The difficult relationship between the media and air transport

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There is no doubt that air travel is one of the media’s favourite subjects. This activity has become
accessible to the general public even if a very small number of the inhabitants of the planet have
already practiced it. And then it is not natural for an earthling to be propelled into the air, at an
altitude of 10,000 meters to fly at 900 km/h in order to arrive at a destination several thousand
kilometers away in countries that sometimes speak a foreign language. In short, taking a flight is still
very anxiety-provoking and it is not the crossing of airports that will ease the apprehension of taking
the plane. At least 50% of passengers are still afraid in this mode of transport. All this probably
explains why the media are so interested in this sector of activity. Let’s add that air transport makes
very beautiful images that televisions and magazines are fond of.


And yet it cannot be said that the media treat air transport in a completely neutral way, especially
since the generalization of social networks. Not a day goes by without a blurb mentioning an incident
that occurred on board an aircraft. One flight was diverted because a passenger felt unwell, or
because an altercation, even a benign one, occurred on board. And the treatment is always dramatic.
The XY Airlines flight was forced to turn back for such an incident. Of course, this is news, but is it
normal to dramatize what is most often only a usual procedure intended to ensure the safety of
passengers?


Basically, customers are now the first providers of news and even images, which are very practical for
filling programs or publications when the activity is not urgent. And innocuous incidents are thus
going around the world, pushed by social networks without all the information having been
prioritized.


Of course, airlines are not free of defects and these must be brought to the attention of consumers,
but sometimes they deserve a technical explanation which is not always provided because it is not
very accessible to the general public. Take the example of plane delays. A certain number of them
are due to technical constraints attributable to the company, others come from a malfunction that
prevents the aircraft from taking off and this is very fortunate, and still others come from air traffic
control, which is divided into several areas, each of which can be a cause of delay. I am thinking in
particular of the repeated strikes affecting European and particularly French air traffic control, which
are a source of delays that are ultimately blamed on the carriers by passengers who are legitimately
irritated by these setbacks.


Next to that, the enormous work done by this sector of activity to achieve excellence is often
overlooked. All it takes is for individuals in need of media coverage to sabotage an aircraft by
painting it green for it to make the front page of the media while the huge investments made for the
decarbonization of air transport are ignored. However, it should be recognized that those in charge
of air transport do not always take the necessary steps to publicize their efforts and that the various
components of the sector spend more time complaining about each other rather than valuing this
difficult activity together.


Basically, the relationship between the media and air transport is “I love you, I don’t love you either”.
There is both a fascination for this activity, which is widely reported in the newspapers, and a
reluctance on the part of operators to disseminate information that is often very explanatory and
which would make air transport even more accepted by the population. Let’s just take the example
of noise. The media regularly relay the complaints of airport residents about the movements of
aircraft forced to fly over them, without it being mentioned that these same residents take full
advantage of the economic activity generated by the airport platforms, which explains why they have
settled nearby, and why we never see any mention that the noise of the aircraft decreases from year
to year under the effect of the very expensive searches paid for by the various operators. An aircraft
of the latest generation of medium-haul aircraft, the most common category, makes 5 times less
noise than an aircraft of the same capacity from the 1990s.


It is not a question here of passing judgment on the merits of the treatment of aerial information,
but just of emphasizing certain misunderstandings between the air sector and the media universe. A
little effort on either side would not hurt.

Aren’t Air Transport Customers Asking for Too Much?

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There was a time, admittedly a little long ago, when air travel was expensive, not very comfortable and frequented by wealthy aficionados. This has changed a lot. It has now become a commodity, accessible to the vast majority of populations at least in developed countries. It is now more comfortable no matter what people say because the devices have reached a remarkable level of quality and safety and in addition it is now much less expensive than in the past. Everything could go in the best of all possible worlds, except that the behavior of some passengers makes this type of transport sometimes very stressful.

Of course, airlines are primarily responsible for the development of customer strata with a policy that tries to rake in all wallets. Admittedly, carriers are showing a little too much imagination with the introduction of variable tariffs driven by increasingly efficient “yield management”. Admittedly, “code-share” agreements, which lead one carrier to put its mark on another’s flights, lead to regrettable confusion. But this does not prevent us from questioning the behaviour of some passengers whose attitude pollutes the journey of others.

We are now witnessing a lack of civility that forces operators to resort to increasingly restrictive regulations. Take hand luggage, for example. Since some airlines charge for the storage of baggage in the hold, many customers abuse the carry-on or hand luggage. This is how we regularly see passengers entering the plane with a carry-on suitcase, but with a large backpack plus so-called hand luggage. It is clear that the racks of the devices are not equipped to receive more than one calibrated suitcase per person. So, knowing the difficulty of fitting their many pieces of equipment into the space above their seats, many passengers load the racks as they find a seat, often at the front of the plane, which leads to remarks from the crews that are more or less well received by the offending customers and a struggle to fit all the loads into the restricted space dedicated to them. This is why companies now charge for cabin baggage with the sole purpose of clearing up space so that reasonable passengers can place their belongings above their seats. Customers complain about these measures, which are certainly unpleasant, but complainers are usually the first to blame.

