Originally Posted by
bernardd
If you go on believing incorrectly the only airline seat that can be sold is the cheapest, then CO ought to have been re-modelled more than 5 years ago to have a lower cost base than WN, B6, F9 etc. It sounds like you'd better start hoping you're wrong.
I think, perhaps, that you are overstating the case. The issue isn't whether CO can charge a premium, but just how large of a premium, and over how large of a market. I believe that there is a market for a premium service on some routes - SQ seems to do ok at the high end.
BUUUUUUT... just how much provision is there for this premium within the US? What could you possibly offer as a benefit on a 2-hour flight that will generate significant revenue? I can think of almost nothing that could conceivably bring enough consistent revenues over the bulk of CO's network to justify institutionalized higher costs. Because of that, I think that any premium products are best treated as ancillary products (pay-for meals, pay-for extra legroom, etc) rather than bundled into the product.