PC767 wrote:
I cannot see why the success of a 32 seater aircraft from LCY should lead to the demise of a 291 seater aircraft from LHR.
There would still be 5 or 6 other BA flights daily on the LHR-JFK route. The loss of 1 would, in my opinion, have little negative impact overall. We already know that many premium seats ex-LHR are being filled by invol upgrades on non-premium fares. The LCY-JFK will only have premium fares, so no dilution of revenue there. Also bear in mind that the LCY service is crewed by LGW based CC (and only 3 of them at that) who (currently) are more cost-effective than LHR counterparts. If an LHR-JFK is cancelled that aircraft and slots are released for use on a possibly more profitable route. IF the LCY route IS being underwritten, then I'd say it's a good thing to operate it in preference to one of multiple, probably loss-making LHR-JFKs.
When I worked in the terminals at LHR, we often talked of the possibility of an all-premium service, to really set ourselves apart from the competition. The problem with a mix of premium and non-premium (plus everything else inbetween) on one aircraft is that it can result in a delay to caused by a low revenue customer noshowing at the gate, resulting in 70+ premium customers being inconvenienced by 1 £99 (or whatever) customer. LCY will avoid this.