The decision-making process for a business flight is changing extraordinarily rapidly. At one time it was schedule and cost. As the galloping growth in the demand for rich content and merchandising solutions shows, that is no longer sufficient.
Legacy distribution systems were built on the premise that an air journey was similar to any other transport, namely that one only wanted — and was only paying for — passage from A to B. After all, a traditional GDS screen shows only a list of options and the associated cost on a given date from a point of embarkation to a destination.
That assumes that what one is purchasing is only getting someone from A to B. As any reader of Business Travel iQ knows, that is far from the case. T&Cs alone with their various options such as waiving of change fees and eligibility for refunds can make a difference to a fare, and that is before all the product enhancements from lounge access to limousine transfer services which reinforce the fact that the fare covers pre and post trip services as well.
This focus on all aspects of the air product is part of a trend away from the commoditisation of air travel. Airlines invest huge sums in their products because they believe that that makes a difference to business traveller decision-making. The attention surrounding the recent episode of AA filing suit to break its contract with GoGo (now withdrawn) illustrates how quality, on-board WiFi has zoomed up the list of traveller wants.
GoGo was of the earliest pioneers of inflight WiFi. But, as veteran business watchers can testify, being one of the first doesn't guarantee market dominance for ever after.
GoGo is an American company that created a ground-to-air in-flight WiFi system, ie using mobile masts rather than satellites to enable the communication. This ground-to-air legacy explains why most original in-flight WiFi was on US carriers and on their domestic services. The US is a vast land mass and most flights are domestic so ground-to-air works for a good part of the time on a good part of the flights.
But that was before the demand for inflight WiFi became apparent and for many travellers' minds went from a "nice-to-have" to a "must-have". A recent report from RouteHappy shows just how quickly its availability has spread.
At one time GoGo was virtually the only feasible option for US carriers but that has changed and ViaSat, which uses satellite technology, is now in use on Virgin America, JetBlue and United Airlines. And American Airlines' conviction that it must have this superior kind of WiFi to remain attractive to potential passengers is what was behind that lawsuit.
The AA suit was based on a contractual obligation for GoGo to provide an alternative solution for an improved service. The suit was dropped this week, probably because GoGo has offered to look at a satellite solution.
The identity of AA's supply chain may not be of interest to corporate buyers but the fact that product enhancements have become so crucial an element in the sourcing and booking process is another signal that the days of route and price being the main decision-making criteria are ending.
Air travel is not a commodity. The product does matter.