Combative Systems

I am now on hour 32 of a voyage that was only supposed to take 12 hours. Long story short: I was supposed to go to Panama but the flight was changed. I was working on my computer and missed the last boarding call by less than a minute. I wasn’t the only one, there were at least a dozen disgruntled passengers in an angry mob around the gate. There was no recompense, refund or explanation. The poor employees could only shrug and say: “sorry the system isn’t letting us do anything.”

After spending my entire month’s budget to rectify the situation, it gave me a lot of time to think about that system. The poor gate attendants that are caught up in the exploitative practices of budget airline companies are no more responsible than the executives themselves. You see, it’s all about what kinds of activities are incentivized.

There are certain systems that aren’t built for the customer. In fact, their incentives work directly against improving the customer experience. I call these Combative Systems.

When you hop on a plane, the money the company makes off of passengers is minimal. There’s so much overhead going into flights and tons of competition that the margins are negligible. Where airlines make their money is off of customer mistakes. Need a bag? That costs extra. It’s overweight? Even more. You have to reschedule or go on standby? You should have gotten the special upgraded ticket with specific permissions.

All of these payments add up to make money for the company however they are in direct conflict with an enjoyable customer experience. The dystopian feeling you have when arriving to an airport and the underlying lovecraftian despair is a feature, not a bug. These systems are purposely complex and cumbersome so you make mistakes.

Airlines are one such example, healthcare is another and a third is the military. A hospital system is incentivized to get as much money out of patients as possible. That means excessive testing, procedures and longer stays. There is no reason for them not to — you are caught in a life or death situation. Why not pay whatever it takes?

Take the military as an example: there are numerous functions of the military but predominantly it is for defense against threats. If there are no threats, then the military will have done its primary duty. But at that point, without conflict, there would be minimal reason to maintain a large military. It is in the best interest of the military to maintain constant perceived danger and/or threats as a means of preventing downsizing.

These are just a few systems in which the incentives don’t match the customer service.

I’ve been flying quite a bit for work, normally taking at least one flight a month for the past 2 years. Both the climate emissions and the challenge of travel disturbs me. Transportation is such a necessity for the economic health of individuals and society, but as a combative system it just straight up sucks. How might we realign the incentive structure of airlines to make it a collaborative system?

First, follow the money. Enable tipping on flights and/or incentive-based pay for improving the customer experience. Fix the damn seats to make it a more comfortable sleeping experience.

Just a few ideas. What are some ways you’d improve airlines? What other combative systems have you seen? Let me know in the comments below.