Originally Posted by
Cathay Boy
It comes down to whether or not Cathay wants to offend people that knows what J service is, and then didn't get it. Remember assuming that most of the op-up passengers will be Cathay frequent flyers and elite status members. Does Cathay really want to make them mad and take their business elsewhere just to save a few bucks in the short run but risk losing big bucks in the long run?
Haven't we learn the lesson from Circuit City? 4 years ago they were hurdled as a "model cost cutting company" by reducing staff and services at their retail stores and "saving" 20% on operating costs. Well, because of the reduced services people take their businesses elsewhere, and they are now bankrupted.
I'm not say Cathay will be bankrupted, but just making a comparison that Cathay might lose out in the long run when frequent flyers take their businesses elsewhere.
CX/KA FAs pay more attention to F/J revenue pax vs op-ups because the revenue pax are
willing to pay for the service. In any business, one needs to find and retain the customers that are willing to pay for extra benefits and features that are offered...otherwise the biz model is not sustainable. CX/KA has to treat those passengers the best because they are the ones bringing in the most margin dollars for the company.
There are other reasons why Circuit City went out of business...cutting back on customer service is just one of the bad business decisions management made.
Yes, op-ups are most likely frequent flyer/elite status, but CX is making less margin on op-op pax who get full F/J service. There's a big difference in profitability between a frequent flyer/elite who pays full revenue for F/J vs one who pays for Y and gets the op-up.
So the same argument made for Circuit City could be made for CX...it's a bad business decision to treat op-op pax exactly the same as full revenue paying pax because the company is making less margin and diluting the value of its premium product. Pax get used to not paying for better service and over time, are less willing to pay full revenue for F/J.
Pax who get op-ups should feel fortunate, not entitled, that they can get a extra space, more comfortable seat, etc, without having to pay a cent extra. I'm always super happy when I get op-ops and I completely understand that the pax next to me who paid 4x the price of my Y ticket will get extra attention from the FA. My gf who's a KA FA also appreciates that perspective too.
