Bugger Frequent Flyer Miles
I want Frequent Flyer Hours. They’d work almost the same. You’d get 550 or so points per hour from gate to gate. So all that time, sitting on the runway, circling in a holding pattern, waiting for the previous plane to vacate your gate? All would be paid back in some small way to the suffering traveller.
I think the economic questions are fascinating. Would additional trips cost more than the other restitution airlines make? What would be the inflationary effect on the currency? Would the qualifying milage levels for various benefits packages change?
Most importantly, would this be an effective way of mollifying customer resentment, and what would the brand advantage be for the first airline to introduce it?
I think it should be counted from the original departure time of your flight till you arrive at the gate.
perverse incentives: to make the extra 30 minutes so that I can afford my parisian vacation, I’ll just happen to notice some suspicious behavior by that swarthy man in seat 7b.
Moreover, it would be interesting to think about the economics of this program from an incentives perspective. Imagine you are a potential customer choosing between equivalent airlines, one with FFH, the other with FFM. Does the existence of a reward for delays imply a) the airline has a high chance of a delay, and thus needs to incentivize me to fly it or b) the airline has a higher cost of delay and would thus work harder to get me there on time.