MV
You do yourself a disservice... your postings in this forum (which I always read with interest) suggest that you have a VERY good handle on the economics of this nutty business!
I too hate to see routes discontinued. Professionally, I spend an inordinate amount of my time trying to make routes (and by extension airlines) pay (what's that line about flogging dead horses?) My prime contention was that given BACx's cost structures, which I would bet are still (despite some vicious, and, IMHO, misplaced, cutting) vastly higher than easyjet's, it is difficult to see how they can carry on indefinately at BRS.
From the consumer's point of view, Go and then easy at BRS have been a blessing; fares have dropped on competed routes very sharply, as they have at CWL (BA cheapest to EDI was £99, baby will do the same trip for a lowest of £20, and the capacity has gone throught the ceiling). So looking at BACx's BRS routes -
GLA, EDI now competed on by easy
JER now competed on by a few players
CDG - already vulnerable from silly prices ex CWL with WW, and poss flybe and easy at home
MUC, FRA - I would guess that easy will be eyeing up Germany as their new aircraft come on stream, and they have to start looking for routes to fly them on.
The golden days for BA at BRS (and most other regional airports) of "no choice leading to sumptuous yields" is very passé. I can honestly see a time when BA just give up on the regions altogether - and perhaps even the European routes - and let the low costs / niche regionals do it. BA's best bet may well be to start a low cost operator, basing a few 737s at BRS.... oh, hang on, we've been there before
I would guess that if easyjet force the issue, you'll see the back of BA at BRS as we did at CWL, and frankly, I am not terribly sure that they would be missed....
Really hope your wife mends quickly! In the meantime, don't let her fly with Ryanair, or you'll have to fork out for crutches....
Jetstar - BACx had a number of VERY profitable routes out of CWL, of which BRU was one of the best. I used to get stuffed for £500 plus return on that route, and that was on the waitlist! And please don't confuse load with yield - the loads may be good, but how much are the punters paying? I could fill any route to the max anytime.... I'll pay people to fly on it! 100% loads, and out of business in a fortnight.
The reasons that BA pulled CWL was not altogether to do with low profit routes... more to do with high cost operation and incompetent management, coupled with political posturing. Regrettably, I see little evidence that much has changed
TA