-cuts feeling we get from airline fees or the never-ending stream of medical bills that add up to a lot when we have to go to the hospital or see a specialist. It’s also about being able to taste how watered down a cocktail is at happy hour; you might get me to visit for that promotion once, but I’m not likely to go back if I know I’m getting an inferior product at that lower price. Franchise brands of course have a fiduciary duty to protect and grow their profits, but consumers would greatly prefer that companies achieve that by providing the kind of service that grows the top line rather than squeezing every last nickel and dime out of customers for the bottom line.