Peanuts anyone?
“Aer Lingus celebrate 75 years by bringing back the Peanuts!”
Can you imagine a headline like this?
While it would seem like a terrible way to celebrate 75 years (On May 27th 1936 Aer Lingus launched its first ever flight between Baldonnel and Bristol, with just five passengers) for me it would be the best possible news to come from our famous airline.
Do you remember the days when flying was a treat and when the smiling hostess would genuinely look after each of the customers with water, orange juice and peanuts?
In so many businesses the level of service has increased but in the airline business the exact opposite has happened with a horrible race to the bottom. The level of service has reduced to such an extent that air travel is now a right pain in the backside.
Aer Lingus seem to be caught in no man’s land trying to compete with the “Low Care” airline Ryanair – I honestly get really cross when I hear people waxing lyrical about the great businessman, Michael O’Leary who proudly boasts about his brand of lousy customer service. While they might make record profits (€401M in the last 12 months), Michael will use every situation and every trick to squeeze a bob out of you – listening to jingles on board selling tickets is not my idea of a good time!
When we plan holidays it will never be to a route serviced by a Ryanair flight – plenty don’t mind so who am I to argue? I don’t want to travel with anyone who values customers in such a way.
- Tickets for Ryanair charity anyone?
So, Aer Lingus – go for it … bring back the peanuts, that extra little bit of customer service, take a premium on the price and stop chasing Ryanair to the bottom.
What have you got to lose?
Happy 75!!
Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion
Tags: Aer Lingus, Customer Service, Fuzion, Fuzion Communications, Fuzion PR, Greg Canty, Marketing, Mchael O, Michael O'Leary, Michael O'Leary Ryanair, Positive thinking, Ryanair, Ryanair 2011 results
Fuzion Blog 
May 24, 2011 at 11:34 am |
A tip for Ryanair – give something away for FREE
A smile and a little bit of courtesy will go along way towards improving your image.
A tip for Ryanair management – confrontation and smart arsed behaviour doesn’t impress us. In fact it is annoying and ends up filtering down through the organisation which your customers experience first hand.
May 24, 2011 at 12:00 pm |
I can’t understand how they are getting away with this!
May 26, 2011 at 11:36 am |
I agree with what you say about Ryanair being the “low care” airline but you do get exactly what they promise.
I can remember working in the UK in the early nineties and having to pay £250/£300 for a return flight to Dublin at the weekends.
I can also remember having to pay £500 on midweek flights all flights courtesy of Aer Lingus.
They were more then happy to screw people and I actually try to avoid flying with them because of my experiences with them.
On a flight to London I do not need a breakfast that if served to me in a restaurant I would send back.
May 26, 2011 at 3:22 pm |
those did sound like terrible days – competition has been good for the industry but there is now a “premium” gap (without having to be over the top) where you deliver a superior service deliberately – nothing worse than the Ryanair scrum when the flight boarding is announced – people leap to their feet in fear of not getting a seat next to a loved one etc ..
I remember once people trying to pass me out on the actual plane steps they were in such a hurry – anyone for a lottery ticket?
May 26, 2011 at 3:46 pm |
Problem is people are not prepared to pay the premium and certainly when I have flown with what should be the “premium” airlines they have not delivered.
To many companies talk about “quality service” and how important their customer is and fail to deliver.
In my business I never cease to be surprised at the contempt that companies have for their customers.
May 26, 2011 at 8:56 pm |
I’m not prepared to pay premium prices for a flight that lasts less than 2 hours. Over that I’d reconsider my options.
Either way flying with Ryanair is really scraping the barrel as there is nothing in between, so sometimes I’ll just bring a pair of headphones and a good book with me. 😉
However Michael O’Leary is an astute business man who rightly says “for every 10 customers we lose, we gain 100” and for him it’s business, not customer service, which it seems, to him, are two totally different things apparantly.
May 27, 2011 at 2:04 pm |
that attitude is fine until someone comes along with the same prices but actually treats people like “customers” – then we would see a shift.
For me it depends on how much of a premium are you paying – how much would you be prepared to pay extra for that element of customer service? €5, €10, €15, €30 – there must be a magic number there somewhere?
May 28, 2011 at 12:31 pm |
Hi Greg,
Certainly Aer Lingus are caught in limbo – a half-way house between premier and low-cost. Ryanair have an excellent business model – they’ve turned expensive air transportation into something for the masses – literally an air bus service.
Nobody in Ryanair has ever been rude to me – their aircraft are always clean, on time, reliable and dependable. When you travelling because you have to be somewhere else, the flight itself is not the concern.
We dont expect cabin crew on a bus for example, why does air flight have to be synonymous with cabin crew. You used the words “Smiling hostesses” – I think that kind of attitude should be left with the 1980’s – almost elitist and sexist 😛 (all tongue-in-cheek here)
If I’m flying on holiday overseas I’ll travel with a more luxurious airline simply for comfort.
Extra staff, free peanuts and OJ have more than just their sticker cost – I would much rather be able to pay €100 for a quick trip to London than pay £500 and get a free OJ.
Go Ryanair – they built the largest airline in the world whereas Aer Lingus capitulated to British Airways and became a “regional” airline under the Empire’s flag. (not making a nationalist argument).
Aer Lingus, with more staff than Ryanair, and less than 1/10th of the passenger numbers are an example of overpaid, gloated civil service that weighs down our Government. While everyone complains about the bailout for the banks, the initial problem for the government balancing it books was the wages bill NOT the banks themselves.
May 29, 2011 at 4:29 pm |
great points David – I hope Aer Lingus can achieve the efficiencies and at the same time maintain a level of service that’s more than just like hopping on a bus. Everyone to their own (and I know many people have no issue with the Ryanair service – they do know how to charge if you are booking a late flight of have a bag that’s a tiny bit overweight) but for me I just won’t fly with them – I think it is an awful way to travel ..
Cheers .. Greg