Sharp analysis, as ever by orbitmic.
Just one question and one remark if I may.
Q: Is it true that the new offering does not allow pax to select their seat? Is it going to be free seating in a dedicated part of the cabin? Or will it be the already existing "we send you an email with your boarding pass" (which already is enough of a zoo, no need to go any further)?
Remark: orbitmic, you wrote "exited the full service airline category and should be regarded as a low cost airline". Actually it's worse. From a pax point of view it's all of those things that you describe, but from an overall strategy/positioning point of view I observe an increasing "bmi-ization". What I mean by that is a multiplication of offers, positionings, target segments, etc. Let's juts recall that in its final days bmi was:
- A full service legacy carrier to a niche market in the Middle East/Central Asia region, with the added complexity of managing that business in a separate entity
- A legacy airline with full service C and Y service from mainstream airports, on routes such as LHR-DUB and LHR-AMS
- A Y-only full service airline on domestic routes to LHR
- An LCC flying with mainline jets to holiday destinations from LHR
- A full service regional carrier in niche markets within the UK (Norwich-Aberdeen and the like)
- And it was going to launch routes from hub airports to secondary, LCC-type airports (BRU-LTN)
Surely I missed some or mis-described some others, but the bouquet of positionings and markets was mind-boggling - and unsustainable. The airline paid the price for not having one common theme across all these activities. We all know how it ended.
Surely AFKL starts from a different position. It isn't the challenger in its home markets to start with. But still the myriad of things that this company tries to be is just amazing:
- A top-notch longhaul carrier for AF from CDG, where the airline invests money for new seats, new service, etc. and promises to be "on par with the top Asian carriers". The fact that the new seats will only be rolled out to some planes already introduces an element of heterogeneity, but there's more
- A medium-quality longhaul carrier for KL from AMS
- A medium-quality full service carrier on mainline European routes from CDG in the front cabins
- A higher quality full service carrier on mainline European routes from AMS in the front cabins
- A cheap full service carrier on European mainline routes from CDG in the back cabins, dto. for KL from AMS
- A cheap full service carrier for high fare paying pay on domestic routes from ORY
- An expensive LCC on some mainline routes ("Mini")
- An expensive LCC for the former Regional/BritAir routes
- A full service carrier on business routes for parts of Cityjet (LCY-AMS etc)
- A full service carrier on odd secondary routes for the rest of Cityjet (LCY-FMO etc)
- A holiday carrier for Transavia
I am leaning back in my seat with a bag of popcorn to watch this drama unfold in front of my eyes...
There have been and there still are some positive news coming out of AF, both for pax and for the company's operations. But then every now and then things like this come up and scratch my head wondering if they hear the mortar shells landing very close to them