U.S. airlines, except for “Hallelujah” Southwest Airlines (congrats on the great ads), have so diluted their brands that the companies are becoming increasingly interchangeable.

On my American Airlines flight to Dallas last week, the flight attendant went through a long list of food and drink prices and payment options. So when she asked me if I wanted anything, I asked how much the sodas cost. Apparently they’re still free, but I was the fourth person in 8 rows on a half-empty plane to ask.

So American Airlines’ selling point is that the soda’s still free. But don’t ask for an aspirin; those have been removed.

Hopefully your company can identify its competitive advantages. Otherwise your mediocrity will catch up with you, and your customers won’t care if they do business with you or not.

Photo by Robert Cooper (Flickr).