The Perfect Customer Dissatisfaction Model

August 10, 2004

To all those frequent flyers out there, you have my sympathy. These days traveling by air is nothing short of a nightmare. This is specially true if your trip calls for a connecting flight. About the only thing these flights don't do is connecting.

On a recent short trip I took by airplane, I found out just how stressful connecting flights could get. Obviously the crux of the problem is the incessant delays that just seem to get worse all the time. Don't you feel stupid rushing to an airport just to find out that your flight has been delayed? And don't you promise yourself to be late the next time, only to find yourself arrive at the airport on time and go through the frustration yet again?

Delays on direct flights are one thing, but they are downright exasperating on indirect flights. In my case the first legs of my trip (both to and from) were delayed, triggering a run-like-hell action to catch the second flights and subjecting myself to the passengers' angry stares who thought my tardiness had held up the flights. What's worse is that on both occasions my luggage never arrived with me. It was delivered to me two days after I had reached my destination, and on my return flight, I am still awaiting my suitcase's arrival.

One wonders if the airline industry is a perfect not-to-do model to gain customer satisfaction. I won't mention the airline here, but what difference does that make? I'm sure my experience would have been just the same on most of them. If you know of a good one, don't be shy and leave a note.