The Airline Game

I'm sitting in Rochester airport right now with plenty of time to kill after missing my flight. The security line was an hour long and AirTran would not hold the flight for the 20 or so passengers stuck on line. I can understand their need to stay on schedule, however it was the way we were treated afterwards that was an eye opener on how I should run my business, or I should say how not to. We were given the option of flying stand by on later flights, much later, but all those flights were over sold. We could guarantee a seat on the flight by paying an extra $234. Imagine if we did that with weddings, over booking the date and making clients pay extra to guarantee we'll show up. This is in addition to the $15 I had to pay to check one bag. I would love to see the look in a clients eyes if I told them there is a $15 charge if they want me to use a flash indoors or even better, a fee each time I change lenses. I would be out of business faster than I could get through the security line, yet the airlines get away with it.

On a positive note, I'm on my way to Vegas for the Senior Portrait Artists conference and then I'm heading straight to Phoenix for PPA. Conference season has started and there is no better way to get fired up for new and exciting things to implement for 2009.