In keeping with its relentless drive to contine reducing costs so that it can offer the cheapest of cheap airplane tickets and cheap vacation packages, Spirit Airlines is considering charging customers who wish to speak to Spirit employees at airports, according to Spirit CEO Ben Baldanza.
Spirits CEO pointed out that Spirit presently charges customers to purchase airline tickets over the phone, as do most other airlines. To him, it is a natural extension to start charging customers who want to speak to Spirit employees at airports.
Given that Spirit is working on airport kiosks that will empower customers to be able to change tickets, check in for international flights, check their bags, and change their seat assignments, there will remain few, if any, tasks that customers cannot complete on their own.
When a customer wants to speak to a Spirit employee and there is a way for customers to interact with Spirit electronically, Baldanza believes that we could consider charging a few dollars to interact with a human. However, he qualified his position by saying that if the only way a Spirit customer can complete a transaction is for him to talk to a human then it will not charge for that interaction.
Recently Spirit has been leading the airline industry with new fees. It was the first airline to charge baggage fees. As of Sunday, August 1st, it became the first airline to charge for carry-on baggage. Now it sounds like it is getting ready to be the first airline to charge for speaking to a human.
Wonder if Spirit will charge customers by the minute or by the number of words when speaking with an employee?
www.cheapfares.com