Friendlier Skies: Airlines add in-flight premiums to soften bumpy rides.
Northwest Airlines and its newest rival, Sun Country, are handing out premiums for two very different reasons.
Northwest’s new passenger packet is part of its Customers First service plan, which launches systemwide Dec. 15. The airline developed the 12-point plan with the airline trade association Air Transport Association (ATA) after high-profile missteps handling weather-delayed flights in January. (Passengers were held on planes as long as eight hours without food or water.) The airline submitted its Customers First plan in September to Congress, which had been mulling an airline passengers’ bill of rights.
Northwest will give Service Recovery Packets to passengers who are bumped, delayed two to four hours by the airline, or delayed more than four hours for any reason. Packets contain a five-minute phonecard; a coupon good for 500 WorldPerks miles, a meal in the airport, or beverage or headset on board; and a discount certificate for future travel. The Minneapolis-based airline will train all employees on its new customer service etiquette by next month.
On the other side of the tarmac, upstart Sun Country is thanking passengers for “earning their wings” by handing out coupons for free chicken wings at Famous Dave’s barbecue restuarants. The charter airline launched its commercial passenger service June 1 with newspaper ads featuring coupons and folksy letters from president-ceo Bill LaMacchia, Jr. Sun Country hired its first director of marketing and in-flight promotions, Lori Barghini, this fall.
La Macchia himself kicked off the two-week coupon giveaway Oct. 5 by handing out chicken wings to waiting passengers in Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport. He was accompanied by Famous Dave’s founder Dave Anderson and the restaurant’s mascot, Wilbur the pig.
The giveaway is the first in a series of in-flight promos that highlight local business partners including Sidney’s restaurants, Bruegger bagels, AmericInn Lodging Properties, and MCI. Sun Country will pass out coupons on flights through yearend.
