Originally Posted by WHBM
In my business we typically book when we know we are going, which is normally just a few days beforehand, from London to points like Dubai or New York. This is the sort of business the mainstream carriers like to have. We always book in Y. The fares are typically twice or more what many of my seatmates who could book ahead have paid - maybe up to £1,500 for these sort of sectors. y class.
Of course the mainstream carriers love that sort of business when they can get it but there's no way it can be relied on. The majority of the cabin will be made up of travellers who have paid nowhere near that sort of price and they are the ones that the financial decisions, such as catering levels, have to be based upon.
Originally Posted by WHBM
No. On the shorter European sectors, doing a day-return out from London and back (once again at the highest fares of the day), leaving the house at 0445, queueing for ever at security, rushing into the cab from arrival airport to meeting, presenting all day, sorting out issues in the "lunch" break, rush back to airport, reverse experience, and home at 9.00 pm, those one-hour sectors in the plane are about the ONLY opportunity to get something. As you look around the cabin you see many others in the same situation. And yet the catering we got 10 years ago has been minimalised. Even when paying over £350 return London to Aberdeen.
When I said an aircraft is not a restaurant, I was actually referring to the fact that we don't have a larder full of ingredients and fancy ways of cooking them. As much as it may disappoint the marketing managers with all their pretty pictures, with the best will in the world it's very difficult to provide culinary magic with your average hormonal aircraft oven!
However, to take your point on it often being your only chance to eat, I'm very sorry but no airline should be held responsible for supplying your daily nutrition on a 1-2 hour domestic flight. If your schedule is such that you are unable to grab anything at all to eat during the day, then that is a problem with your schedule/company, not the airline. And once again, the majority of the people on board will not have paid £350. (I did try to find out how much the same trip would have cost 10 years ago but was unsuccessful. However, I wouldn't be surprised if it was pretty similar to today's prices.)
Saying all of that, as you have mentioned the high prices you have to pay due to last minute arrangements, out of interest I ran through a couple of price checks for LHR-ABZ day return, leaving in a couple of days time. The most expensive ticket I could find on BA was £233.79 return, departing on the first outbound flight and returning on the last inbound. That's not to say I'm doubting that you have had to pay £350 in the past as load factors will make a big difference but this is just a sample trip. Then to satisfy my curiosity, I tried the same trip for the train. £314 return. Unfortunately, while it leaves within a minute of the flight, you won't get to ABZ til 1448. On the plus side, you do get to work right up until 2200-ish but you might want to take your pyjamas as you won't get back to London until 1231 the next day.
However, I decided that was a tad unfair as obviously, a train to ABZ is in no way comparable to the flight times for the same journey, so I tried Manchester instead. By the time you take into account the joys of airport security and everything else that goes along with flying, the travelling times are much closer. Exactly the same dates and times.
BA - £142.10 return
Train - £302.00 return or £285 if you get two singles.
So......I assume from that, you get free drinks and food on the train?
In what world should flying be cheaper than the train?