Originally Posted by
Skipness One Echo
Killing frequency on UK domestic routes is potentially counter productive bearing in mimd they need to remain frequent to be competitive on point to point. Given BA are focussing on improving profitability on short haul and given the Shuttle runs do quite well, I don't see a lot of scope for change in terms of cutting back.
If BA domestic Shuttle routes got the load factors they do at the yields they charge for domestic passengers, they would indeed be significantly profitable.
What knocks them is the share of the revenue of the connecting passengers which is attributed to the domestic sector. This is entirely down to the management decision of what proportion of the total fare paid by the passenger is attributed. I understand that in some cases it is as low as £1, all the rest of the revenue being attributed to the long-haul.
It was an even worse problem for BMI, and one of the key things that led to their sustained unprofitability, all the Star Alliance connecting passengers where the long-haul share was actually going to a different company.