However, if BA did take the fuel surcharge out of redemption my fear is the miles required for each redemption would go though the roof
AA manages not to charge anything other than the taxes on award flights on its own aircraft and the redemptions levels are generally the same as or lower than BA.
But, I agree that the lost income would have to be made up somewhere. However, I would actually rather that that redemption levels went up and the charges were eliminated. At least that way it really would be possible to get something for nothing and that, for me, is what these loyalty schemes are all about.