Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Some Firms Deserve to be Liquidated (Northwest Airlines Edition)
by Tom Bozzo
Trains, please.
The indictment:
- Delayed arrival rate of a shocking 29% (up 10 percentage points year over year) even by the fake official statistics that don't count delays due to missed connections.
- Labor relations so bad that many rank-and-file employees no longer bother to conceal the fact that they're pissed off.
- Various indications that the above items are symptomatic of trying to run the airline with fewer people than are actually needed to run it in a way that doesn't make customers want to march on Eagan, Minnesota bearing torches and pitchforks.
- Seating accommodations on domestic flights that are barely tolerable at NWA's break-even load factor.
- Belief of some customer service executive that packaging a few on- and off-brand snacks in a box and selling the bundle for $5 is a good idea.
- Belief of some customer service executive that charging a premium for aisle seats that are totally ordinary (except for being in the forward economy-class cabin) is a good idea.
- Meal service on international flights that makes one nostalgic for the comforting pretensions of BA's "World Traveller" marketing schtick.
Trains, please.
Labels: Trains Planes and Automobiles
Comments:
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NWA used to run fairly well on many of their CO "code-share" flights. But I suspect that (1) that may be an exception and (2) those who fly out of a NYC-area airport expect more delays, so that may colour my view.
That said, if their domain were given to Dre, Ice-T, and Eazy-E's estate, I doubt many outside of MSP would object.
That said, part of their problem may be that the definition of a "legal" connection--30 minutes between flights--hasn't changed in the post-9/11 world of early close and security delays. There are a few airports (MSP may be the most obvious, with MIA, ATL, and ORD also contenders) where the design means that getting from one "spoke" to another is now virtually impossible.
When your hub is a delay/missed connection waiting to happen, bad results will be the rule, not the exception.
That said, if their domain were given to Dre, Ice-T, and Eazy-E's estate, I doubt many outside of MSP would object.
That said, part of their problem may be that the definition of a "legal" connection--30 minutes between flights--hasn't changed in the post-9/11 world of early close and security delays. There are a few airports (MSP may be the most obvious, with MIA, ATL, and ORD also contenders) where the design means that getting from one "spoke" to another is now virtually impossible.
When your hub is a delay/missed connection waiting to happen, bad results will be the rule, not the exception.
I don't think MSP is in the same league as ORD for connection misery, though I'd agree that it's marginal at best for the role of a major airline hub. Part of the problem there seems to be that they don't have the real estate to essentially start over, as has been done with considerable success at DTW. So MSP has irremediable issues with the terminal design and runway layout.
In addition to the lack of open seats to accommodate passengers w/ missed connections, there's also an interaction with schedule cutbacks -- so to second-tier destinations like Madison, there are yawning gaps in the timetable where once there were flights.
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In addition to the lack of open seats to accommodate passengers w/ missed connections, there's also an interaction with schedule cutbacks -- so to second-tier destinations like Madison, there are yawning gaps in the timetable where once there were flights.
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