Please don’t anyone take this post as anything other than what it is – purely my observation. I am not intending or attempting to “lecture” anyone. I’ve been there, done that. I’ve got both the tee shirt and the coffee cup – and I also have dollars off coupons for another ride. I’ve elected to sit –out a second opportunity, thank you.
Airlines (and almost every other legitimate enterprise – I say “legitimate” because there are some that operate under, or with, subsidies from other corporations or a government – and I’m not talking about those enterprises) operate according to the bathtub rule. By that, I mean that every business is like a bathtub. Every bathtub has a method of filling it (the spout) and emptying it (the drain). Every business has a method of “filling the bathtub” (i.e., income) and a method of “emptying the bathtub” (i.e., expenses). Each expense can be considered to be yet another “drain” to help empty the bathtub. Every source of income can be considered to be yet another “spout” to help fill the bathtub.
So, what are the potential sources of “drain,” or expenses, of an airline? Well, you and I both know that I’m not going to be able list all of those sources. However, consider the following …
1. Airplane purchase (or lease),
2. Airplane parts (like radios, radar units, engines, etc.),
3. Fuel (ahemm…) and associated delivery, storage, and disbursement fees, etc.,
4. Airport leases and fees (landing fees and lease fees for ramps, hangars, ticket counter space, baggage areas, etc.),
5. Physical facilities (other than those under airport leases),
6. Utility fees (telephone, power, water, sewage, etc.),
7. Equipment (like tables, chairs, baggage carts, computers, wrenches, hammers, airplane tugs, etc.),
8. Advertising,
9. Training (flight crewmembers, flight attendants, dispatchers, mechanics, reservationists, baggage loaders, gate agents, sales and marketing, etc.)
10. Personnel (salary and benefits – and usually the benefits cost somewhere between 80% and 150% of the individual’s salary; plus any retirement contributions)
Please, feel free to add any items to this list that I’ve overlooked.
And, what are the potential sources of “fill,” or income, of an airline? Well, how about the following …
1. Ticket sales.
Please, feel free to add any items to this list that I’ve overlooked.
The primary point of the game is to keep the bathtub full (in this analogy, the bathtub content would be MONEY – cash or other viable monetary instruments). If the level in the tub begins to get too full (has anyone ever seen that happen?) you could always increase the size of any one of the existing “drains,” or you could get artful and create any number of new “drains,” like sponsoring the annual LETS KILL CANCER telethon (which, certainly, no one could or would criticize). On the other hand if the level in the tub begins to get a bit shallow, you have one of two things you can do. Increase the “fill” or decrease the “drain.” It would be nice if you could do both at the same time. Any one who operates a business or has a family that is dependant upon the “drain” from the airline being their own bathtub “filler” is going to squawk when the airline decreases its outflow –forcing them to do the same sort of re-alignment for their own bathtub. I'll let anyone else decide if any given airline has a better shot of increasing the "fill" or decreasing one, some, all of their current "drains."
Overly simplistic? Probably. But I think you get the picture.
What can you, as an individual, do to help keep your own bathtub “liquid?” (Sorry, had to use that play-on-words) The only thing you CAN do is the very best you can at the job you were hired to do, and do it as consistently and as well as you possibly can. You can go around poking into other jobs and criticizing other folks’ job productivity or capability – but that will be to the detriment of your own job – leaving you vulnerable to the same type of criticism from still others who are poking around just like you. You can control only what you can control. If you cannot control it, all you can do is make noise about it. Of course, doing so is your right and I am certainly not going to tell you not to do that. But if you truly cannot control the decisions that are made above you in the “chain of command” (and not very many of us do) my counsel would be to watch those decisions being made, offer your input if you desire (and I wish you well with that) but, if that input falls on deaf ears, you have but three choices; continue as you have; buckle down and work harder; or seek employment elsewhere.
Believe me – I do NOT have the answer. If I did, I wouldn’t necessarily explain it in detail here, I’d run out and buy United or Delta and put my answer into action. And by the mere fact that I’m still here typing, you should recognize that I DO NOT have such a secret plan.
________
AirRabbit