An Airline’s Product Is More Than Its Schedule, But It Starts There

An Airline’s Product Is More Than Its Schedule, But It Starts There

An airline's flight schedule defines its product offering. But there is more to an airline's product ... [+] than just the schedule. American Airlines' Chief Revenue Officer, Vasu Raja, has raised some eyebrows by equating the airline's schedule with its full product. He's right in some ways — if the airline doesn't fly to where you are going, it's hard to see why you'd pick them. Traditional views of marketing would put more into the product bucket, however. If your flight is delayed, is how the airline communicates with you, and protects your travel if needed, part of its product? If you choose to fly an airline to build points in a loyalty program, couldn't you say the loyalty program is part of the product? Yet surveys show regularly that price and schedule are overwhelmingly the two factors that consumers consider when picking their airline. The schedule does dominate in many ways. In a fast food sense, the schedule would be the food served. Other things would be the cleanliness of the floors and tables, time spent in line, etc. You don't go to Chipotle because the tables are clean, but if the tables are dirty that may affect your