Industry Comment
The miracle that is airline travel
Rob Britton discusses the importance of ‘emotional capital’ and the impact it has on service delivery, happiness at work and finally, on business success
I jotted the outlines of this column on a flight that was filled with families returning home after their holiday (or perhaps heading to Washington, DC, our
destination for a spot of sightseeing). Seat 16D was a good vantage to witness the ongoing miracle of modern air travel. Yes, the miracle. Never in history has such a
wide range of people been able to move long distances as swiftly, safely, and cheaply. At the start of my airline-industry guest lectures in business schools, regardless of topic, I always remind the class of what passenger airlines do – the miracle they deliver: 1. Processing or facilitating the flows of money, information, and human capital that foster economic development (what we commonly call ‘business travel’ is much more than that prosaic phrase suggests).
2. Enabling most medium- and long-distance tourism, by some measures the largest single industry in the world – and growing. 3. Perhaps best of all, uniting families and friends for a weekend or the result of emigration. Sadly, and paradoxically, the airline people
closest to delivery of the miracle – inflight and ground staff – often are most oblivious to it. They don’t see the miracle. Why? First, they’re certainly not that way on day one
of their careers, when they’re excited and a little nervous. But routine can set in early, sometimes within six months. They learn how it all works, and their more experienced (and jaded) colleagues often tell them it’s an assembly line. Second, because airlines are assuredly a
business of details, and often-changing ones, they get so lost in the minutiae that they cannot see the larger purpose. Third, perhaps worst of all, they begin to believe
the gloomy and cynical judgement of journalists: all flights are late, airlines are rapacious, service is terrible, blah, blah, blah. Does it matter that frontline airline people don’t see the higher purpose? Isn’t this all rather
You read it here first…
BA appoints Alpha Inflight Services to run its catering management. This was the first time the airline had outsourced the management of its onboard catering services described as ‘a brave and bold step.’
50 ISSUES
Onboard Hospitality Issue 05, June ‘03 C E L E B R A T I N G
squishy? Having seen the phenomenon close- up for more than four decades, I believe it does matter. Mind you, the eternally positive (and I count myself in that group!) will always ‘get it’. But for the great majority of cabin crew, airport service deliverers, and others, we need to find effective motivation, for two reasons: to ensure a better experience for customers and to improve employee job satisfaction. It turns out that this has become a focus in
management schools. Professors (and I am lucky to know one) have begun to study what they call ‘emotional capital’, and it turns out to be very important in service delivery and happiness at work – and thus to business success. These thought-leaders recommend that companies find ways to remind people every day of the worth of their role, and to help fit even the simplest position into a larger narrative or purpose. In our business, this wonderful business of
getting people together, that should not be a daunting assignment. Just take a look around next time you’re at an airport or on board, and see the miracle.
Dr. Rob Britton leads AirLearn (
www.AirLearn. Net), a consultancy that helps people to understand the complex and ever-changing airline industry, and to translate those insights and knowledge into effective business results.
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