I was reading in the paper today that American Airlines is starting a “new” service. For a fee, they would deliver your luggage to your destination. No waiting at the airport, with their infernal delays. Perfect for the busy traveler who needs to get things done and not wait for their luggage.
Except this service is not new. I was involved in designing such a service a long time ago. And, the story of how it happened is a great lesson in networking.
I used to travel cross country thrice a week. From Washington DC to Los Angeles, on TWA or Western . (Sometime later my west coast destination switched to Long Beach, when those flights became available on a different airline.) And, I preferred the Shakespeare seat (2B). And, since this was before the days of laptops (oh, I carried my Osborne luggable, all 20+ pounds of it, but it needed electrical power to run), I brought my DayTimer, pads of paper, and tons of journals to read on the flight(s).
I routinely met Jimmy on these flights, who loved the window seat and “knew” the second row was more comfortable than most. He was coming in from Portugal, to visit his office in Dallas. (I was visiting mine in Los Angeles or Long Beach.) And, Jimmy and I talked (in between reading magazines, book, and working).
It turns out Jimmy’s company was involved in airline passenger safety, comforts, and benefits. (This was just about the time that airline mileage programs were beginning.) And, Jimmy thought I could help his company appeal to more passengers, helping develop new benefits. (After all, I was a very frequent flier and served on an Airport Authority.)
So, Jimmy, I, and Terry (his Executive Director of the American division) struck a development deal. And, the first project was to develop and offer a joint airline club for the 20000 (then) members of the association. Given my frequent use of and familiarity with Piedmont Airlines, Western Airlines, and TWA, I went about making this deal happen. (This program lasted for about a year, until the airlines began the big mergers/acquisitions). Now, Priority Pass offers similar benefits for about 600 lounges worldwide.)
The next step took a lot more effort. Making a deal with Westin Hotels, Hertz, TWA, Western, and Piedmont. When you traveled on any of the three airlines, rented a car from Hertz, and stayed at a Westin Hotel, you got a great benefit. Your luggage was checked through to the hotel from your original airport.
Unfortunately, it was such a good idea, United Airlines, under Dick Ferris, set about making it one better. He merged United Airlines, Westin, Hilton, and Hertz (having completed their acquisition) into a new holding company, Allegis. Allegis, therefore, could control the passenger from start to finish. Our nascent program was over. More importantly for the passengers, Allegis never managed to pull off our creative concept. Because Ferris ticked off his unions (back when they had way more power than they do now) and failed to deliver profits, Allegis was broken up into the individual companies they had been before the merger.
And, by then, my four year association with passenger association was over. The concept was valid- and I’m certain valuable. Even more so now, because for some reason- in spite of new technology, it seems to take even longer to get our luggage off the airplanes.
Let’s see what American can do with this concept, or, more likely, see the concept evanesce when they get taken over by USAir.
I like the concept a lot, but wonder how they control human error. How many jokes begin with the famous “The airline lost my luggage”. Now, I can only imagine how freaked I would feel if after I checked in to my hotel I opened my bag to discover I had the clothes of a male business man. 🙂 Though I do look good in a suit, it should be tailored differently as you can imagine!
On a side note, I prefer taking the train. Train travel is so much fun, and it takes no time at all to get luggage! Cheers! Neat post!
Lisa Brandel recently posted..Midnight Angel by Lisa Brandel
They cannot “control” human error, Lisa. But, the biggest complaint most passengers have is NOT lost baggage, but delayed baggage. Especially now that we PAY for our baggage checking and the airlines have not beefed up their handling capabilities with those funds to insure that within 15 minutes of plane arrival, the luggage is not already coming off the belt. Moreover, most airlines rarely have the luggage arriving at claims within 15 minutes of the LAST passenger getting off the plane.
Given the fact that in our scenario- and presumably the AA scenario, we fly to Timbuktu, walk off the plane, conduct a day’s (or at least a few hours’) worth of business and in those ensuing hours, our luggage has been offloaded and delivered to our destination. That is inherently doable. I know it, because before the luggage was computerized, we knew we could have the luggage off-loaded, put on a small van, and delivered to the hotel within 2.5 hours of a flight.
Roy
P.S. Glad you liked the post.
P.P.S. I would love the train if it got there faster and/or cheaper. Picking an example, why the heck is the Acela NOT an express? With 2 hours between DC and New York? Oh, wait you want to stop at intermediate stations? So, here’s an idea. Train 1 of the day is totally an express. Train 2 stops at Baltimore and Newark and New York. That’s 2.4 hours. In the interim, a passenger could get off at Baltimore and take the regular train to Wilmington or Philly, getting there within the hour- at exactly the same time it takes now on the Acela, delaying every one else. (That’s with a wait for the next semi-local train.) Train 3 would go to Philly and New York. Train 4… you get the idea.
All it takes some creativity and the desire to render the trains competitive, profitable, and convenient.
The idea is definitely worth a try. I am not a busy bee but I remember how my dad missed his connecting train once because his luggage came in over an hour late. Seems like the “belt” misplaced it somehow.
So if they get that done here as well, my dad will be the happiest!
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I am not sure if any train authorities are considering this, Hajra… But, I am sure who ever gets this done right, and for the right price, will have its customers loyalty!
