BahrainLad:
MOL is basing his future predicitons on a risky assumption.
That being, that all customers care about is price. Ergo, as Ryanair is committed to offering the lowest prices (to the extent of destroying its yield in a fare ware), it will be the only survivor.
However, it could be argued that customers are becoming more focused on value rather than pure price, and that they are including onboard service, convenience, reliability and a host of other factors when they make their travel decision. This will benefit airlines such as BA who are IMHO offering the product with the most 'value' (i.e the best combination of price/service)...just look at the results.
Absolutely right, IMHO. And I believe that more of the European market than the American market will look for value over absolute price. I think BA and others have adopted a better marketing proposition than their US counterparts, who seem to think that counter-attacking on price alone is the answer. Even if it's true for the US market, the result there seems to be that the majors now often provide a poorer service for a higher price than the low-fares (including their own low-fare units in some cases), which is suicidally crazy.