Introduction: The Aisle Seat

We business travelers who prefer to sit in the aisle seat know its pluses and minuses all too well. The pilot has just announced that your plane has just reached its cruising altitude, and you’ve just settled in for your flight (hopefully home or to a fun getaway, but all too often, to that too-crowded convention or too-unproductive business meeting). Depending on your travel style, you open the novel that you brought on board, turn on your laptop to work on your presentation (or more likely, to watch “Casino Royale”), or simply plop-on those noise-cancelling headphones and begin your side-trip to dreamland. The aisle seat is desired for – at least the feeling of – extra leg and elbow-room. However, it does come with one significant downside, as all too often, one’s knee, one’s shoulder, or even one’s head (if you are one of the lucky ones who promptly falls asleep when in the air) can be in hazardous territory. That is because no matter how careful the flight attendant may be, you may fall victim as he or she pushes a humble airline trolley down the aisle. Your reading, your work, or your sleep can be abruptly ended by a bump from this metal cart. A good nap for you may be ruined, all so your fellow passengers can enjoy their soft drinks, coffee, tea, snacks, meals, duty free items, etc.

In an industry shaken by rising fuel costs and lowered demand that threaten the viability of many carriers around the globe, airline trolleys are increasingly being viewed as key elements in most airlines’ strategies – and perhaps their very survival. Why? In a nutshell, it’s because these simple metal carts are the workhorses of airline customer service (which is still not regarded as an oxymoron by airline executives). They are the vehicles through which food, beverages, and a variety of service items are routed through a complex internal and external network to provide in-flight passenger service. However, today they are also the retail floor for the airline industry.  In the aisle of the commercial airliner, before a captive audience, airlines know that airline trolleys represent the future of a changing business model, increasingly dependent on what is referred to in the industry as “ancillary revenue.”