When my kumpadre Ed Tiambeng, a seasoned traveler, was penalized for re-booking his flight to Tacloban even if it was one week ahead of the original schedule, he got smoldering mad. From the smoke of madness, he came up with a not-so-bright idea of calling his congressman to propose a bill that will ban penalties for rebooking if the ticket was rebooked at least two days before the flight.
It is a not-so-bright idea because the same rule will apply to all airlines. The airline with the advantage will still keep that advantage no matter how small that is. It is also not certain if government will have the facilities and ability to regulate this option.
Michel Roberts, my favorite strategist, argues that a market leader would always have the advantage if what the competitors did was merely to try to out-compete the market leader. If they exploit the weakness, if there is any, the market leader would have the size and muscle to adjust and overcome the weakness. If they compete head-on focusing on the strength, there is just no way that the market leader would lose. Roberts consider the SWOT approach as irrelevant for this reason.
Herbert Hoover, the 31st president of the United States servicing from 1929 to 1932, advocated and pushed for efficiency management. That framework suggests that government is inefficient and should be less visible in sectors where the private sector is capable of producing the desired capacity. He favored a strong government and private partnership. For all his failures at the onset of the great depression, Hoover presented a solid governance principle. We should not allow government to spread its tentacles.
Instead of seeking for a legislative initiative, competitors should consider this failing as an opportunity to create its own arena of competition. It is possible that Cebu Pacific’s system was designed to support the disaggregated pricing. No Board would ever support the mothballing of a huge investment based on a speculative notion. My best guess is that the Board will vote to sustain that strategy if it comes to that. On the other hand, other airlines can easily sway to a new system with less complication and with nothing to lose. If they do, they have my attention and my money.
One possibility is for other airlines to create a system that will credit delays in flights to penalties for rebooking. This approach has two benefits. First, it would endear the airline to passengers who have suffered so much from the disaggregated pricing scheme. Second, it puts some credibility in the airline’s mouthful of promises.
A more radical approach is the pizza approach. Pizza not delivered on time becomes free. Passengers pay only if the flight leaves and arrives on time. Passengers pay 50% once the plane departs on time. The balance is payable on arrival according to on-time performance. Hah, that would be one super strategy. Of course, the only way this may be implemented is if the system supports it. If an airline has a working system in place that supports a different approach, like Cebu Pacific, it would take more than a normal effort to calibrate if at all that is possible. If none or a different one exists, that airline is more flexible.
If you have other ideas, email to abfontanilla@yahoo.com.
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