RW's leading sentence in this month's in- flight mag has got it spot on - there's never been a better time etc. And you yourself (Final 3 Greens) have proved it. Answer this question - without easyJet and the other low-cost carriers explosive growth into a deregulated shorthaul airline marketplace, would you (and millions of others) have access to some of the stunning good value fares on offer by the major airlines such as CSA?
Not just CSA of course but also BA, BMi, FlyBe, KLM, etc. etc. The honest answer is "No" you would not have access to this form of travel so cheaply. I am sorry that you think we are too expensive on the STN-PRG route, but that's only one route and we plan to fly >25million people this year - so I am sure you will have other opportunities to compare the price.
Yield management is not my dept I'm afraid, I assume that we pay some really good brains to work there and if we're not filling the aeroplanes then the price comes down - put in simplistic terms. From what you tell me about pricing at STN, I guess either the loads are good and/or you are booking late.
It's true to say we're not all the way home with integration of the two airlines just yet, but there are plenty of peeps working on it and in some areas/airports the whole thing is swinging along nicely. (You probably won't be seeing any of the pilots in those bases making contributions on this august forum however). As evidenced by your comments re ground handling we have still have a way to go in some areas.
RW's figures in his leading article look about right to me from what I know of our operation and his comments on routes are also true. The main thing that springs out of it for me is the difference in our business plan and that of our main competitor in the market place. We really don't think that the average passenger (business or otherwise) wants to land in a field 70 kms away from the city they're trying to visit.
Time will tell of course whether we're right or not and it will be interesting to see what becomes of the whole sector over the next decade or so. One thing's for sure, the majors have had it in shorthaul jet ops, the market has changed forever and now the consumer knows it. There's never been a better time to fly in/to Europe - maybe the lead article had a bit more truth in it than you thought Final?
Cheery Bye, Mad Max.
There's never been a better time to fly in/to Europe