PR for the airline industry - I think so

I think the airline industry could use some PR, (and so could the taxman)

What with all the travelling I do, I’d regard myself as a pretty savvy traveller, so it came as a shock recently when I tried to use my Aeroplan miles to get my wife and I to New York City and back. There were several options, and because we were booking six months ahead of time, awe could choose our departure times from a long list. Problem is this: although the tickets are “free”, then taxes on each ticket between Toronto’s Pearson and New York City’s La Guardia Airports is a staggering $149 per ticket. Yikes!

I then for the fun of it tried to book the same tickets from Buffalo to La Guardia. All in per ticket was $180 Canadian ... and that includes taxes of $21 Canadian per ticket. How can that be, I asked myself?

Simple, as Canadians, we are being taxed to death!

So what’s the PR spin here … Airlines, free is not free. Hardly, and you got to deal with that and communicate that. Sticker-shock is not cool. The taxman – communicate more, let us know in more clear term why you are charging us these high taxes. Be more upfront. After all – that’s the essence of PR!