Mike FriedmanIt’s that time of week again, when we take a look at the fun and funky in the world of travel. Today, we’ll look at how to lose $85 million, the limits of technology and the concept of self-unloading cargo.
Wow! Wow! is Trying Again (Maybe)
There’s an old joke that the fastest way to get to a million dollars in the airline industry: You start with a billion. Want to know the fastest way to get there? Launch a small, international carrier that competes against a desperate network carrier who has plenty of firepower to make your life miserable.
Ultra-low cost carrier Wow! is giving it another shot, but this time, as a “premium economy” carrier. New chairwoman Michele Ballarin’s goal is to “make flying fun again,” and somehow, she plans to do so without a bouncy house or snow cone machine. Among other amenities, she plans to offer a lounge for everyone, nutritious meals and, probably, a pony. But give her credit for being a contrarian: She has taken the unusual revenue-minimizing step of not offering connecting flights, offering only non-stops between Iceland and the US.
Ms. Ballarin has raised $85 million from investors and is going after more. I just don’t think that she’s going to get the billion that she needs.
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Tips to a Tolerable Disembarkation
Airline spend a lot of time thinking about the fastest way to board a plane, but rarely do we hear about discussions about how to get off that flying tube. And that seems like the bigger issue. Unlike boarding, which seems to have some sense of order, there are no disembarkation zones; everyone leaps up when the bell dings.
The Washington Post’s Natalie Compton wrote a piece this week about the right way to get off an airplane. It includes the usual ideas, such as not getting up until the fasten seat belt sign goes off (I’m not sure how that helps.) and gathering your baggage before the plane lands (which presents a major safety issue on a rough landing). And, of course, waiting for people with tight connections to go first (Are those passengers somehow labeled?).
What it fails to mention is the simple truth: Getting off an airplane is a real-life manifestation of game theory. The actions of every passenger are combined with each other, often resulting in the worst possible outcome. Sure, if you’re in row one, you can let the guy in 2-B get by you, but are those person’s needs any greater than yours?* And why should you suffer because the guy in the aisle seat overpacked? Inevitably, passengers are going to end up operating in their own self-interest, because that’s what the airlines have trained them to do.
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This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Wi-Fi
The website Skift writes a lot of interesting articles about the airline industry, and this one is no different. For once, I don’t get to blame fees for a dissatisfactory experience.
In this piece, Skift talks about the concept of free, unlimited Wi-Fi in the sky with Delta CEO Ed Bastian. And the answer as to why we’re not there is more than Delta trying to bleed their customers dry. It’s that the technology simply isn’t there. So why can JetBlue do it, but not Delta? JetBlue flies mainly domestically with a different system. Delta’s Gogo isn’t there yet.
*Resulting in the eternal question of 2-B, or not 2-B?
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