Is There a Difference in Airlines?

April 1, 2009 — -- "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." -- Bogie/Rick in "Casablanca"

Here's to beautiful friendships, like Batman and Robin, Baskin and Robbins, Delta and Coke. Wait just a sec. That last one is a little shaky: Delta says it may break up its 77-year-old relationship with Coke, once it completes its merger with Northwest, which serves Pepsi.

I wrote about this in my blog and got deluged with comments from Coke and Pepsi partisans. I had no idea how passionate people were about their beverages.

And you have to wonder why. I know I'll sound like a heretic here but face it, Coke and Pepsi look the same, cost the same and don't taste all that different. But the zealots say otherwise.

OK, now let's look at the airlines. These days, they aren't all that different either. There are so many sales, that pricing isn't very far apart and service has devolved into "no frills" for most of them. US Airways President Scott Kirby was recently quoted as saying he has seen "very little consumer pushback" on irksome baggage fees. OK, so where are the airlines' frenzied followers?

For more air travel news and insights, visit Rick's blog at: farecompare.com

Good question. So let's look at marketing. Sure, Coke and Pepsi have had amazing ad campaigns over the years, but so have the airlines (think of all those soaring United ads, complete with "tinkly" piano in the background). It's sure not working now.

Maybe the head of Spirit Airlines was right. Nearly two years ago, an e-mail from CEO Ben Baldanza in which he slammed a critic who said he'd never fly Spirit again was made public. Wrote Baldanza: "[He] will be back when we save him a penny."

That suggests that the bottom line is the only thing that matters, but I don't think so and neither do the marketers at the major airlines. Consistency counts, too. Just look at the cola wars; you know your Coke or Pepsi will always taste the same and that's awfully reassuring. So, meeting customer expectations, high or low, is important for any product.