Bethune's epitaph for the Big Six

[Guest B1900 Mech]

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/columnist/r...brancatelli.htm

[John_Cillis 2,406]

Interesting article. The high costs of business airline travel is one of the reason business have learned to do less with more. I used to train people in a classroom--now I train them by using remote control software.I remember one flight--I was coming out of Montana, and was delayed a day with a client. The airline hit us with almost $2000 in fees. It was one of the big six. Same situation, another airline. I was with my family just recently and decided to extend my vacation. SWA was my carrier. Total cost--$33.00 a person.Being a business traveler in the first example, I was held hostage to the concept presented in the article. Having worked many years in the hotel industry, which borrowed much of its strategy in yield management from the airline industry, I know how hard it is to shatter such concepts. Many diehard hotel managers are stuck on the concept of ADR--average daily rate. They don't look at the revenue they can get per available room. They'd rather have 50 out of 100 rooms empty, and brag about a $100 ADR, than sell an extra 25 at a $80 ADR. That concept still holds true with many in the airline industry. A few years ago, when businesses burned money with glee, no one cared. Now, it is different. Businesses are smarter--definitely smarter than the person mentioned in the article.-John