June 3, 2008
In regards to: Suggestions/Comments
American Airlines Customer Relations
To Whom It May Concern:
Subject: Airline policies and procedures
As a regular American Airlines traveler, I was unhappy to hear about your new policy to charge $15 for the first checked bag. I was also confused. It seems that while in the short-term this may raise a small amount of money to help cover rising fuel costs, in the long-term, it could very well end up costing you (the airline) even more due to unintended consequences. Also, this per-bag charge doesn't charge people for a convenience; instead you are charging them for a standard service.
From my experience, it seems that a significant cause of flight delays is due to the time it takes to board the plane. Most of that time seems to be spent waiting for people to find space to put their over-sized, rolling bags into the overhead compartment. There is a lot of wasted time waiting for people to find space for their bags and then even more time wasted checking the bags at the gate that don't fit. By adding this per-bag charge, you have now made this problem much, much worse. All passengers will now be trying to carry on all of their luggage and fit it into the overhead. This will increase your fuel costs while you have the planes idling at the gate, it will worsen your on-time percentage, and it will anger and frustrate passengers who have to wait even longer to get on and off the plane.
I have a solution... one that will solve both of these problems: instead of charging for checked luggage, consider charging for any bag that cannot fit under the seat. All carry-on bags MUST be able to fit under the seat in front of the passenger. If they do not fit, the passenger will be charged $15 -- this way they will be paying for the convenience of not waiting for their bag at baggage claim. Passengers would still be able to use the overhead bins for their carry on bags, but if there was no room there, ALL bags could go by their feet. People who really want to get in and out of the airport quickly will pay a fee for it, and the rest of us will be able to get on and off the plane faster. This will greatly speed up boarding times and customer satisfaction
On a separate note, I would like to congratulate you for the new, personalized phone service for AAdvantage customers. I am speaking of the service where the system authenticates you immediately when you call and gives you your flight information. Since this is usually the only thing I call for (especially on my day of travel), it saves me time. Great job!
I hope you consider my suggestion, and I look forward to flying with American again soon.
Sincerely,
1 comment:
wow, I am glad I don't fly AA. Interesting. Good solution though, and way to explain it to them well! :-)
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