Originally Posted by
M-JCS
It's a bit ironic, isn't it, that Flybe is the carrier that started charging for hold baggage in Europe. I recall the chap who had that brainstorm (he's currently at Aer Lingus I believe) being pilloried by his peers during an industry conference a couple of years ago.
It rather begs the question: what do you suppose the reaction of joe public would be if 'old fashioned' all-in (hold baggage and on-board refreshments) fares were charged, by Flybe or any other carrier, instead of the current disjointed affairs which have become de rigueur? Would that be considered the actions of an industry disruptor or of a fool? Certainly it would go a long way toward solving many of the baggage problems being experienced today.
flybmi and Loganair do just that....not sure if that gives them any sort of edge or not. You could argue that it helped LM see off BE when BE decided to go head-to-head post-franchise but the issue is that the massive expansion in overall airline traffic has been driven by low headline fares and you can't have those without unbundling the product into bite-size chunks! Unfortunately Mr O'Leary is correct in his assumption that lowest cost and lowest fare will win. Most people like choice if that means that a lower fare comes with it. Some people say that they would pay more for the all-in bag/meal but unfortunately not everyone thinks the same or places the same value on that service. The way it has evolved seems equitable to me. If I want a cheap fare I need to book early and travel light and/or travel at "inconvenient" times. If I need to book late and take the family I'm going to get stung. It's called market economics.