(Guest post by Debra Jennings)

When was the last time you flew somewhere and wondered how the airline you were on stays in business? For me, it was last week (but it’s not a singular occurrence). It’s not the patronizing flight attendants that bother me, nor even being expected to subsist on a pack of peanuts during a 5-hour flight. No, it’s the utter lack of process efficiency that always amazes and alarms me.

Case in point, my recent check-in experience on a major US carrier. The day before my flight, I went online to check-in and get my seat assignment. Although the system was a bit cumbersome, I muddled through and completed my tasks, assuming that the 10 minutes I spent here would simplify my check-in at the airport. Wrong.

The day of the flight, I arrived at the airport but couldn’t find the airline’s check-in desk. Shame on me for not realizing the airline I was flying had merged with another, and that I needed to go to the other airline’s counter. After reading the smaller screens above the other airline’s counter, I realized where I needed to go. Well, sort of.

The line in front of the counter was not your typical cattle-call queue. In fact, there appeared to be several lines, all leading to the check-in desk, but with no discernable logic. I headed for the grouping, bypassing the automated kiosks since I had checked in online and only needed to check my luggage. At this point, an airline representative informed me that I would need to check in at the kiosk anyway, in order to spawn my luggage tags, which would print at the check-in desk.

The kiosk was typically cryptic (more so for the elderly lady who stood there helplessly and desperately tried to find someone to help her). I completed the electronic process and resumed my place in line. After a few minutes, I realized that the check-in agent was calling passenger names based on the luggage tags that had printed out at her desk. Ok, so that was news, but I keened my ears to hear my name. After 15 minutes or so, when she called a gentleman three spaces behind me, I marched up to the desk and protested. As it turns out, she had already called my name but I hadn’t heard it (did I mention there was no loudspeaker system?)

From this point forward, the process went quickly and I was soon headed toward security (don’t get me started). Yet, I couldn’t leave behind the ineptitude of the check-in process, and how two airlines that have been in business for so many years could have managed to design such a ridiculous system. Somewhere, someone thought that this process was a good idea. They probably even thought it was innovative, with the luggage tickets printing out ahead of time at the desk. Yet the process was anything but innovative. One has to wonder if they mapped the process out as they were designing it, let alone piloted it before inflicting it on unsuspecting customers.

All of this reminds me of another airline that introduced an innovative seating system not long ago. When Southwest Airlines dared to let passengers pick their own seats, I shuddered to think what chaos such a novel system would create during boarding. Still, I had an idea what to expect, thanks to an informative (and amusing) tutorial on the company’s website. At the gate, airline representatives made several announcements to let passengers know how the new system worked. When it was time to board, most people took their place with a minimum of fuss, and the whole process went rather smoothly. Not to mention, I got a better seat than I probably would have otherwise thanks to my position in line. 

So, did Southwest listen to customers and develop an innovation that actually added value? Did they map and test the new process before rolling it out? Given the fact that the company uses Six Sigma, it’s likely they took the right approach. As a result, they offer a competitive feature that distinguishes them from the competition. Many people think that Six Sigma is all about cost cutting, but that’s not the whole picture. It’s also about uncovering what customers value and designing products and services to better meet customer needs.

Maybe one day other airlines will get a clue. Then again, the fact that many expect the U.S. government to bail them out of their financial woes doesn’t bode well for them taking a good hard look at how their businesses are run, improving processes and systems, and attracting customers the good old fashioned way.