BA and Project Columbus III

[JayPee28bpr]

SP #1120

"BA is competitive on EU routes price wise and offers a free bar and food as well.

Aer Lingus should have stayed a full service airline selling itself on the quality of its product and the professionalism of its crews"

Oh SP, SP, SP, I really don't think you understand air travel dynamics at all. Actually, one or two of your BA colleagues who don't agree with you also make the same mistakes to be fair.

Let me tell you why we, the passengers, get on planes. We do so because we have to (business) or want to (leisure) get to B from A. There are only two key determinants of whether we buy a ticket from airline X or Y: price, and convenience (arrival time, additional time to get from the plane to ultimate destination).

To use your Aer Lingus example, Aer Lingus' full service involved charging £250 for a return between London and Dublin. Ryanair came along and reduced it to under £50, thereby pricing Aer Lingus food/drink (the only differentiator at first) at £100 per flight. I can get far better food in good London/Dublin restaurants than I ever got off Aer Lingus for that price.

Incidentally, I find the concentration on the food/drink service laughable. Am I really meant to value a cr@ppy tray that's impossible to eat off in the middle seat in turbulence when you won't serve me coffee anyway? Have you ever been to a restaurant that doesn't serve/stops serving because it's windy outside? "Free" food/drink, which in reality is grossly overpriced in your tickets, is probably the least valued part of the package.

Airlines are just glorified bus companies and need to price their service on this basis. Some passengers will pay for comfort on long flights, but few of us care about the gimmicks. For instance, does BA have any stats on actual usage of the AV system in premium cabins? All I ever see is people asleep. I reckon the only reason the AV is there is so CC don't have to do the safety announcement pre-flight. Scrap it and cut fares. Same with all the guff we get on premium cabin food: the committees of renowned chefs that "design" your menus get paid out of my fares. I'd rather have the cheaper fare thanks.

There's a reason why Ryanair has grown so quickly. They worked out what passengers really wanted far faster than the likes of BA did. BA is having to follow Ryanair, not the other way round.