There are many things in the last ten years that have defeated best intentions of managements in a wide variety of commercial areas - not just airlines.
- Do not under estimate the effect of the 2008 crash and the decade of low incomes and uncertainty in it's wake.
- Do not under estimate the effect of the 2016 vote and the three years of uncertainty following the announcement of the referendum.
- From the day that the vote was announced (Feb 2016) the Pound has dropped in value and NEVER regained that level.
- No 10 has pushed away the idea that Brexit was a large part of the problem - but I think it was certainly not a small part.
- In this last decade, the political world has changed very fast. Be it terrorist attacks in holiday destinations, or the uncertainty of a world in more rapid change than we have seen in the last 30 years.
- In the UK, incomes continue to stagnate.
- The Interweb has given the carriers some advantages - such as direct selling and communication with their pax - but it has alao allowed the pax to compare prices across destinations, carriers and (depending on where they live) different departure points. NOTHING could have prepared the small carriers for that.
- The airline world lives on long lead times and, in the past 15/20 years, customers now only think in short lead times.
We can expect more contraction in the travel and holiday market.