Semantics? Service versus Product in Air Transport

摘要

The author takes issue with the common practice among air transportation companies of interchanging the words service and product. This is established as case of performance as opposed to pedantry. Successful carriers grasp and embrace a service identity that is unmistakable to employees and customers. Struggling carriers are infused with incongruent identities conveyed to employees and customers through the concurrent usage of service and product. Moreover, the traditional factors indicated for differentiating a service from a product contribute to the creation of a product mentality and obfuscation of a successful service focus.