Customer Service and Capacity Utilsation: Stenna Line versus Ryanair

There’s a nice competitive battle developing between a low-cost airline and a ferry company which could provide some interesting stimulus material for a lesson or two.

Customer service (or more specifically, claims of poor service) is at the heart of an argument betwen Stenna Line and Ryanair.

Stenna claims that is is enjoying increased demand as for its core Dublin to Holyhead route by attracting former customers of Ryanair who are dissatisfied with the “rude” service they get from the airline.

In a typically forthright response, Ryanair suggest that Stenna’s claims are simply the ramblings of Stenna’s “Captain Hook” (a reference to the CEO of Stenna).

I’m not sure any competitor of Ryanair is likely to win a public relations battle. But it is interesting to see how Stena is benefitting from increased demand as the recession bites particularly deeply in Ireland.

The increase in passenger traffic seems to be partly driven by pricing - a price cut and customers finding it cheaper (though longer) to travel by car. Another reason is that the decline in ferry space taken up by freight (caused by the recession) has meant that Stenna has more capacity available for passenger traffic.

Which makes this story a neat way of linking pricing, demand and capacity utilisation.