Delta just gave United a stark lesson in pandemic business leadership
"...four airlines -- American, United, Delta, and Southwest -- own more than 80% of all the nation's seats."
"United Airlines is planning to resume its flights from San Francisco to Shanghai -- a route often previously patronized by Apple and other tech executives. The airline -- American Airlines is doing this too -- insists it'll try to fill every seat on its planes because blocking middle seats is "a PR strategy, not a safety strategy."
"Delta Air Lines -- and Southwest -- decided their customers would prefer those middle seats empty."
"Dr. Anthony Fauci and the CDC are alarmed at the idea of full planes. Large brains at MIT -- that of Professor Arnold Barnett, for example -- differ too. They say putting humans in middle seats doubles the risk of catching COVID-19."
"In a pandemic, pausing to consider all the human ramifications of a customer decision will surely be crucial to business success. Why, on Friday Delta even took action against those who don't want to wear masks on flights. Now, they must have a virtual consultation with a medical professional before being allowed to board."
"It's not as if any airline is currently doing well. However, Bastian believes the future of business travel lies in "trips that are focused on relationship building or interacting -- whether it's with your customers, conventions, new contacts, reviewing performance on a global scale." Yes, the human thing. The one that instinctively tells you that filling up middle seats makes pandemic flying more dangerous."
https://www.zdnet.com/article/delta-just-gave-united-airlines-a-stark-lesson-in-pandemic-business-leadership/
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