So, American Airlines wants to be the best airline in the world.  That’s the headline in today’s Dallas Morning News:  American Airlines’ goal: “To be biggest, best and most profitable carrier in the world”

From the article:

Doug Parker didn’t bother setting modest objectives for the new American Airlines Group as he took over as chief executive Monday.
“Our goal is to go and restore American Airlines to its position as the greatest airline in the world,” Parker told hundreds of cheering employees gathered at American’s Fort Worth headquarters.
Later, he raised the expectations a little higher: “As the largest airline in the world, we should be the most profitable, and we intend to be.”

Maybe they will be – the most profitable.  I don’t really know.  But, I think this – to state that goal as your goal may not be the best way to word your intentions.

I think an airline, like any other endeavor, needs to be about serving the needs of their customers.  That should be in the “big news grabbing” sentence of any CEO.  If they do that well, then maybe they will in fact be profitable.  Maybe very profitable.

But to “start” with the goal of profit in your public statement, splashed on the front page of the newspaper – to put profit as the goal, front and center, really pretty much above all else, as Doug Parker stated it…  well, it almost makes me want to look for other airlines to fly on.  You know, those airlines which would like to put my needs, and the needs of all of my fellow customers, in the forefront.

Haven’t we learned anything?  Start with a why that mattes to the customer.  Take care of the customer, really well.  Then the profits will follow.

But, start with the profit picture, aim for profits, and you may get neither customers, nor the profits you seek.

Think about Steve Jobs.

After I finished reading Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, and came up with my takeaways, here was takeaway #1 –

Care about the product, not about the money. The money must – must! — be the by-product, not the focus.

That’s what Steve Jobs did.  He cared about the product.  Actually, he cared about the customer’s needs – almost the customer’s “dreams” – the customer’s experience with his product.  He always thought about the customer – the user of his products.  As one observer put it, “Steve Jobs was the greatest advocate of the consumer there ever was.”  The consumer – the actual customer who used the actual product – this was behind the “why” at Apple.

Here’s an exercise for you – watch all of those videos of Steve Jobs rolling out their new breakthrough products.  Find this opening paragraph:

“With the introduction of the iPhone, we will make the highest profits in our history.  That’s our goal.  High profits.” 

Nope – you won’t find those words in his rollout events.

Or, think about Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines.  He famously said (paraphrased), “I don’t care about our customers.  I care about out people.  If I really care about them, they will care about our customers.”

In other words, that’s a creative way to say that “our business really does revolve around the needs of our customers.” 

At least Robert Crandall, former American Airlines CEO who made a rare appearance, remembered the customer.  He said:

“There are a lot of ways to measure a great airline. A great airline is an airline where the customer is always met with a smile. A great airline is one where the airplane is always on time. A great airline is one where that airplane is not only on time but it’s clean. A great airline is one that makes a profit every year…”

My advice for anyone running a business – including American Airlines – is this.  Don’t make any mention of your customer a mere afterthought.  Put the needs of your actual customer/users front and center, every day.  In the minds and hearts of everyone who works with you in the endeavor.  And even (maybe especially) in your public statements that are worthy of front page coverage.

Do that, and you’ll have a better shot at those profits you long for.