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WSJ: Europe’s Top Airlines to Spend Billions in Battle to Win Back Passengers

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Old Jun 4, 2015, 11:52 am
  #1  
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Post WSJ: Europe’s Top Airlines to Spend Billions in Battle to Win Back Passengers

Europe’s two biggest airlines are rolling out more than €4 billion ($4.5 billion) in cabin upgrades in an attempt to arrest the hemorrhaging of lucrative premium passengers to Middle East rivals which have stolen their customers in part by wowing them with luxurious amenities onboard flights.

The cabin overhauls represent a second front in a battle between Air France-KLM SA, Europe’s largest airline by traffic, and the continent’s No. 2, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, against competitors from the Persian Gulf.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/europes-...ers-1433425762

Will have to wait and see if U.S. carriers mimic this.
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Old Jun 5, 2015, 1:02 pm
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Probably not going to get a lot of comments as the link requires a WSJ subscription....
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Old Jun 5, 2015, 1:47 pm
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It didn't yesterday. Maybe they've taken it off their public section. I don't have a WSJ subscription.

I just typed in the first few lines from the story on http://news.google.com and it comes up. Maybe try that route as a workaround.
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Old Jun 6, 2015, 1:36 am
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The LH cabin "upgrade" in economy class has made for less comfortable seating than used to be the case on LH. Great way to win back passengers? Not so sure about that.
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Old Jun 6, 2015, 2:41 pm
  #5  
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Originally Posted by tom911
It didn't yesterday. Maybe they've taken it off their public section. I don't have a WSJ subscription.

I just typed in the first few lines from the story on http://news.google.com and it comes up. Maybe try that route as a workaround.
Yup, you can bypass the WSJ paywall by finding the article on Google and following that link.
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Old Jun 7, 2015, 5:56 pm
  #6  
 
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there is no way they can winback.......the middle-eastern carriers are too good in giving good food, great IFE, etc. They actually serve a menu and give amenity kits. In economy.

Try to beat that, klm, AF, LH.....I doubt if these "spent millions" will work unless u bring what the ME4 bring!
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Old Jun 8, 2015, 1:49 am
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British Airways cabin upgraded resulted in the seat pitch in SH J being "Enhanced" from a comfortable (ish) 34'' down to a squeezy 30'' (the same pitch incidentally as the standard Ryanair seat).

Ironically now the best seats on their A320 aircraft at the exit rows in Y.
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Old Jun 8, 2015, 2:00 am
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Originally Posted by Worcester
British Airways cabin upgraded resulted in the seat pitch in SH J being "Enhanced" from a comfortable (ish) 34'' down to a squeezy 30'' (the same pitch incidentally as the standard Ryanair seat).

Ironically now the best seats on their A320 aircraft at the exit rows in Y.
And the less comfortable they make the seats, the more likely people jump ship to fly new/different/cheaper carriers than before. I can't see how this will turn out well for the European legacy majors unless the governmental authorities enable more anti-competitive/protectionist measures against LCCs and non-EU/EEA carriers.
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