We have decided to resurrect a traveler's forum. We converted Ample Ramblings© to a blog a few months ago because we were not getting enough traffic on the bulletin board to merit keeping it going and there were resources and things to say and do that needed airing. So we decided that if other people would not come to us to tell us travel stories, we'd go out and find them and tell them to you.
The impetus for the resurrection of a travelers forum came from a discussion on Big Fat Blog regarding ways to make the travel industry take notice of our needs as people of size. In particular, the concern is over the airlines industry which seems hellbent on doing anything and everything it can to alienate most of its customer base. We don't really know of anyone who likes airline travel. We think it speaks volumes that most of the wealthy people of the world make buying their own plane a must.
With this in mind, we have written the following open letter to the airline industry:
Dear Airline Executives,
When considering your market, we'd like for you to pay attention to a central fact of human existence. We are not all alike.
In these days of mass marketing and globalization, it is easy to believe that the fastest way to make money is to appeal to that vague, but solidly unified entity called "the people." But unlike many industries, you are not selling taste. You are selling space.
That means you have to consider these differences if you are to continue to expand your market share. The differences among individuals have spatial implications. This is a law of physics, not a choice.
Yes, it is true that there is room in the market for one or two players to create a one-size-fits-all airline and make money. But the "all" in that strategy is not an "all" at all. In fact, those players have created a niche that appeals to only a small segment of what could be a gloriously large market.
People want to go places. They love to travel. All but the very poorest of the western world travel in one way or another. It is not logical that airlines should be struggling in such a market. The demand is great enough that fast travel should sell.
Economists have blamed fuel prices and fear for the inability of the airline industry to profitably meet this demand.
We don't buy it.
Airlines were struggling long before the latest round of fears and long before oil hit the $50 a barrel mark. Airlines have been going out of business for years now.
We believe that a better explanation is a matter of paradigms. The design of jets suffer from a lack of paradigm shift. Everyone just knows what the interior SHOULD look like. Everyone knows what that packing people in like sardines is the ONLY way to sell seats and make money. Everyone knows that bucket seats are the only form of seating that would work. Everyone knows that discomfort is what you trade for speed.
If you want your airline to survive and thrive and if you want your airline to distinguish itself and find a strong niche in a complicated travel market, then we encourage you to examine what "everyone knows" and ask the all important question, "What else can be done?"
Creativity, innovation and analytical thinking are what are needed at this point. Shake things up. Be the first on the block to do so. We challenge you to forget what you know about mass marketing, interior jet designs and a fearful public. We challenge you to consider the diversity of your market, the needs of people who want to take their stuff and their bodies from point A to point B and back again.
We need good old fashion engineering and invention. The spirit that got the Wright Brothers in the air in the first place.
If you don't have innovative and creative people asking these questions either in your company or your vendors, then hire them and demand them. If your vision is bold, you will find a way to make airline travel more accommodating to a larger group of people.
If you want some help in figuring out who those people are, we encourage you to spend some time getting to know real people, real travelers, including those of us who don't fit nicely into the stereotypical business traveler model of thin, able-bodied and unencumbered. But understand, we are not asking for special consideration. We want space for our bodies and our stuff, but so does the celloist who wants to carry her instrument with her across the country. So does the father of three who wants to take his young children and all their gadgetry and toys to visit grandparents in Europe. So does the middle-manager who needs to carry her laptop and her presentation materials to an important meeting on the other side of the world.
Real people take up space for a number of reasons. A good design would make it possible for anyone who needed the space to travel.
We believe that if you find a way to accommodate these real people with their real needs, you will create a profitable business that will grow.
It is a simple matter of design.
We are available to help you make that paradigm shift if you so choose.
We hope you will.
Sincerely,