Originally Posted by
Scillybear
Whilst I don't agree that the decison was "Batty" at the time (and I like the seating policy personally) I think it is a fair point to say that it could have more impact now and in the future.
Given that the current loyal customer base is contracting because of the credit crunch, one would assume that the only way of attracting new customers would be from the competition.
T5 has to be a nice weapon in that respect, but assuming that not everyone will be on a corporate deal, the seating policy could play against BA.
You beat me to it
If BA wants to attract pax from the competition - and regular J and F pax as opposed to the occasional leisure J&F ones - then by default they are already likely to be high status members in another airline or alliance.
Most of these pax will be used to having a seat allocated at time of booking - something that BA will not allow them unless they are G or S status or on full-fares. So quite a few of these pax won't have this facility with BA until they build up S or G status.
So personally I believe the seating policy could be a major disincentive for regular premium pax to switch over to BA.