“That would be a good idea — a filter on travel search
that says, ‘Click this filter and it might cost you a few dollars more, but we’ll bias you towards airlines that treat their customers well,’ ” said Paul English, the co-founder of the travel search company Kayak who now runs another travel start-up, Lola.
“The airline industry has been on a steady downward trajectory when it comes to customer service for nearly 40 years,”
said Henry H. Harteveldt, the president of the Atmosphere Research Group, a travel industry research firm.
“We’ve prototyped a subscription airline in the past, and it basically gets the airline out of the business of reducing service for offering the lowest fares,” said Devin Liddell, the principal brand strategist for Teague, a design firm
that works with Boeing and other transportation companies.
“Consumers have shown that they’re willing to put up with an awful lot, including lack of legroom, lack of amenities,
mediocre or worse customer service, dirty airplanes and more to save money,” Mr. Harteveldt said.
But airline start-ups face high capital costs; a new business model might work, Mr. Liddell said,
if an established airline tries it as a way to break free from the accepted way of doing things.
“Airline executives will tell you they don’t view themselves as being service companies,” Mr. Harteveldt said.