A commitment to mediocrity

Check out Sky High Airlines' web site for a glimpse of what would happen if companies started practicing transparency today. What makes this site both funny and sad is that it proudly displays the "elephants under the table" (my new favorite phrase from John Moore UK) that most companies have but won't acknowledge or talk about. Here are just a few gems, but go surf around.

MISSION STATEMENT OF THE WEEK:

The mission of SkyHigh Airlines is to be laser-focused on total customer satisfaction, among many, many other things.

Tag Lines:

"Your Money Sends Us Soaring." "Flying More. Caring Less." "Lowering Fares. Lowering the Bar." "We're Here to Serve You. No, Honestly, We Are." and my favorite, "Excellence Through Compromise."

At the Global Baggage Tracker page:

At SkyHigh, we don't like to think of your missing luggage as being "lost." Rather, that it has embarked on an exciting journey all its own. But rest assured, we're fairly confident your bags do still exist in some form and could be back at home with you relatively soon.

From the Letter from the Chairman, on fees and service charges:

Do you work for free? We don’t. When some one asks us to do something extra during our workday, we expect a little something for the effort. We wouldn’t come into your place of business and ask you for chicken nuggets or to press our shirts for free. It’s all about give and take. And take.

From Employee of the Month page:

After we experienced a sudden drop in employee morale due to shortened smoke breaks and the "unbearable itchiness" of our new uniforms, Michael, SkyHigh's Employee Morale Supervisor, was charged with turning his co-workers' collective frown upside down. Michael responded with a resounding, "Um, yeah, uh, so…" and leapt into action...

Finally, displaying the leadership skills he has claimed to possess since joining SkyHigh, Michael made an impassioned plea to his coworkers: "If all of you just pretended to be a bit happier and more motivated around here, we could stop having these stupid meetings every morning at 5:30!"

The staff responded, sending Spirit scores soaring to a record high. Now, nearly 4.8 percent happier and more motivated, we here at SkyHigh have truly never been more ready (according to tests) to deal with the everyday anguish of keeping our customers un-angry.

Comments

[Ilkka Huotari]

Heh. That reminds me of something, Jennifer, especially the "Excellence Through Compromise." line...

Good point. Actually I had one customer who ran away because of my compromises. But it's still hard not to make them, I am struggling, but still believing that I will get the message through :-)

[John Dumbrille]

Brilliant. I worked in the airline industry, and, well, I really really laughed.
David, I think it IS a great viral ad for Alaska - it takes the piss out of teeny-tiny enthusiasm-based airlines. 'Go to the fringe airlines, and its going to be a gong show.' 'At Alaska, we run a good airline. And this spoof site shows we have a sense of humour too'

[David St Lawrence]

Jennifer,

Thanks for introducing me to a great site.

If this is viral advertising, it is too convoluted to register with me. Maybe they were hoping to win some ADWEEK award.

[Tom Asacker]

This parody site is meant to contrast the experience on Alaska Airlines with the all-too-typical exasperating experience on other carriers. I've never flown Alaska. Anyone out there have any view on this as viral advertising?

[Michele Miller]

Jennifer, you made my day. I finally found out that the luggage I lost last week is located in exotic Al Mukalla, Yemen.

You're right... sad, but true re: transparency. The sadness lies in the fact that companies often don't have a clue about how transparent their marketing & operations are in the eyes of the customer.

Great stuff - thanks for sharing!

[Paul from BrandAutopsy]

What a great find! The great news is that they offer flights out of smaller, lesser-known airports. I booked a flight between two cities that would normally be a 2-hour car ride and they had me flying with 4 connections and taking about 3 days to get there. Good stuff! Thanks.