To Biscoff or Not to Biscoff
Looking at Delta's latest service change from a few different angles
First off, RIP Spirit. When we wrapped up our last post, we knew that the end was probably near, but it still stinks when an airline shuts down, most notably for the people who (used to) work there. We’ll leave the post-mortems to others. One thing that stuck out to us was Spirit being the first airline we saw collapse in the real-time social media age, which made the whole event that much more painful for those involved as the news kept coming at all hours from all angles.1
A few days later, Delta quietly announced that it would be ending its “Express” snack and drink service on flights under 350 miles. On the heels of Spirit’s demise and with fares rising due to increased fuel prices, both trade and mainstream press were all over this news. DL also announced that it would be adding full service to flights between 350 and 500 miles, but unsurprisingly, that story didn’t get quite the same pick-up.
Whenever an airline makes a change like this, we always try to look at it through three lenses: airline, supplier, and customer.
The Airline Angle
Like any decision in this vein, we’re certain the math has been done for a while. In fact, we’re sure that junior analysts ran 8,000 different permutations of this change and its effect on costs, service and customer satisfaction.2 If DL needs to make another change, the cost and data analysis won’t be the issue. The math has also already been done on checked bag fees, seat fees, thermaprint boarding pass paper, and cheese cubes in the SkyClub. It’s no different in competitor offices in Chicago or Dallas.
In our opinion, the issue here was the timing. Perhaps DL CorpComm thought releasing this news now would get lost in the Spirit noise. Instead, writers tied it to the Spirit news as a sign of airlines giving less to passengers in a world where fares are going up. Couldn’t they have waited a couple weeks? DL also just debuted their new transcon A321 NEO with 44(!) first class seats. But, the majority of stories still seem to be about taking away the Biscoffs on the Atlanta-Jacksonville flight.
The Supplier Angle
Speaking of Biscoffs, while the fine people at Lotus Bakeries will be OK, changes like this can have a major effect on airline suppliers. According to DL, this will only affect 9% of total flights, but that’s still almost 500 flights. That’s a lot of drinks and snacks going away in an already low-margin business for the people who provide them. Not every shop can absorb this kind of loss like a 4-billion-dollar public company.3
Now, hopefully the addition of full service on flights in the 350 to 500 mile category will make up some of the difference. Still, if we had a snack or beverage business, maybe we’d be thinking of a way that we could motivate DL to distribute snacks for these flights in the jetway a la the long-lost SkyDeli, which may not have been the most gourmet option, but was remarkably efficient.4
Regardless, this is yet another reminder that, as a supplier, you are always one airline decision away from a very different world than the one you had planned. And even worse, one airline’s decision tends to lead to another airline’s decision and all of a sudden, instead of one reduced contract you have three (or more).5
The Customer Angle
This was amusing to us. There was the predictable backlash: “We can’t even get a drink on this flight?” There was the less predictable backlash to the backlash: “Why do you need something on such a short flight?” Then there was the somewhat baffling backlash to the backlash to the backlash: “Why are you defending this decision?”
Gotta love modern online discourse.6
Online opinions aside, the truth is that customers (and people in general) never like it when you take something away from them. And, the juxtaposition of this announcement against a shiny new plane with 44 first class seats cannot be ignored. It’s not just DL, either. Across the board, we are seeing press release after press release featuring lie-flat suites, new lounges, and gourmet premium class meals while we are also seeing diluted frequent flyer benefits, increased bag fees and a willingness to charge for nearly everything except a middle seat.
Airlines have always been two (or three or four) class environments, but we can’t remember a time when the difference was so stark and so visible. We’re not ones for pitchforks and torches, but we can also understand why you would get upset when that Biscoff is taken from you back in 37E.
Notes
None of us were scrolling Twitter looking for updates on Independence Air back in 2006
OK, maybe not 8,000, but trust us, when you’re trying to spend money on customers at an airline and you’re meeting with finance, you can’t bring a knife to a gun fight
Raise your hand if you had no idea the maker of those delicious cookies was a multi-billion-dollar conglomerate
SkyDeli might be the only retro airline thing we can’t find hundreds of pictures of online, but Al on the Airlines remembers
Unfortunately, we have first-hand experience with how this works
It will always remain one of our core tenets that the internet ruined everything