MY FLIGHT WAS CANCELED AT O’HARE AIRPORT—AGAIN. THE
same thing happened a few months ago. In both cases, weather was to
blame.
Possibly I was tempting fate, as I had planned this as just a day trip—in
and out quickly and no luggage. I was not prepared to spend an extra day
in Chicago.
I was rescheduled on another airline, only to have that flight canceled
just before boarding. The line to the customer service counter filled
quickly and stretched to Terre Haute. I called the airline and was kept on
hold for nearly an hour. No direct flights were available the next day, so
I had to take a circuitous route to get home.
As I was standing in the seemingly endless line
while stuck on hold with a rapidly depleting cellphone
battery, I overheard other customers changing plans,
with many not finding available flights for two or three
days. That’s when I realized that this was basically an
inventory problem. Airlines have consolidated, resulting in less capacity and greatly reduced seat inventory.
Whenever disruptions occur, they lack the inventory
to recover quickly.
In much the same way, many suppliers in our industry have trimmed their inventories. How easily can
they recover when customer demand spikes suddenly,
a port strike depletes supply, or a hurricane limits
transport? The airlines have no wiggle room. To gain
operational efficiencies, they have sacrificed customer service. What do
your customers experience when your own supply chains are disrupted?
Do you have flexibility built into your systems?
Such supply disruptions also have ripple effects, as I discovered when
attempting to find a room for the night. The hotels were swamped and
had similar inventory problems. The closest available room was 30 minutes away. When I arrived, the two desk clerks were overwhelmed trying
to locate last-minute reservations. The phone rang unanswered, and a
long queue formed to check in. Several in the line were turned away even
though they had made reservations on their smartphones. The computer systems could not keep up with demand, showing inventory that no
longer existed.
The inventory ripple effect even extended to complimentary toiletries.
Without luggage, I was grateful for anything the desk attendant could
spare. I was given a razor, shaving cream, and a toothbrush—but no
toothpaste. That’s when I realized that being a refugee of modern air
travel is like going camping in a business suit.
bigpicture
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