macdo
Not trying to disagree with you:
TC the TOUR OPERATOR has come to within an inch of being ruined, TC the AIRLINE has not contributed to this state of affairs. Having been leaned and with a substantial increase in the on-board sales figures TC THE AIRLINE made a substantial profit 2 years ago and a modest loss last year. We have been repeatedly told by our management that our seat mile costs are competitive, which turns to the opposite message when the Mr Hyde head is talking, so who to believe on that issue?
Having worked in charter, I'm not sure how the ponytails in head office account for seat mile costs since they sell holiday packages not flights, so the price of the actual flight is not necessarily clear in terms of the total cost of the package. I'm sure they have some sort of formula but the costs can be apportioned how they like. I think the airline is just the pipeline to get the tourists out to the resorts where the real money is being made from driving down the room rates and maximising anciliaries eg; excursions and entertainment etc.
So how the suits can determine whether the
airline is actually making a loss or a profit is mainly in the hands of the accountants and not necessarily down to passenger seat mile costs, onboard sales or baggage charges, I'm not really that clear on the details, but with the low costs now offering hotel rooms, car hire, insurance and credit cards etc, the detail seems to be getting very blurred.
Hopefully the industry has now reached a position in the cycle where there is enough demand over the next few years for IT and scheduled to live with each other without any more "consolidation".