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Last week, SNL performed a hilarious skit , creating a fake airline class for crazy people. I for one think this should actually exist, but in a different way. We now live in a world where the social contracts have been broken…Somewhere between the speakerphone conversation nobody asked to join and the person who thinks “I just have a quick question” means the line doesn’t apply to them, people began showing just how entitled they can really be.
Good manners don’t come with a ticket price
Spirit began winding down operations in May. But apparently, we’re keeping the jokes about its passengers, which I personally find to be a classist POV.
It’s easy to make a budget airline the punchline. Cheap tickets = cheap behavior, right? Except a passenger in first class was restrained after disrupting an American Airlines flight in September.
So despite popular belief, you can’t always buy your way into better company…The person playing a video out loud in economy and the person berating a flight attendant in first class have something in common: they both have decided (for us) that everyone else should deal with them.
The customer is always right... but everyone else would like a word.
When we purchase something, it comes with unsaid expectations.. We expect good service, a product that works, and hopefully, someone willing to help when it doesn’t.
I feel like brands have a choice here. They can keep rewarding whoever is loudest, or they can back the people trying to keep the place running. A customer can have a valid complaint and still be responsible for how they deliver it. Both things can be true.
So, I’d like to propose a new class of service.
Welcome to Basic Decency Class: where you get the same legroom but better company.
You don’t need status, points or a special credit card to qualify, but you do need to understand that other people exist. Simple things like:
- Saying thank you…. Yes, even when someone is being paid to help you.
- Holding the door for the person carrying enough bags to qualify as a small relocation.
- Reading the sign before asking the question that very sign answers.
- Using headphones... as relatable as it is, maybe I don't need to hear the screaming match between you and your mother.
- Speaking to the person behind the counter like a person because they did not personally design every inconvenience you’ve encountered today.
This flying class shouldn’t be priced at a premium, but you could get the comfort in knowing that the people around you have awareness that your day is happening alongside everyone else’s.
So, what airline could pull this off? The only answer could be JetBlue… but that’s an article for another week :)
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