Airline Identity Crisis

The 4 major airlines have a real problem on their hands when it comes to having an identity. No one can really tell one apart from the other based on how they interact with their customers. The average person will chose their flight based on who ever has the cheapest flight available. This is how the 4 major airlines are competing, low cost low quality.

These larger airlines don't have an identity and are riddled with massive amounts of bureaucracy and management which significantly already cut into their profits. These airlines are teetering on the edge of entering into the diseconomies of scale region.

The smaller airlines are getting the job done fast and better than the bigger guys. Southwest airlines allows its employees to be creative and to have fun with their job. They let them be funny. Southwest has a reputation to be fun, young, different, and low cost. If you had the choice to fly Delta or Southwest, what would you chose?

http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/02/17/the-real-threat-facing-the-airlines/
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2009-11-10-airshuffle10_CV_N.htm