Do we need other examples? Complaints made by passengers who are dissatisfied with the service on board, or who are reluctant to pay for the services sold when they have worked hard to find the most economical fares, which do not include ancillary services.

It is always interesting to see the behaviour in the check-in or boarding queues. Regularly free riders try to force their way through, leading to unpleasant remarks from other passengers. And what about claims when planes are late? Of course, this is very stressful for customers who are a little worried about taking a plane or missing a connection in one of the gigantic “hubs” of the big operators. But let’s admit that if some companies don’t really have the religion of leaving on time, many customers use delays to obtain compensation that is certainly perfectly regulatory but which could often be avoided. This is how the European administration changed the compensation rules to the benefit, this time of airlines. Going too far inevitably leads to a return of the pendulum.

Basically, air transport is a victim of its own success and of the policy it has brought for at least a quarter of a century. By dint of announcing ever lower prices in order to come out on top in the price comparison sites, airlines have devalued a product that is so complex to use. Finally, if this product is worth so little, why would customers refrain from complaining as soon as a little annoyance is imposed on them. Respect is lost since the price is announced so low, and as soon as the rate actually paid no longer corresponds to the displays, the frustration of customers is all the more intense.

It cannot be said enough how regularly flying planes at an altitude of 10,000 meters, at 900 km/hour over distances of several thousand kilometers and in complete safety is an exercise that requires flawless expertise, colossal investments and perfect coordination between those involved on the ground and in flight. This deserves respect, first and foremost from customers.

At the Service of Small and Medium-Sized Carriers

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From the beginning, air transport was designed to be used in the same way in all countries of the
world with the same constraints but also the same possibilities for all. As early as the Chicago
Conference in December 1944, which created the foundations on which air transport was built, and
then with the creation of IATA in April 1945 in Havana, it was clear that this mode of transport should
be accessible to all peoples. This is how, unlike many in the fields of transport: trains, roads but also
hotels, the operating airlines can cooperate with each other at leisure using the same tools and the
same procedures. This is a considerable advantage that is ultimately relatively unexploited.

Of the 1200 or so scheduled airlines, only a few hundred of them use the facilities that they could
greatly benefit from. This of course covers all operational aspects, for example a spare part labelled
AOG (Aircraft On the Ground) in plain English a breakdown for a grounded aircraft, will have absolute
priority on all cargo holds. That is one of the aspects, but the facilities are also exercised in the
distribution of air transport. However, these are very often little known to the small or medium-sized
companies that make up the vast majority of the players, even if they represent only a little more
than 25% of the 1,000 billion in turnover that will most likely be reached this year.

In fact, the large carriers, which have a large infrastructure and specialized services in all areas, are
the only ones to use all the facilities at their disposal, and even then most do not pay any attention to
small markets. But small companies also have the same facilities and they do not use them because
the managers do not have the teams with in-depth knowledge of their usefulness and access. It is
striking to see the energy spent on creating ancillary products such as payment for checked or cabin
baggage, privileged access to certain check-in counters, the use of video games on board, not to
mention the payment of meals or drinks and so on. All this has a cost and even if the revenues end
up becoming significant, the related expenses are not negligible.

Many managers entrust the distribution of their product to the Internet channel alone. I remember
meeting a Swede in the admittedly distant past, the founder of his airline and whose headquarters
were based in Gothenburg. Its product consisted of operating twice a day flights to London, Paris,
Milan and Nice with MD 83s, comfortable 180-seat jets. I asked him how he planned to distribute his
product? “Only through the Internet through my website,” he replied. “Very well,” I pointed out, “but
then you will have to spend considerable amounts of money to inform your potential customers. You
will operate 8 daily frequencies from Gothenburg which has around 500,000 inhabitants, but you will
have to reach the 12 million or so in the London metropolis, the 11 million Parisians who live in Paris
and its surroundings, the 4 million in the Nice area and the 6 million Milanese while in each of these
cities you only operate 2 daily frequencies. It’s going to cost you a fortune. Why don’t you use the
tour of travel agents, whom you will have to pay, but only when they have sold seats?”. This man
took me for a dangerous nerd… But he filed for bankruptcy after 6 months.

Why this anecdote? Simply to emphasize the many facilities available to companies, starting with the
GDSs which are linked to all travel agencies, the IATA BSP (Billing and Settlement Plan) which allows
the issuance of tickets and the repatriation of funds and the “interline” agreements with one of the
two companies specializing in global distribution: Germany’s Hahn Air and France’s APG. However,
all these tools can be used at variable costs with the exception of a few costs for entry into the BSPs,
i.e. the expenses are only payable once the revenues have been received. Why then are they not
used? Most of the time due to a lack of knowledge and it’s a shame. This does not in any way prevent
us from using the tremendous possibilities offered by the Internet.

Everything is designed so that every airline, no matter how small, can access all the world’s markets.
The AFRAA (African Airlines Association) has understood this well because it is in the process of
launching information on the subject to its African constituents. Its example could be usefully copied
by other associations of small and medium-sized airlines for which IATA is too big an organization.