Originally Posted by
RCyyz
Who exactly is AC trying to cater to? (I have a cynical answer I'll post later on.)
Originally Posted by
Stranger
... one does not develop a business plan based upon being everything to everyone. There is a need for a clear focus and identification of who is the prime target.
Originally Posted by
tracon
AC doesn't have a clear focus. It wants to be the jack of all trades....as evident with it's return to YTZ, and bending the pilots over a barrell to start another LCC.
And thus my cynical answer - I think AC is simply trying to cater to the bottom line through any means. If they can get there via 100% paid J then so be it. If they can get there by completely filling the 3 Amigos with VBITs, then so be it. If they can get there by selling all seats to AC Vacations then so be it. if they can ...
The trouble with this is that the customer becomes secondary to the goal of selling seats. Customers really do become self-loading cargo. And then we have the "frequent flyer" program which increasingly is much more about selling magazine subscriptions, groceries and gas so that people can redeem for toasters.
So in the case of AC, we potentially end up with the case where we have an airline that just wants to have a warm mass in a seat and a frequent flyer program that has little to do with flying.
Now, clearly (I hope!) AC is not so callous as to really want self-loading cargo aka "pax". But if the "focus" of AC is to be something to everyone and therefore not really much to anyone then is anyone really benefiting?