Southwest Wins Its Category
<B> Southwest Wins Its Category</B>
By Jay Campbell
Southwest Airlines came away a winner in what could best be described as a specialty category of domestic carriers that neither employ the hub-and-spoke full-service model, nor offer the corporate market constant attention through a massive sales force. In this broad and mixed category, airlines such as Midwest Express and Alaska Airlines also fared well in key service-related areas.
Southwest scored 7 percent below average overall, but trailed only American in total first-place finishes among travel agents and corporate travel managers. The Dallas-based low fare specialist swept both groups in the categories of price value and customer service personnel, and also scored first among agents in quality of service and problem resolution.
Southwest's service plusses stemmed from its operational reliability, schedule frequency and service-oriented workforce. Also, sources said, it offers business travelers a coach product that is equivalent to or better than those offered by its competitors, despite its first come, first served seating model. But it fared poorly in sales rep visits, flexibility in negotiating price and amenities, empowerment of sales reps, availability of timely and accurate flown revenue data, VIP services and premium classes.
At 6 percent below average, Alaska Airlines and Midwest Express scored better overall than Southwest and ranked very well among corporate travel managers. Each tallied above-average scores in seven categories; agents ranked them each above average in four categories.
Travel managers gave Midwest Express the gold for quality of service, ahead of Southwest, and a silver in quality of customer service personnel. Agents ranked it second behind Southwest in both categories. Like Southwest, though, it scored poorly in categories such as price flexibility.
"Not to diminish the success of the major winners, we should be sensitive to the fact that someone like Midwest Express is going to show up rarely because there is a lower number of people who are exposed to them," said Rolfe Shellenberger, senior consultant with Runzheimer International. "The size of the sales force is a function of the size of the airline."
Though bigger than Midwest Express, Alaska Airlines also may have been affected by factors of size and scope. Still, the West Coast carrier came up tops among managers in three categories: problem resolution, premium classes and VIP services. Those plusses were offset, however, by relatively low overall scores in terms of sales rep visits, strategic selling and spending data.
As was the case with Midwest Express and Alaska, fewer than half of survey respondents had recently done business with Reno Air, Frontier Airlines or American Trans Air. Among these, only Reno registered any above-average scores in four categories among travel managers. But corporate managers also ranked Reno last in four categories.
America West Airlines, the lowest-cost major hub-and-spoke carrier, scored poorly in all categories according to travel managers and ranked above average in four among travel agents. Even more than America West, American Trans Air could be characterized as a predominantly leisure airline, as reflected in its usage by just 19 percent of travel manager respondents, compared with 51 percent of agents. But those agents were harsh on American Trans Air, ranking it last in nine categories.