Customer service and satisfaction
The fourth and perhaps the most obvious attribute of the low-cost carrier is the no frills service that these carriers provide passengers. Instead of providing passengers with a menu of product choices priced within a range, the low-cost carriers offer a single type of product, coach service. This type of service has become very attractive to travelers. Low-cost carriers do not provide meals on flights, which results in a savings of $5 to $10 per coach passenger. No meals equates to a savings of up to 3.2% from the average carrier’s operating cost. Airline passengers are getting grumpier, less tolerant and complaining more about the shrinking size of passengers seats leg room and being bumped from overbooked flights. Passenger complaints to the U.S. Transportation Department rose by one-fifth last year. The surge came despite a higher percentage of on-time flights in 2011 than during the previous year. The way airlines have taken 130-seat airlines and expanded them to 150 seats to squeeze out more revenue has finally backfired on them. The Internet makes it easier for passengers to air their frustrations. The new online complaints system send passengers complaints directly to DOT, consumers now have a way to complaint more easily. As a result, both low-cost-carriers and legacy airlines are putting more efforts in beefing up customer service efforts focusing on quality and customer satisfaction. Unruly, rude, and unhelpful employees can be a problem in any business and airlines are no exception, as evidenced by the complaints about poor cabin assistance and treatment of passengers who were delayed . The most common complaints in the realm of frequent flyer miles made up more than half of the number of miscellaneous problems throughout 2011. These LCCs lack elaborate loyalty programs, which necessitate extra employees, to provide more personalized customer service, and expensive facilities, like airport clubs. Low-cost airlines do not provide costly services, which are only profit enhancing for a hub-and-spoke carrier able to extract high level of rents from customers with a high willingness to pay, business travelers.