Stop comparing apples and oranges. BA do what they do, Ryanair do theirs.
This is (almost) not a case of apples and oranges. Firstly ANY yield managed airline has a proportion of passengers "subsidising" the travel of a proportion of the other passengers. BA do it, FR do it, the just go about it in a different way. While FR hide nothing about their yield management (although dont advertise it either for obvious reasons), it remains quite obvious for all to see that it is indeed in operation at FR:
- Rapidly increasing ticket prices as you get closer to departure day.
- Baggage fees
- Credit Card fees
- Check in fees
- On-board sales
The idea (of FR management) is that you should get each person to pay the maximum the possibly can, while trumping an excellent deal, propped up by the few people on board who have genuinely managed to get one of your 1 Euro (or free) tickets.
Fast forward to BA and you find things are not too different although BA chooses to hide it under as much camoflage as possible. I have not travelled BA for years so am willing to be corrected on this point but do they also not use:
- Increasing fares as you get closer to departure day
- Higher fares at school holiday times
- Fuel Sur-charges
- Business class passengers who are paying 3 - 5 times more for only 1.5 - 3 times more space
- First Class PAX paying 10 times more for only 5 times more space
- Various other add-on sales through partnerships and alliances
(there are probably a lot more but I now very little about BA these days so I will not stab in the dark)
What this amounts to is BA using exactly the same techniques as FR except with a glossy cover. The LCC will give you the option of whittling down your fare price if you are someone who is conversant with the system and knows how to "play" it. On a trans Atlantic route this may not be the most comfortable proposition, but it may work for some few:
- Book early
- Be flexible with your travel dates
- Take LOTS of sandwiches
- Take a few empty water botttles through security and fill up at the fountains
- Use an Electron card when you book
- Travel light so get away with hand baggage only.
FR know that very few people will be able to commit to this so they will get more revenue - SIMPLE.
So.....FR and BA are essentially similar, just each put a different gloss on the surface of what they do.