Last week, J.D. Power released the 2014 airline satisfaction survey, which showed a record high for the U.S. industry. Considering how the fees have increased, the survey results surprised me. The biggest surprise was a quote from the head of the division that conducts the survey:
So, let me get this straight…
Passengers are not truly more satisfied. They are just less dissatisfied
because they are used to the fees?
When it comes to personal baggage, do we feel the same way?
We carry personal baggage about past jobs, bosses, coworkers, and relationships,
into every day. Do we care how much it costs to haul that baggage around? Or,
are we just used to it so we don’t notice the expense anymore?
When flying, passengers used to be able to carry as much baggage as
they wanted for no charge. In life, those are people who never forget or
forgive. They want all their baggage with them so they don’t gather more while
on life’s journey. But, it is costly in one way or another to haul so much
baggage around.
The most recent airline fee changes include charging for carry-ons. Maybe
it is time passengers select what they bring carefully, only taking essential
items along their journeys. Maybe we need to do that in real life too. Baggage
is getting more and more costly. We don’t want to get to the end of our life’s journey
and think, “Well, it wasn’t great but it wasn’t terrible either.”