Roy
It amazes me how someone can create something that works well and then the big companies take it over, think they can make it better. And for a while it works, but then they do not deliver and they start to worry about just profitability and bottom lines and stop worry about customer satisfaction. I loved reading your story and learning how this concept really came to be. That is awesome Roy.
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Many entities think they can “1-up” their competition. Some do. It is true that larger firms do believe they can 1-up better than a small company can- even though the data indicates that it is typically the opposite.
I was also trying to let people know that one should be aware of with whom one is traveling. You never know who you can meet – and find mutual benefits. (I may actually write other blogs describing some of those events, as well.)
Thanks for your visit AND your comment.
Roy
My heartbeat accelerates when we start talking about airlines and luggage – too many traumas endured! God bless FedEx because I can NEVER get it all into a carry-on!
Christine Mann recently posted..You’re hearing, but you’re not listening
I can hear the thumping all the way over hear, Christine!
Now, take two breaths, one pre-arranged luggage delivery, and call me in the morning. I’ll let you know if your luggage is here 🙂
Roy
Let’s see. If train a leaves D.C. at 6 a.m. and gets to New York at 8 a.m. and the conductor has blue eyes, what time will you get to LA from Dallas? And where will your luggage end up? Did I hear Timbuktu? We did math problems like this in school and no own could figure out why girls didn’t do well in math. The answer is because the boys were coming up with new ways to lose the luggage.
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I don’t fly much anymore – haven’t been on a plane in more than 3 years and then only a short hop from Las Vegas to San Francisco and back and I used a carry on.
If I were going someplace where I needed more than a carryon, I’d probably ship it to hold for my arrival then ship it back. I have little patience for airports these days.
Julia Neiman recently posted..Can You Just Jump Into Business?
I’m with you, Julia, about checking luggage. And, I’ve been that way forever.
But, getting to Tokyo, Los Angeles, Denver, Portland, Jerusalem, etc… they are not really going to be among my destinations if I avoid the airplanes.
So, in spite of TSA, I do use aviation…
Thanks for the comments.
Roy
You did it again – LOL at the Shakespeare seat! In my corporate life, I was a road warrior (on the road 3-5 days/week, every week, at one point). I remember when the perks actually were perks. Now we are supposed to believe plain ol’ customer service is a perk when you don’t have to pay for it! Puh-leeze.
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I’m with you, Cathy. I can’t believe I actually will use the term “good ole days”, but when it comes to air travel, it’s the only term with which one can describe the current mess.
This hub and spoke system led to the downfall of the airlines. Because it became a never ending game, where one delay would either disrupt all air travel or leave a substantial number of travelers unable to reach their destination. And, then those “little airports” (Cinty, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Nashville) realixed that they could charge fees that the airlines would gladly collect (so they would not have to pay their share) and pass along to the customers, saying “t’aint our fault”, which became every airport. Then, the airlines realized they could offload ALL taxes, claiming their fares were $ 1 and the taxes were $ 100. Then, a fee for baggage- but ONLY after TSA outlawed (let’s get real, that’s what they did) carry-on luggage…
OK, I was having a wonderful day. I won’t succumb to frustration and depression…
Thanks for getting me started…
Sorry to spoil your day, Roy. Something else to blame the airlines for. 🙂
Cathy Miller recently posted..3 Business Writing Hits for the Summertime Blues
I am not a fan of the airlines, Cathy, but it will be a long day’s night before the TSA stops being the bullseye in my travel targets!
I am not sure that I would trust that an airline could get my bag to my house. I don’t typically trust that they could get it to the airport of my destination, so I try to carry my bags as often as possible. Why don’t they just try to work on getting us there on time? That would be a nice service that I would appreciate.
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Kristen:
I do not think they have any intention of delivering the bag to your home. They plan to deliver the bags to a hotel, where you will be staying. It is a service to let you get more work done on your trip or start your vacation (like play at Disneyland) sooner than later.
I am all for them getting to our destination on time- but that also means they cannot deliberately extend the travel time to make it look so (have you notice that a flight from East to West Coast is now scheduled for 30 minutes more than it was 10 years ago? With faster planes? And, it also means the end of hub and spoke systems!
Everything old is new again, I guess. While this seems to be a great idea, I don’t trust the reliability of an airline to get my bags to the hotel. That’s why I carry on luggage. AA lost one of my bags a few years ago and I had to go to a business meeting in jeans and a t-shirt. Unfortunately it was an early meeting and I didn’t have time to shop. Fortunately, my client was understanding. I hope this new service works but eventually they’ll put a huge price tag on it and no one except people with expense accounts will be able to use it. Will be interesting to find out what happens. BTW, love the name of your airline seat.
Lisa Kanarek recently posted..4 Ways to Make Change Easier
Glad you liked my seat name, Lisa- it was well understood back when we CALLED a HUMAN to make our reservations…
I am trying hard to NOT comment upon the airline that is in your neck of the woods (I think it currently has another anatomical issue) since they are (IMHO) the most unreliable of choices for this service…
My guess is this service is to be farmed out to a series of smaller firms that already handle the bungled airline luggage issues. Our design was to have Hertz and an employee do the driving.
Roy