Fiji Airways is making a change that’s likely to be controversial, but I actually think the thought behind it is reasonable.
Fiji Airways eliminates business class amenity kits
Travel Weekly has an interesting story about the evolution of Fiji Airways, which has turned into quite the success story in recent years, especially in comparison to to so many other government owned airlines based on vacation islands (Air Tahiti Nui, Air Mauritius, Air Seychelles, etc.). The airline is a pleasure to fly with, and clearly cares about providing a good passenger experience.
Along those lines, the airline is rolling out a “service innovation” that might be a bit controversial. The airline has made the decision to do away with amenity kits in business class. As Fiji Airways’ outgoing CEO, Andre Viljoen, describes the decision, “we’ve been measuring for years now how many people take the amenity kit home and actually value it and the number that are left behind,” and “we started waking up that we are wasting money.” Viljoen explains that “the primary motive is to be differentiating and to offer something better.”
In lieu of amenity kits, flight attendants will pass through business class with a tray of many of the same items that you’d ordinarily find in the amenity kits, including face cream, socks, eyeshades, etc.
While it counters the trend, I think this is fair
People will have varying takes on Fiji Airways’ decision to eliminate amenity kits in business class. These are very much a standard amenity that customers have come to expect in business class, though I think that’s more due to precedent, rather than airlines all putting extensive thought into it, and deciding on an ongoing basis that it’s something that customers value.
On the one hand, amenity kits are something that customers have come to expect, and for some travelers, they’re items that they hold onto in the long run, and that are reused. Airlines are happy when people keep these amenity kits and use them, since it’s a nice reminder of the brand.
On the other hand, I’d argue that there are way more people who just leave their amenity kits behind, and maybe take one or two items out of the kit. That just represents a huge amount of waste, especially when it’s offered as a standard.
I talked about this topic in more detail some time back, about the importance (or lack thereof) of airline amenity kits. If you can provide a good selection of individual items to customers, I think there’s nothing wrong with eliminating amenity kits.
Bottom line
Fiji Airways is eliminating amenity kits in business class. The company’s CEO believes these kits are wasteful, as so many people leave them behind. I don’t think he’s wrong, the question just comes down to how you balance that waste with managing the expectations of those who view an amenity kit as a basic feature of business class.
What do you make of Fiji Airways dumping amenity kits?
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