As I boarded a flight this week from sunny Florida (lots of smiling faces) to snowy Michigan, the line came to a screeching halt about half way down the ramp onto the plane. As I got closer to the door, two flight attendants were there to greet passengers and one was discussing with a woman already seated why it takes so long to board.
“I can’t believe they charge us to check bags now” blurted the seated passenger.
“You are preaching to the choir” said the flight attendant. “They’ve got it all wrong. They should be charging to carry bags ON the plane. Check as much baggage as you want under the plane for free, but if you want to carry something on, it’s going to cost you. That’s what takes so long. If there was no baggage here in the cabin (or less of it), we’d have taken off 30 minutes ago.”
Here’s a question: Are you listening to the people who are actually carrying baggage on your plane? Who are your users and what are they saying about your product or service? Most of what you need to hear isn’t audible from your office desk.