I had a chance to fly EOS Airlines round trip. EOS airlines are the folks that put 48 people in a plane designed for hundreds (Boeing 757). They have the upgraded sleeper seats/pods (the original British Airways units upgraded with better bedding, space, etc) and the basic sales pitch is designed to have you fly pretty much International First Class for a price that can be cheaper then business class fare on the major airlines which fly the JFK/London route.
As you would expect, this was an amazing flight with super comfortable sleeper seats, airline food that definitely was anything but (outstanding, in a word), and top notch people. The experience was 5 star, without question.
The airline was founded by Dave Spurlock, former Director of Strategy at British Airways. Mr. Spurlock combined his many years of experience with a really solid understanding of what customers truly want. There are some great lessons in EOS for your start up.
What people want to see vs. what they actually want.
A long time ago, while on a cruise ship, I overheard a lady talking about the midnight buffet. Her comments were “I don’t want to actually eat anything that late, heavens no, I just want to see it.”
EOS figured this one out as well. Being able to brag about it, but not actually use it, becomes a very powerful (and cheap) form of advertising as well as brand enhancement.
Consider these small examples.
We arrived at JFK earlier then required through a series of unthinkable occurrences. Air Canada was 20 minutes early into NJ and the traffic from Newark’s airport to JFK was almost non-existent; go figure. Anyway, we were met by somebody outside the entrance door to the terminal who promptly escorted us less then 30 yards to the check in desk. After looking at the passports and doing all the formalities, the counter personal mentioned that the lounge was not open yet but we should take advance of Mr. Wang who would be delighted to give us a complimentary shoe shine while we wait. We could then come back up and get escorted to the security formalities and then up to the lounge. While we declined both offers and said we could find the lounge ourselves, I went off and checked out Mr. Wang (I might have the name wrong..) and his shoe shine activities. Downstairs, I watched a colorful gentlemen greeting customers and probably setting the high water mark for solid service while getting your shoes cleaned up. He mentioned he gets one or two customers a day from EOS, usually businessmen, always nice.
The cost was basically nothing to EOS (20 bucks, maybe), almost nobody (2 out of 48) used the service, EOS claims a ‘first class’ amenity and while talking about EOS on the plane, a couple of businessmen proudly mentioned it as a perk separating EOS from British Airways. Not bad for a twenty.
Inside the Stansted Lounge, passengers are offered unlimited free phone calls to the US from the lounge and EOS makes a point of walking around telling each passenger, emphasizing the words unlimited and free. Now, to those of us living in the Echo Chamber, this is instantly obvious (i.e. a VOIP offering) and the multiple Cisco IP phones around the lounge made it clear (to me) how that perk was being offered. But, the vast major of the world is not in the Echo Chamber so imagine the looks and talk while the lounge attendant walked around mentioning to each guest this service was available. British Airways (and Virgin Atlantic) travelers who were trying EOS for the first time were blown away by a service costing pennies. Of course while I was there, nobody used the service (except me to check my voice mail) so even if it was a cheap discount long distance line/service, the cost was minimal for the benefits (customer reaction) received.
Diet Vanilla Coke. It was in the fridge. Again, no change in cost to have the guys stock Dr. Pepper/Coke/Pepsi or Diet Vanilla Coke. The impact? A customer saying to another, “Cool, these guys are awesome. Have you seen the crappy selections in the American Airlines lounge?” Diet Vanilla Coke and customers are high fiving the company.
For you and your start up, the lesson (and challenge) should be clear. Besides the core product or service, find the perks people will love, especially if they just want to know it is there. People love to brag about your cool stuff, so at every possible place, give them a chance.
Of course the real kicker here is that the economics on the 757 are spectacular, London-New York is a city pair with enough point-to-point J traffic that connections are less important, and using STN reduces their landing costs and slot limitations tremendously. Their real challenge is distribution, though a.k.a. letting people know about and buy it. So the nicies will help with that, but the real story is that the concept is sounds and the basic numbers on it rock.
In any case, this point-to-point all-J or J+ehhanced Y international service concept was kicked off by LH with a service between DUS and EWR with a Boeing Business Jet (a version of the 737. They initially contracted for it - I don't know about now - but it was apparently very successful. Whether EOS will work or not is TBD.
Posted by: Stuart MacDonald | June 11, 2006 at 21:15
some good reminders. Flying EOS sounds fun
Posted by: howard Lindzon | June 11, 2006 at 23:15
It will of course be a problem once they start to grow big - it would take a lot more soe shiners to get even the "2 out of 48" on BA. But, your point absolutly correct. People like to brag about it. :)
Posted by: Nicole Simon | June 12, 2006 at 03:49
Oh and you could have been even nicer to them and include a link? ;)
Posted by: Nicole Simon | June 12, 2006 at 03:50
oops.. :-)
Posted by: Rick Segal | June 12, 2006 at 03:52