On Thursday, Nov 20, 2003, at 16:04 America/Anchorage, Bill dunn wrote:
> Has anyone heard of this airline called Skyhigh airlines?
> do you know what type aircraft they use?
>
It's a spoof. Here's a story about it in yesterday's Wall Street
Journal:
November 19, 2003
THE MIDDLE SEAT
By SCOTT MCCARTNEY
A SkyHigh Spoof Shows
Even Airlines Mock Airlines
For decades stand-up comics have made airline jokes a staple of any
comedy
routine. You make fun of the airline food, lost baggage, surly
employees,
pilots who land at the wrong airport, security screeners who
strip-search
nuns and idiots who ship themselves in cargo crates. The jokes work
because
we can relate to them -- there's an element of truth, and familiarity,
behind the humor.
So it is with www.skyhighairlines.com1 (check it out, but please come
back),
a delightful, biting spoof of the current state of airlines, from its
chairman's statement ("Putting you first. Eventually.") to its booking
engine.
Ask for a simple flight from Austin, Texas, to Tulsa, Okla., and you'll
get
a $1,909 quote for a trip with stops in Great Bend, Kan., and
Rattlesnake,
Fla. That's for "bench class," by the way. And SkyHigh offers some
helpful
travel tips. "There's a pretty good chance you'll miss some connecting
flights," the airline notes. "Our advice is to either speed-walk or
slip one
of those electric cart drivers a five-spot and tell him to floor it.
Best of
luck."
The booking form does suggest in fine print that if you prefer a nonstop
flight, you might check with Alaska Airlines. If you don't live in the
Northwest, where you might have heard Alaska's ads lately, that fine
print
is the first clue as to who is behind the very professionally produced
SkyHigh Web site. It's a creation of Alaska Airlines's advertising
agency,
WongDoody in Seattle, not some comedy troupe. WongDoody created the Web
site
almost as an afterthought, but it has become a popular -- and important
--
part of the campaign.
Alaska's advertising campaign pokes fun at bigger airlines with SkyHigh
humor, and then sets Alaska apart as a different experience. The
Seattle-based airline certainly has a loyal following and a reputation
for
good service and sharp innovation. But SkyHigh may be taking it all to
extremes: Rarely has an airline made so much fun of rival airlines. And
you
might say this is one measure of how bad the travel experience has
gotten --
even the airlines are making fun of themselves.
The campaign isn't without its risks -- after all, Alaska must now
ensure
its own customers don't have a SkyHigh Airlines experience. For one
thing,
Alaska has some SkyHigh fares of its own: A mid-week business trip from
Seattle to Washington, D.C. and back costs $1,677 nonstop on Alaska,
while
ATA Airlines offers a $435 round-trip fare with one stop each way.
And while SkyHigh may have a dismal on-time record, Alaska's isn't much
to
crow about. Over the past 12 months ending in September, the most recent
data reported, Alaska ranked a highly mediocre seventh among the nine
major
airlines. Alaska says it has never scored particularly well in on-time
standings because it tries to give good customer service, handling lots
of
leisure passengers with all kinds of gear and flying into remote parts
of
Alaska in tough conditions. Better to be late than cancel the only link
to a
village.
What's more, Alaska is almost surely poking fun at some of its own
partners.
Alaska code-shares with American Airlines, Northwest Airlines and
Continental Airlines. That's a SkyHigh number of partners among the
ranks of
big U.S. carriers, if you know what I mean. (American, Northwest and
Continental, tongues planted firmly in cheeks, all declined to comment.)
Alaska says it is trying to poke fun not at specific carriers but at the
entire industry. Indifferent customer service, cramped quarters, delays,
hassles and stupid rules certainly aren't unique to particular discount
airlines or full-service airlines. "It's really a statement about where
the
airline industry is in general," says Greg Latimer, Alaska's director of
advertising.
SkyHigh, Mr. Latimer says, is an exaggeration, but one where reality
resonates. "At SkyHigh, they really enjoy giving crappy service. It's a
metaphor of customer service throughout the entire country," he says.
And Alaska knows that it isn't perfect. The carrier's hope is that when
it
makes mistakes, it will admit them and fix them -- in contrast to
SkyHigh's
indifference. Still, Mr. Latimer adds, "There's a little bit of SkyHigh
in
everybody."
Carriers such as Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways have tried
humorous
advertising in the past in an effort to show they are different. In its
first reincarnation, Braniff International got folksy actor Wilford
Brimley
to be its pitchman in the mid-1980s. Other airlines offered meals, he
said,
but Braniff offered fares about $200 lower. "Stop and remember the last
airplane meal you had," said Mr. Brimley. "You ever tasted one worth two
huuuuundred dollars?"
But SkyHigh Airlines uses piercing humor to open new wounds. The
fictitious
airline has slogans such as "The relentless pursuit of adequacy," "A
commitment to mediocrity" and "We're here to serve you. No, honestly, we
are." Road warriors may especially appreciate this one: "Flying more.
Caring
less."
In addition to its regular fares, SkyHigh offers "Super Scrimper" fares,
such as $27 to Las Vegas in the "intermittent air-conditioned comfort"
of a
bus. And its Web site has great travel tips, such as how to turn
fast-food
wrappers into a pillow when left stranded at an airport overnight.
What's
more, you can send your suggestions to SkyHigh. I tried to do that, and
just
as I was about to click on the "Submit" button, it changed the text to
this:
"You guys are great! No suggestions here! Only to keep on bein' the best
darn airline around!"
The Web site offers a "global baggage tracker" for luggage that, as
SkyHigh
says, has "embarked on an exciting journey all its own." I put my name
in
the tracker and got the following answer: "Your luggage has been
located in
exotic Kitgum, Uganda. Check back tomorrow to see where those pesky
bags of
yours have run off to next." It even had a locator map of Kitgum. That's
service.
The latest issue of "Good Intentions," the in-flight magazine of
SkyHigh,
offers a story headlined, "Personal Space: Getting Over it." The airline
also rather honestly suggests that its seating is designed for people no
larger than 5-foot-3 and weighing 125 pounds. And SkyHigh is straight
up in
its weekly mission statement: "The mission of SkyHigh Airlines is to be
laser-focused on total customer satisfaction, among many, many other
things."
You have to appreciate the letter from Howard Barium, the chairman and
chief
executive, which looks very much like the ones you see in airline
magazines.
Except this one starts with a headline, "What is with you people?" In a
previous letter, the CEO announced a company-wide "Promise to Try"
initiative. "It's that simple half effort that gives us an important
sense
of near accomplishment at the end of the day," he said with pride. "For
most
of us, trying is the reason we got into this business. Well, after the
money
and the comped travel."
SkyHigh Airlines is an acknowledgement of all that travelers come to
loathe
in airlines, and many of the problems the industry faces. But at least
we
can still laugh. "The travel experience is just tough," Mr. Latimer
notes.
"It's just not the experience it used to be."
Too bad that rings so true.
Updated November 19, 2003
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