Yesterday the new airline "OpenSkies" launched premium service between New York and Paris (they are affiliated with British Airways will be expanding service to Brussels, Milan, Frankfurt and Amsterdam in the future). This follows the trend of other premium airlines like MaxJet, Eos, and SilverJet, although each of those airlines failed to catch on and all quickly folded. The difference with OpenSkies seems to be that normal people (normal defined as those of us that can't pay upwards of $4,000-10,000 for a flight) can actually fly this airline. I did a quick check, and a flight from New York to Paris is about $1000, around or even less than the going rate on most airlines these days. Honestly, even if I could save $100-$200 bucks on another airline I would consider OpenSkies for the mere fact that their goal seems to be to treat passengers with civility, service, respect, and maybe even a little luxury, even for those of us paying the cheapest fares. Certainly this mentality is simply lost on most airlines these days.
The economy service they describe, including nice adjustable leather seats, personal entertainment systems, quality food, and free wine, is similar to the service that I experience on an AirCanada flight to Paris recently (upgraded services has additional perks on both airlines). I got off that flight feeling great about the experience, about AirCanada, about flying, and I'll be an AirCanada passenger for life. It's the simple, yet too often forgotten, proposition that success in the airline industry involves decent service, a little respect, and a reasonable price. Those companies that have figured that out seem to thrive (JetBlue and Southwest domestically), those that don't all teeter on bankruptcy (most major airlines in the U.S.) It sounds like OpenSkies could be a keeper.
No comments:
Post a Comment