Department, is getting the message too. After on-time arrivals dropped under 50% during the holidays and cancellations climbed, managers warned workers to get back to basics.
Underscoring the qu ality drive is the stunning turnaround at Continental Airlines,
where
for two years CEO Gordon M. Bethune has hammered away at the theme. Once near the bottom of
,ransportation rankings, Continental now has one of the best racings for on-time performance, bag-gage handling, and customer complaints. And in 1996, they won the prestigious J.D . Power & Associates, Inc., award for the highest customer satisfaction on long-haul flights. Bethune claims to be grabbing marketing share among business travelers from American and others. "We've been kicking their butts," boasts Bethune.
Jaded coach passengers. however, arent expecting first-ciass treatment anytime soon. ''The prod-
uct is bad, and it 's going to stay that way as near as I can tell," says Ed Perkins, editor of Consumer Reports Travel Letters. It 's up to the airlines to prove such doubters wrong.
Questions
1. \Vhat risk do airlines take when all of them have the same goal-improving service quality?
2. Should the airlines focus on business travelers or consumers? Why?
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