Airline product design: making time on board Alaska Airlines flights better for passengers

You are a product manager at Alaska Airlines. How would you make the experience on board its flights better for passengers? ```hint Walk the flight Break a flight into its moments, from boarding to deplaning, choose one group of travelers, and find the moments that frustrate that group most, instead of listing every amenity an airline could offer. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Does the in-flight experience start at boarding and end at deplaning, or does it cover only the time in the air? - Is the aim higher satisfaction and loyalty, or more revenue from onboard sales? - Which flights matter most: short hops along the West Coast, or longer flights such as those to Hawaii and across the country? - Are seat and cabin hardware changes in scope, or only service and digital changes? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A clear goal and a deliberate choice of traveler segment and flight length - Pain points mapped to the phases of a flight for that segment - Solutions that respect airline constraints: narrow cabins, crew workload, onboard connectivity and the cost of refitting aircraft - A reasoned prioritization of the solutions - Success metrics with guardrails, and a plan to pilot before scaling ### Follow-up Questions - Your top idea depends on the onboard network. What happens on a flight where it fails? - How would you test the change on some flights but not others, when aircraft, crews and passengers differ from flight to flight? - How would your plan change if you targeted First Class travelers instead?