24left

Not sure if this tidbit of hilarity belongs in the Rouge thread or here, but I put it here since it's OT.

Mods can move it if they like
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It's not What the CEO says that I find funny, it's that all the Big Boys are going in the opposite direction, you know, making Y / Coach flying so miserable, people will either pay more and sit further forward, or maybe just take not fly and stop annoying airline CEOs.


"JetBlue Executive Vice President Marty St. George on why he doesn’t like Basic Economy fares: it’s not a good idea to spend time figuring out ways to make your product worse for customers.

“We still want to make sure that when a customer walks on a JetBlue airplane, no matter where they sit, they will have the best experience of any airline,” St. George said. “A strategy that dumbs that down and impacts the value proposition is on the surface not very attractive to us.”


Gary Leff originally posted this on his blog http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea....ry-spreads-uk/

He included the link to the full article:

"5 Takeaways from JetBlue’s Earnings Call"

Brian Sumers, Skift - Jul 26, 2016 5:45 pm

https://skift.com/2016/07/26/5-takea...earnings-call/

canadiancow

Every airline would love for you to have the best experience possible. But most people aren't willing to pay for F. Or J. Or PY. Or preferred seats. Or checked bags. Or food. Or...

So you end up with fares that don't allow seat selection, mileage accumulation, upgrades, changes, or anything else, because you're targeting a huge market segment by dropping the price $5.

24left

Yes.

I know that. You know that. I'd almost sure everyone on FT and at AC and the other airlines knows that.

But the comment by St. George was still insightful if not interesting in that he recognizes the downside to these "bare fares" that airlines are tripping over each other and copying.

More importantly, not only do airlines launch these "bare fares" but they do not all advertise / communicate/ explain exactly what the customer is not getting or what the customer is losing compared to what they got before. And we all know what happens when expectations are not managed.

eigenvector

I'm sure JetBlue still intends to compete on price. How I read the remark was in terms of corporate culture and attitude, you want your employees thinking "what's the most I can give you for a competitive price", not "what can I take away without you complaining too much". And that includes cost-cutting in non-pax-facing areas to remain competitive rather than going first for the low hanging fruit of removing amenities.

24left

Or, overheard in boardrooms everywhere:

How can we cut out everything but the seat and a free trip to the lav, and fill the back of the bus without all of them asking: Are we there yet?

CanRulez

In Europe, you have to pay to use the lav....well, not on planes...yet...

StuckInYYZ

That's what I don't get. If you have a shoddy economy section, many people will assume your premium offerings are crap as well and not see the value proposition. But then again, North American corporate culture is replete with similar examples.

Jumper Jack

How is that not already happening in HD or Rouge Y

Jumper Jack

You actually typed that with a straight face, right?



News in the last week alone
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/...ing-alone.html
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/britis...edle-1.3686961
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmont...bill-1.3692753
http://globalnews.ca/news/2844290/ai...randed-in-u-k/

canadiancow

Do you think that AC removed F because people were buying it? Do you think they put in Y seats because they want to offer worse experiences?

No, it's because people won't pay for better experiences.

The smallest state

........true. But AC doesn't sell better experiences. They don't even offer better experiences. Their F is adequate, not much else.

pewpew

Key missing words: (pay) as much as AC wants. On those routes where AC competes with CX, I've heard CX generally has better J fares despite having a better product than AC, so...

24left

See, and sadly, AC can probably learn a lot from the business that sells sex (real or otherwise). Plenty of people WILL pay for better experiences. Not every business has figured out how to monetize it. When you all calm down, you'll understand the analogy.

At the very least, I think JetBlue might have a different understanding and approach to their customers.


Wait, AC has F?

Jumper Jack

Are you suggesting these issues I listed out has anything to do with fare price?
So uhm.. somehow J pax can get hotel but Y pax has to sleep on the floor is okay due to the fare difference in certain cases?
Unless you are in way suggesting these experience are deserving because of the fare price difference

Will we soon entering a stage when a plane crash happens.
"See.. this is what happens when they won't pay for better experiences.. cheap paxes HA!"

Placing consumer at fault of "worse/demeaning or inhumane experience" is just............ I cant even

It is up to the government regulations to maintain a minimum standard of experience, regardless of fare paid. Our government still has no EU261 or equivalent in place to put a leash on an out of control airline. Regardless of the political party in charge, they are not doing enough- which I am sure would change once all MPs are required to fly on Tango fares.

Leaving pax in a different city for 48 hours(Thanks to EU regulations because who would know if these poor guys has to sleep in sleeping bags like the NRT folks)
Leaving a kid sleeping on the floor for the night after IDB
Leaving paxes in NRT sleeping on sleeping bags and chew those awful tasteless bread
15% coupon for 7 hour delay.

Aye. That's the pax fault for being cheap.. got it!

24left

So, Jack.....


These are all examples of IRROPS, or just plain concurrent bad stuff happening

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My point in posting JetBlue's thoughts/ strategy (which I'll assume some of you clicked the link and read versus bending yourselves into pretzels based on just the quote in my post - which magically, has now become a thread), was that I found it interesting to read about how they view the experiences of their customers.

JetBlue's Mint service forced UA and AA to up their game (product and service) on the PLH routes NYC-LAX/SFO.

In the article linked in my post, they have decided to add Mint service to other routes.

AC's attempt to differentiate itself on the PLH routes (e.g. YYZ to LAX/SFO) was to offer wide bodies on the morning outbound, adding $300+ to the J seat fare.

Other than it being a widebody, I do not see any differentiation in the service or amenities.

Now I certainly get that AC is not UA or AA and does not have spare birds that can be configured specifically for these routes, but it seemed to me that there was still an opportunity to allow those particular flights to stand out. I am not going to list the ways because AC is not paying me for my professional advice and because I am sure that someone at AC did consider it, but it was not implemented for whatever reason.