Originally Posted by
chefrp
Yes the customer lets this happen by wanting super cheap tickets, but the airlines are taking advantage of this.
And therein lies the problem.
As long as passengers prime motivation is the cheapest fares, the airlines will cut corners to ensure those fares are available. Because if they don’t their competitors surely will. I’m sure passengers will insist that they’re willing to pay more for a better travelling experience, but how much more? £30 each way? £40? I suspect that once you start getting into the realms of £50 or more, interest will rapidly wane (there is an economic term for this sort of price vs demand relationship, although I can’t remember it right now). The higher the premium, the more that pax will be inclined to suffer in cattle class.
I think there is a modest subset of the economy class travelling public who, while unwilling or unable to pay business class fares, are happy to pay significantly more for a more comfortable experience, hence the increasing availability of Premium Economy cabins (which Singapore have recently started offering, as you say). I’m actually surprised that none of the Middle Eastern carriers have started offering this yet – it would be a good differentiator to the competition.