Future of UK short-haul
So here's a thought.
Seems to me that the UK aviation scene (forgetting long-haul, flat-beds etc) has split into two camps.
(1) Airlines which operate as a commodity business - grabbing market presence, promoting mainly on a cheap fare then screwing the customer for every last penny for bags, check-in, priority boarding, seat allocation, premium rate calls to the call centre, etc etc
(2) Airlines which retain more of a customer service ethic - selling at a reasonable price, offering a decent service, and actually treating passengers as hard-won, appreciated customers rather than just as a "unit" from which to extract cash
My very simplistic analysis would allocate carriers (in the UK shorthaul business) to these two camps as follows:
The "commodity" airlines:
Easyjet
Ryanair
Flybe
Jet2
bmibaby
The "customer service" airlines:
BA
bmi/bmi regional
Eastern
Aurigny
Blue Islands
Air Southwest
Aer Arran
So, in the medium term (and in the current economic climate) which business model is right?
The "commodity" airlines have done well over recent years, creating the whole "let's go to Prague this weekend" market.
But in the current climate I wonder if customers are looking for a more friendly experience - perhaps paying a little bit more (but flying a bit less often) but actually feeling like they'd been treated as human beings rather than just being screwed out of their money.
Discuss!