Kudos to Chris at KXAN

I am an early morning news listener and watcher. As I get ready for work, I crank up the TV and listen for the local weather, traffic analysis, and the accompanying news stories. This morning I learned of a fire near my neighborhood, that traffic was still smooth in the area – no one injured and no delay in getting to work – and the predicted afternoon temperatures. I also heard a story that caught my attention. The story was about Delta Airlines, an airline I recently used for a business trip. I listened to the 15 second article, and for some reason it touched a chord. I grabbed my phone and sent off a quick email to the KXAN news desk.

In a few minutes, and much to my surprise, I received a thoughtful response from Chris Willis, one of the early morning anchors. The email conversation follows:

I wrote:

The story on airline revenues seemed somewhat misleading. You stated that Delta had high revenues, implying high profits. You did not mention Delta's cost of doing that business, so I have no idea whether high revenues compensated for high costs.

As it stands, the story seems one-sided and incomplete.

Mr. Willis responded:

I am sorry the story seemed incomplete to you. I re-read it and see your point.

The story is focused on "increased revenue" from the checked bag fees. That "revenue" is up 40-percent to almost eight billion dollars (all airlines). Never in the story is the word "profit" uttered.

It is a 15 second story about revenues from baggage-fees. If we included details about the cost of doing business for each individual airline and whether high revenues compensated for high costs of doing business, it would take several minutes. I believe your implication is correct though, higher revenues off-set the higher costs, i.e. more money collected offsets more money in expenses.

The story though, is simply revenue from fees. Not profits, not expenses, not inflation or the rising cost of doing business.

Thanks for the feedback, I hope this helps.

I responded:

I appreciate your quick response. My concern is that viewers with less understanding of the business will jump to false conclusions. On the other hand, it gripes me to no end to have to pay for a checked bag.

Thanks for writing back.

Here’s the clincher. Mr. Willis responded, again:

I took my wife and two little boys, 4 and 2, to Seattle to see family. I paid nearly $340 in baggage fees. Man, I feel your pain! I'm going to re-write the script in case we use it at Noon.

Happy travels. Have a good day!

So, here are kudos to Chris. He took the time to respond, acknowledged my concern, and made the entire conversation very personable. These are some of the reasons that I watch KXAN, Austin, Texas.