Is Business Getting Better or Are Your Customers Expecting Less?

You may have seen the news that the 2014 Airline Quality Report (AQR) showed a significant drop in passenger complaints, nearly 15%. The study, conducted jointly by Wichita State University and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, found that airline quality is at its highest level since the annual survey began in 1991.

If you have flown on domestic U.S. airlines recently, you may find these results, um, counterintuitive. My experience - and that of most people I talk to about flying - is that it is something to be endured rather than experienced. Indeed, some analysts suggest that the flying public simply has very low expectations when it comes to air travel. They have become inured to delays, cramped seating, and being nickel-and-dimed at every point in the journey. One of the survey's authors, Dean Headley, Ph.D., said as much in an article published online by U.S. News & World Report:

The change could be because people have less to complain about, but also because they don't expect as much from airlines when it comes to customer service.
"My expectations are lower than they were two or three years ago," he said. "The best thing I can say about a flight is that it was uneventful. I don't think I'm that far off from what most people's expectations are."

So while some in the executive suites at American, Delta, United and the rest may celebrate the latest AQR results ("Look at us! We're getting better!"), one wonders if anyone is asking the difficult questions. Are people avoiding air travel altogether, in favor of driving or simply traveling less? How many business meetings are held on Webex or Skype or GoToMeeting in order to not only save money but also avoid the hassles of airports?

It is, of course, difficult to prove a negative. But one thing the AQR does suggest strongly is that business performance - at least for the airlines - is a direct corollary of employee engagement. The worst-performing airline is American Eagle, which had the worst on-time performance, increases in lost luggage and overbookings, and customer complaints. Headley pointed out that American Eagle is still recovering from the effects of American's bankruptcy and subsequent merger with US Airways.

Headley... notes that this is due in large part to employees feeling anxious about how changes to the company will affect them directly. "There's going to be a certain amount of angst, and that has a tendency to destroy performance. A lot of it has to do with the perceptions of the front-line people. There's always a group that doesn't feel well-served, so they don't serve well for awhile."

How much angst are your employees feeling? And what is that doing to your business performance? Even if you are not a consumer-facing organization, the way your employees feel about their jobs has a direct impact on how they work with one another and their clients, constituents, students, or patients.