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Over the years air travel has become
more “challenging” for the passengers.
Much of that experience has been imposed by governments
in the form of security with the resultant long lines, being restrictive
of what you have packed in your carry on, and among other things the need
to arrive at the airport at least two hours or more prior to the flight.
Now with “Cabin OK” our industry is looking
at again changing air travel, and many feel, increasing the challenges
to passengers.
But what is happening in the case of Bag OK appears
to be more like an exercise in addressing service from the “inside
out” rather than from the perspective of providing convenience and
service for the customers.
As example, business travelers usually pay the highest
rates, carry their bags onboard, as their time is money.
But all of that may change if the proposed “Bag
OK” carry on from IATA is enacted.
Under the proposed carry-on guidelines everybody in
every class of travel aloft will spend more valuable time on the ground,
both checking in bagage and after arrival waiting for same.
Further we can only wonder about the cabin baggage of
flight crews?
I would think that cabin crews would, as a group, be
concerned. Will they then also follow the same rules? Most likely not,
as crews need to catch their next flights etc.,
But what will passengers think?
It is not much of a stretch to imagine plenty of fare-paying
passengers raising hell when they see what appears to be cabin attendants
being given preferential luggage treatment.
From where I sit, the view gently suggests better benefit
all around by working on some sensible thinking here, beginning with customer
service.
The very real carry on bag issue is another example
of a challenge that needs to include more emphasis on fixing the drivers
of the problem rather than simply a “one-size-fits-all band-aid
quick fix that nobody likes.
How ever the “Bag OK” initiative shakes
out, carriers can do themselves a world of good by simply thinking a bit
more about the customer, first.
Bill Boesch
 Editor's
note: Bill Boesch is one of the greatest of all the big-time, global air
cargo executives.
He has done it all, working in various top management positions
in the air cargo industry. He began in 1965 at the scheduled all-cargo
carrier Seaboard World Airlines, then moved on to Emery Worldwide in 1975
as Senior Vice President and General Manager, and eventually Executive
Vice President. After Emery he became Pan American World Airways’
Senior Vice President of Cargo. After Pan Am Bill went to work for Bob
Crandall as American Airlines’ Vice-President of Cargo.
Bill became President and CEO of the Cargo Division in 1991
and Chairman of the Cargo Division in 1996.
Bill retired from AA in 1996, but was unable to sit still
for long, moving back into the fray in 2004 as CEO of DHL/DP Global Mail.
In 2004 The War in Iraq was on going and the military truck
transportation was taking very high hit-rates (as high as 30 percent)
Realizing that long streams of truck convoys were constantly
needed to supply troops, but that the roads traveled were hostile, Bill
took thousands of soldiers out of the driver’s seat: without an
armed escort at his side, Bill went into the towns and villages and negotiated
with local Sheiks and other community leaders to hire local labor to drive
the trucks.
In one fell swoop, Bill took the troops out of harm’s
way, provided jobs in areas where local unemployment was running above
80 percent, and delivered the goods on time.
He is currently at home writing a book about his time in Iraq.
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