easyJet goes further downmarket
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: The Valley Where the Thames Runs Softly
Age: 77
Posts: 556
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I am an old fart now; so old. in fact, that I can recall the grumbles when self-service grocery shops came in. "people don't want to get their own goods" "people will always pay the right price for good service" and so on.
A dozen years later it was all over.
The full service airline (for the short haul punters who buy their own tickets) is dead. And as businesses trim their sails, the market will provide high cost high service high price capacity for those who do not have to worry about shareholders. The rest will buy on price, just like they do in almost any commodity goods sector you can name.
A dozen years later it was all over.
The full service airline (for the short haul punters who buy their own tickets) is dead. And as businesses trim their sails, the market will provide high cost high service high price capacity for those who do not have to worry about shareholders. The rest will buy on price, just like they do in almost any commodity goods sector you can name.
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Samsonite Avenue
Posts: 1,538
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Even more downmarket... that is a tough mission! So does that mean that staff will now give passengers abuse instead of just being unhelpful??? 
I propose the idea of self-baggage handling. No baggage staff and no baggage carts needed! Expect to queue for long periods of time in the rain!
I propose the idea of self-baggage handling. No baggage staff and no baggage carts needed! Expect to queue for long periods of time in the rain!
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Am i missing something here???
All this over soup?
If it helps bring down fares for me...
and helps EZY save money, expand their network and provide value for money for even more pax.... then....
Bring on the soup......
having used EZY many times... and never paid more than GBP35
for a rtn trip.... they have got it spot on.... I hope BA crumble into dust.... just like their ATP's
All this over soup?
If it helps bring down fares for me...
and helps EZY save money, expand their network and provide value for money for even more pax.... then....
Bring on the soup......
having used EZY many times... and never paid more than GBP35
for a rtn trip.... they have got it spot on.... I hope BA crumble into dust.... just like their ATP's
Join Date: Jun 2000
Posts: 180
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
You're all missing the point,you now have a choice.You can eat your soup on its own with a bun or and this is the cunning bit,if you fancy a sandwich simply open up your bun and pour your soup into it and close.Voila a soup sandwich!
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: last time I looked I was still here.
Posts: 4,507
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
And as one wag said about a new LCA in Ireland/Belgium/Poland. (depends which country is generally the butt of your non-racist jokes)
"As long as it is not soup in the basket!"
"As long as it is not soup in the basket!"
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Roxton, UK
Age: 47
Posts: 331
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I think people within the industry see EasyJet differently from those outside who regularly use it. I have used it well over 50 times return LTN-AMS. The punters who regularly use it do not see it as an airline in the traditional sense. Obvious really, but that changes my expectation of the service. Cheap (seems to be getting cheaper again at the moment) and cheerful. Once you have learnt the rules of the game and realised that Easy ground staff are quite often unhelpful but that the cabin crew in the aeroplane are usually efficient and cheerful it becomes routine.
I and I know others I have spoken to view Easy as a bus service. 45 Minutes to AMS. Convenient no frills. Delivers you to an airport which is one of the best and easy travelling distance from both Amsterdam and Den Haag. Plane often takes off 'late' but normally lands within ten minutes of schedule. No major complaints in 3.5 years. Some bad experiences but the vast majority good.
Keep up the good work and please could the ground staff smile a bit more.
Sorry for the bullet point style sentences but I am writing this one sentence every few minutes as I do my work.
DeepC
I and I know others I have spoken to view Easy as a bus service. 45 Minutes to AMS. Convenient no frills. Delivers you to an airport which is one of the best and easy travelling distance from both Amsterdam and Den Haag. Plane often takes off 'late' but normally lands within ten minutes of schedule. No major complaints in 3.5 years. Some bad experiences but the vast majority good.
Keep up the good work and please could the ground staff smile a bit more.
Sorry for the bullet point style sentences but I am writing this one sentence every few minutes as I do my work.
DeepC
The soup was served earlier in EZY's life, and was very popular.
The sandwiches varied in quality, didn't sell on domestics and couldn't be kept chilled all day.
A wider range of much better quality products can be bought at the airport, e.g. O'Briens sandwiches.
In-flight picnics are a common sight in the summer. Re. free seating, I thought it'd be a nightmare after 10 years
of allocated seating. Truth is, after a year at EZY, scarcely any (possibly 2 or 3) complaints about seating - and those only because the specials/families weren't pre-boarded. Otherwise, quick on, quick off and no problems at all - the travelling public always offer to help with re-seating, because they don't feel they own a particular seat!
The sandwiches varied in quality, didn't sell on domestics and couldn't be kept chilled all day.
A wider range of much better quality products can be bought at the airport, e.g. O'Briens sandwiches.
In-flight picnics are a common sight in the summer. Re. free seating, I thought it'd be a nightmare after 10 years
of allocated seating. Truth is, after a year at EZY, scarcely any (possibly 2 or 3) complaints about seating - and those only because the specials/families weren't pre-boarded. Otherwise, quick on, quick off and no problems at all - the travelling public always offer to help with re-seating, because they don't feel they own a particular seat!
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: UK
Posts: 22
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
DeepC
That sounds like the right approach to take. The cabin crew are genrally more courteous than the ground crew, but they don't take any nonsense from unruly passengers, and are more likely to bite back than say other image conscious airlines - perhaps.
The ground crew are usually handling agents, and whilst they often do a good job, there's something to be said for having your own ground crew, that's for sure. That said, they are the ones who have to face the public when easyJet have switched aircraft, delayed flights or done something else which inconveniences the passengers. That's an unenviable position to be in when in it's not your company.
That sounds like the right approach to take. The cabin crew are genrally more courteous than the ground crew, but they don't take any nonsense from unruly passengers, and are more likely to bite back than say other image conscious airlines - perhaps.
The ground crew are usually handling agents, and whilst they often do a good job, there's something to be said for having your own ground crew, that's for sure. That said, they are the ones who have to face the public when easyJet have switched aircraft, delayed flights or done something else which inconveniences the passengers. That's an unenviable position to be in when in it's not your company.
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: North of London
Posts: 370
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
While I hate to defend any thing easyJet does at this time, the bars are only going to be restocked once a day, so the sandwiches are out because they cannot be kept fresh. Apparently not having Alpha around the aircraft many times a day saves loads of money, keeeps the ticket prices down, etc etc...... With regards to the seating, I think allocated seats saves time, despite having seen unallocated seating for nearly six years. Passengers prefere to know where they are seating, and getting all the families grouped together at checkin, all the elderly, invalids and others sorted out BEFORE everyone has to be rearranged onboard may actually save time to gain a quicker turnaround. Not to mention the pursers patience!!
