Sit In The Middle Seat

“Ex-Continental CEO Larry Kellner, all 6’5” of him, used to fly in middle seats in the back. He told me this at a party and I about spit out my cocktail.”

This quote from Mike Holovacs, a hospitality expert, jumped out at me when I looked at my latest email from Quora. It’s his response to a question someone had sent in asking if airline CEOs fly commercial.

If you have never heard of Quora, it’s a wonderful website where you can send in questions and have them answered by exceptionally knowledgeable people ranging from corporate CEOs to university professors to a variety of experts in just about any area you can imagine. I highly recommend checking in every now and then, or signing up for their regular emails, to see what questions they’re answering. Or ask you own question. It’s always interesting and thought provoking.

Another response to the same question came from Avik Chopra, who worked for Jet Blue. He shared how “our legendary CEO, David Neeleman, always flew on our commercial scheduled flights.” Seems “he usually sat in the last row, and helped the crew after the airplane had landed.”

And Samuel Harrison, Principal Naspers Ventures, shared that when Andy Harrison (related?) was the CEO of easyJet, he flew with him several times and observed how Harrison would interact with the passengers and crew…and would help pick up the garbage after landing.

Imagine being the CEO of an airline and choosing to sit for hours in the cheap seats where everyone can see…and talk with…you. By see I mean stare and by talk I mean offer comments about all the things the airline does wrong.

And you have no way to hide.

Imagine being the CEO and still having the humility to rummage through seatback pockets filled with all kinds of slimy things?

Now imagine the impact this kind of behavior has on the entire crew…and how the crew shares the story across the fleet.

Lots of CEOs talk about being one with their people. How many show they mean it by helping out with the cleaning? How many show they mean it by eschewing free first class seats for steerage class?

Lots of CEOs also talk about being in touch with their customers. How many lock themselves up in an inescapable place for hours with a random collection of a hundred or so of them? Customers free to berate them for real and imagined slights.

By sitting in the last row, and observing what went on with the passengers in all of the seats in front of him, David Needleman figured out the optimum seat number for an Airbus 320. In the same way, I’m sure the other CEOs mentioned in Quora noticed ways to improve operations and address crew and customer issues with their airlines.

I have no idea if the CEOs of other airlines travel this way or whether or not the CEOs of large non-airline companies spend time in the trenches with their employees and make themselves accessible to random customers. Small company CEOs, or owners as they’re often called, do it all the time. You should too.

How far away from your average employee are you? From your customers? Imagine what you’re missing that could help you rapidly improve the results of your business.