Future of UK short-haul

[Outoftheblue22]

So here's a thought.

Seems to me that the UK aviation scene (forgetting long-haul, flat-beds etc) has split into two camps.

(1) Airlines which operate as a commodity business - grabbing market presence, promoting mainly on a cheap fare then screwing the customer for every last penny for bags, check-in, priority boarding, seat allocation, premium rate calls to the call centre, etc etc

(2) Airlines which retain more of a customer service ethic - selling at a reasonable price, offering a decent service, and actually treating passengers as hard-won, appreciated customers rather than just as a "unit" from which to extract cash

My very simplistic analysis would allocate carriers (in the UK shorthaul business) to these two camps as follows:

The "commodity" airlines:
Easyjet
Ryanair
Flybe
Jet2
bmibaby

The "customer service" airlines:
BA
bmi/bmi regional
Eastern
Aurigny
Blue Islands
Air Southwest
Aer Arran

So, in the medium term (and in the current economic climate) which business model is right?

The "commodity" airlines have done well over recent years, creating the whole "let's go to Prague this weekend" market.

But in the current climate I wonder if customers are looking for a more friendly experience - perhaps paying a little bit more (but flying a bit less often) but actually feeling like they'd been treated as human beings rather than just being screwed out of their money.

Discuss!

[steve wilson]

It seems that the airlines are split around three business modles:

1. Longhaul, or shorthaul with interlining pax and or business travel. These are operated by Legacy Carriers

2. Niche Markets with a PSO. Operated by third level carriers.

3. LoCos. Often operating into less popular, but cheaper airports.

All three will be feeling the pinch, but I would say that airlines operating niche markets will be best place to weather the storm, as the communities they serve do depend more heavily that the other two. You cant opt to catch a train from Westray to Papa Westray for example. The PSO subsidy they receive will also help.

Steve

[Seat62K]

The OP's assertion that the second group of airlines is not interested in "extracting cash" is naive.

I fly mainly Ryanair and easyJet shorthaul and only BA Club World longhaul. I'm in no doubt that the BA product "extracts" a lot of cash from customers. The airline's business model is designed to do this. After all, premium passengers' contribution to BA's profits is very significant.

P.S. Let me give you just one example of how BA may have "screwed its customers for every last penny". A few months ago, I booked Executive Club redemption flights in the sale, paying "taxes, fees and charges". These alone came to around £400 per return journey. At the time I remember someone speculating that once the sale was over the fuel surcharge element of the "taxes, fees and charges" would drop. Lo and behold, that is exactly what happened! A coincidence....? Maybe. The fact that the "fuel surcharge" is an extra is an absolute disgrace. What about a "pay surcharge" as salaries rise?

If I were to chose to use my BA Miles to fly, say, from London to Madrid and back I'd certainly feel "screwed" as it would very possibly be cheaper to fly Ryanair or easyJet than to use what is meant to be a "benefit" of Executive Club membership.

[RVF750]

A bit steep putting anyone in the same camp as Ryanair really.

At least Flybe Easyjet et al try to keep the impression that they actually like and respect their passengers.........

[jamier]

I would rather pay the extra money and fly with ba. when me and my dad flew down to london we had a choice of bmi from mme, ba, flybe and easyjet from ncl and for the extra cost we decided to fly with bmi as we wanted to be treated as people and not animals.

[arnoldk]

Jamier

So BMI treat its passengers as 'people' - and makes £100m loss in a year. Interesting business strategy.

Have you flown with Flybe - if so, and based on my experiences, I would be interested in why you consider BMI is so much better than Flybe? Perhaps a vested interest? If so, enjoy it while you can, because one thing is for sure - a cost base which delivers a loss of £100m will not be tolerated by LH.

Cheers.

Arnoldk

[roy2711]

shame the mme option is no longer avbl:{
I have to say that things are certainly a lot different to the last real downturn post 9/11. The airport is a lot quieter now than i have ever seen it in all my 20 +yrs and i honestly believe the British govt are happy for the domestic market to just disappear as they just keep putting more and more tax on air trvl!
It will be cheaper to fly to the states via europe than via heathrow due to the high apd charges that are going up again this November and the next three yrs after also (all under the cover of green issues, has anyone seen any money spent on these issues yet):ugh:

[Flightlevel001]

Jaimer,

I wonder if you would have still flown with BMIr if you lived 'Under the flightpath' close to NCL? Maybe that was the reason you flew from MME, because you live next door, all things considered, that may have been the cheapest option.

There is very little difference service wise between BMIr, Flybe and easyJet.

[roy2711]

"very little difference"
Bag charges for 1, sometimes obscure airports is another, and we can go on and on

[NWSRG]

Will simply never fly with FR again if I can avoid it...and their fares are often no better, or even worse, than the competition.

Flying from Belfast, EI are often competitive with EZ...and even BD can be price competitive if you can choose your flights carefully. EI and BD offer a better level of service, and the staff seem a little friendlier and more professional. I would pay a few extra pounds if I had to just to allow me to choose a seat...but EZ aren't bad either, and I'm happy to fly that way if need be. I personally favour EI where possible now. Not long ago, we were flying from LHR home, and the flights were cancelled due weather...BDs customers were all given new flights but left to fend for themselves overnight. EI sorted new flights for everyone, and then sorted free hotels too...

FlyBe dropped the ball for a while...poor performance timewise with cancellations and delays commonplace. And I had a few less than pleasant experiences of individual staff members...but since the E195s and Q400s have settled in, things have got a whole lot better. The E195 is a very comfortable plane to fly on...so I'm happy to use FlyBe again...

So EI very good, BD / EZ / FlyBe good, FR awful...and I've found Jet2 and Baby to be perfectly acceptable as well...

[On the Straight and Level]

NWSRG

Had the EI passengers actually checked in on this particular day with the weather? If so, the airline is responsible for the passenger. Without the boarding pass, many airlines will offer little or no assistance.

So in terms of the difference between EI and BD it may have just been that the EI passengers had been checked in? Equally, after checking in, if an airline is cancels the flight and places you on a flight with a known delay under a certain number of hours delay then as long as you are fed and watered properly, usually by way of food vouchers, this is as far as their responsibility goes. However, if the known delay is over a certain threshold, then certain facilities must be made available such as hotels etc.

I think the low frills service that many of the airlines (not low cost) will come full circle. They have reduced the product to the minimum and there is very little further savings that can be made. From here on, I believe that airlines ill start adding back some of the things that they have stripped away (for a minimal price increase) to make them standout from the competition.

Therefore the gap between the larger European carriers such as BD and EI in terms of economy class service will start widening from that received in a low cost cabin.

[simonchowder]

Must say monarch seem to have the balance right, flew with them to GIB recently excellent service friendly crew and a nicely appointed cabin (even had leather seats) maybe this is why they seem to have a very loyal customer base