Spirit Airlines Wants to Win Back Customers by Being Nicer
Photo Credit: Spirit Airlines has long advertised cheap prices with its "bare fare" campaign. But it is changing its messaging to embrace value, and trying to give passengers a better experience. Spirit Airlines
Skift Take
Spirit Airlines spent years angering customers with shoddy customer service. Now it wants those travelers to return, promising they'll find a kinder, gentler airline with an increased emphasis on on-time arrivals. But will they come back, or will they opt for deeply discounted fares from full-service airlines?
When Vietnam War veteran Jerry Meekins learned five years ago he was dying and should not travel, he contacted Spirit Airlines and asked for a refund for an upcoming flight. That's against the rules — how many passengers don't know what "non-refundable" means? — but brands often make exceptions to save themselves from public embarrassment.
Not Spirit. Its former CEO, Ben Baldanza, noted that Meekins, who would die four months later, had not bought travel insurance. "This is a country and society where we kind of play by the rules," Baldanza said in one television interview.
Eventually, Baldanza apologized. But in the decade he led Spirit, until January 2016, Baldanza repeatedly criticized passengers who complained about poor service, late flights, and lost bags. Once, he accidentally replied to a customer's email by writing, "Let him tell the world how bad we are. He's never flown us before anyway and will be back when we save him a penny."
Baldanza had a point. Until 2015
