Things in the Sky

I’ve recently learned the terms “hard” and “soft” product from a certain Mr. Schalppig, as a result, I will now use them in a post.

The “hard” product, at least in the case of an airline, refers to things like your seat – what features it has, how comfortable it is, etc. The “soft” product, on the other hand, deals with things like the onboard service and food. I’d argue that that the latter is often more important, and can make-or-break an airline experience. Sure, a great seat is nice, but a grumpy or unprofessional flight attendant can ruin things quickly, I think.

So how did I experience these at NBTA? Well, obviously, I sat in the seats. But the airlines also had people there to explain their respective offerings, and that made all the difference, I think. For example, let’s look at the American carriers. After I had sat in a few seats, I would probably rank the carriers in this order:

1. American
2. Delta
3. Continental
4. United

But, after I thought about them a bit more, the ranking is more like this:

1. United
2. Delta
3. Continental
4. American

Wait, how did American and United switch places? Well, United has a much better business class seat than American, but American had two fantastic flight attendants manning their booth, and one of them gave me a solid ten minutes of her time explaining the airline’s offerings. United, on the other hand, just had a sales representative. Delta, too, had a fantastic demonstration with some great flight attendants:

Getting tucked in by Delta.

So, why does having professional flight attendants who know their product at a trade show matter so much? Because convention attendees will think that’s exactly what they’ll receive on their next flight. As such, I think it’s very important that airlines have enthusiastic employees at events like NBTA.

I think the Virgin airlines were the best in this area at the show, and that was especially apparent when comparing V Australia (great flight attendants) to Qantas (no flight attendants).

Trying out V Australia’s premium economy seat.

A Virgin Atlantic flight attendant explains the features of Upper Class.

I promise I’ll be done with NBTA posts this week, by the way.