BA undoubtedly needed to do something about the cost of crewing the cabin, but at the same time the company has taken a lot of cost out of the product, to the extent that business class shorthaul is not worth buying as a standalone product and longhaul is rather 'cheaper' than it was some years ago, although the seat is still up amongst the best.
In short, I believe that BA needs to improve the customer experience and this involves both the product and those delivering.
That is a fundamental marketing issue, and the core of the commercial future viability of BA.
I have a boring collection of data on my 'puter. That tells me,
inter alia, that my UK-East Coast TATLs actually cost me [random samples to make the point]...
- £612 VS PE 2003
- £595 MaxJet Club 2006
- £703 BA PE 2007
- £641 BA PE 2009
- £628 BA PE 2011
I
think there's been a bit of inflation since 2003.
APD has grown to stupid levels.
Yet
somehow the cost to me, the SLF, remains broadly constant. Part of that is obviously 'sale marketing', but there's no doubt that the core product has been pared to the bone to stay competitive.
If it wasn't for my ability to upgrade with BA Miles to Club, I could envisage a seriously sub-standard "Premium Economy" service. As has been noted here and in other places, the Club standard is nothing to get excited about either, apart from the nice seat. So something
has to give somewhere ... either prices go up to cover costs, or service is degraded to match income, or BA's core costs
have to come down.
The latter point is where we are ... BA has to be able to compete on cost
and quality. Money spent on expensive CC is not being spent on the SLF. That simply has to stop.