Just because you are the CEO of the largest airline in the world, it doesn’t mean that you truly understand marketing.

American Airlines has a new CEO, Robert Isom, and he made a claim that turned the sky red.

Isom said, “We’re the largest airline in the world. Every day we’re out there hunting for 500–600,000 and even more customers. To be the largest airline in the world and over the pandemic, we carried one out of every three passengers. We have to have a product that really attracts everybody, and in unique and different ways.”

Now, that’s right and wrong. 

American Airlines needs a quality product and indeed to offer different services, that large numbers of people will buy. 

But, that needs to point to a quality product, not a degraded one which offers the minimum product needed to attract budget flyers. 

Because, it is IMPOSSIBLE to be all things to all people when you truly have differentiated products.

Employees have complained for several years about being confused over the kind of product they’re supposed to offer – whether they’re a premium carrier, or an ultra low cost one – and what that means for the service they’re supposed to deliver to customers.

Airlines who clearly know their target markets know how to get them. 

Target markets that clearly know their airline always prefer to fly them.