How bad can it get in cattle class?

[smith]

It's also surprising that fares have not skyrocketed compared to their price a generation ago, when you consider how much more the oil producers, government taxation (from a virtually zero base), and the self-feeding hordes of employees who masquerade as security, manage to have worked out of the cash in the system in more recent times.

The competition has probably increased circa 10 fold accross the atlantic over the last 30 years or so, far more seats available hence fares remaining relatively constant in monetary terms but in real terms a lot cheaper.

I think you will find most American carriers accross the atlantic will give you free soft drinks but you have to pay for alcoholic drinks, also their stewardesses are about to, or have already, collected their bus passes!!!!

Recently flew BA Heathrow to Vegas on a 747 and I found that although standards had slipped I really enjoyed the flight. In the not so distant past all the catering items were all monogramed with the BA logo etc not so now it is just cheap plastic junk. The main meal used to have quite a rigid, aluminium, removeable lid decked out in resplendant BA colours, now the main meal resembles a 3 for 2 deal from Iceland supermarket with a peel back foil.

When the drinks came round I asked for a wine and was told wine was reserved for dinner so asked for a bloody mary and a beer and was told only one drink at a time ooops.

When dinner was served wine was poured directly from a bottle, in previous years you were provided with an individual bottle.

All in all for the price I payed (£320rtn) I thought I had a great flight, food and drink service not fantastic but adequate. But to fly through the air at 550 miles an hour for 10hours for £160 is really pretty extrordinary.

[dfdasein]

BlueTui you are missing the point, which smith gets very well. The latter reminds me that in relating the original tale which set off this thread, I forgot to say that when I stuck my plastic fork into my bit of chicken it splintered into at least three pieces (f**k).

[wannabe024]

£160 each way is incredibly cheap. Then you then calculate what proportion of that is tax it becomes simply astonishing!

When you look at it that way it becomes amazing that the airlines make any profit at all!

I'd argue that you're not just getting what you paid for, you're probably getting substantially more.

[pppdrive]

I believe there are two main points that could explain the lack of service now;
In the old days, airlines were run by staff who had come up through the ranks to their deserved high positions, whether this be pilots or ground staff. Now the airlines are run by 'accountants' who wouldn't know a 747 from a coach.
Passengers now are expecting more and more 'service' whilst demanding even cheaper fares.
So these opposing views continue to do battle. The airline wants to give less for the money and the passengers want more for less.
Whilst I thoroughly enjoyed my 40 years with various airlines, I'm very happy that I'm not involved now apart from using them to get from a to b
As an airline employee the old days really were the good old days.

[Skipness One Echo]

Now the airlines are run by 'accountants' who wouldn't know a 747 from a coach.

Accountancy is a profession separate and distinct from management. I think what you mean is that we have a lot of people who have an MBA parachuted into high level positions without the requisite experience. Now that's a fair comment but as someone aiming to do an MBA soon, a little harsh. Really good managers are as rare as Hens teeth. There's a lot more economic activity now but the talent pool of really good all round management just isn't there in the wider economy. Making money in commercial aviation when half your competitors are still cosy cartels or government funded vanity toys isn't easy.

As an airline employee the old days really were the good old days

I think what this really translates to is that into the 1980s, only people of a certain calibre were able to afford the ticket at all. Remember it was the good old airline men who met up to fix the price of the tickets. Compare a BA / Aer Lingus duopoly on London to Dublin in the 1980s to the situation today. We cannot in all honesty be getting nostalgic for that surely.

I think the major driver is that today :
People don't know what they want
Have no sense of decorum or value
Know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Try marketing to that lot !

[Cameronian]

Price is not necessarily directly related to service, charm, pitch or the whole general experience. The quite young SWMBO and I were lucky enough to get on a BCal flight from Gatwick to Kai Tak DC10 flight for £99 in October 1980. I cannot remember what everyone else was paying but it was much, much more, even for economy. It remains one of the journeys which most sticks in my memory for the sheer pleasure of the experience during the flight.

I fear that there was an element of racism involved in our getting on board in the first place. We had been unable to confirm our flight from home so decided to fly down from Glasgow on the off chance. There were perhaps sixty people queueing to check in on the deal when we got to Gatwick and it was announced that there were no seats available but one of the BCal staff came to us and asked if we were the ones who had come from Glasgow. The answer in the affirmative got the response "Ssshh and follow me"!

I REALLY miss BCal..... Their cabin staff really seemed to transmit goodwill. I still see that on easyJet, however politically unacceptable that may be to some. Even the BCal pilots seemed to enjoy the Glasgow to Gatwick flight more than did the Heathrow shuttle pilots.

[PAXboy]

S.O.E. has it spot on, and we have said this before in these forums. The REALLY bad news is that - almost EVERY company is in the same situation. I don't just mean airlines but ALL commercial companies. Further, the expectations of what govt can do fall into the same category.

As Western civilization collapses we are indeed living in 'interesting times'. Of course, the Western world will recover and gain the upper hand once again - in about 750 years! But global warming may well have taken over by then, so enjoy what you can whilst you can.

By the way, reputable people are reported in the UK press today as stating that the country is already in recession. But then, we could all have told them that months ago!! This was always going to be a double dip recession.