Chapter one of "Leading Lean Software Development" uses an extended example about Southwest being lean. As you can see from
my review, I was on a plane when I read the book. It was JetBlue, not Southwest, but the airline part really stuck with me.
While I was flying, I thought about the impact of lean on the customer.
Where the customer and airline are on the same page:
"Are empty airlines seats waste" - I was sitting next to an empty seat and it was great! The book points to both comfort and resiiency for delays.No checked bag fee - clearly the customer likes this and the book points to faster boarding without cramming as much as possible onboard.Faster reboarding/interchangeable planes - clearly good for both
Where the customer experience differs:
Southwest's "system" for assigning seats - While it is more efficient for the airline to let people sit in order of boarding, what about the customer. Letting the airline hold the customer's for 9 months confers no benefit.
Since I can only think of one "con", it may just be my opinion. It does get me thinking though - can anyone think of an example where lean does
not benefit the customer?