Originally Posted by
brunos
Let's stick to the J pax.
I agree that there is a long list of reasons for choosing a one-stop over a nonstop and that price is the major one. You keep alluding to "studies" and "facts" without giving any reference. Let me counter by a sample of size one. Fares exHKG to CDG are similar on AF and BA J, even often cheaper on AF nonstop. In the past ten years, I chose BA over AF because of the mediocrity of AF product, mostly the seat. A second less important factor was the FFP (before the recent BAEC downgrade). I could earn a free J flight with a couple of paid J flights and some cc expenses. In a way you are right as this should be factored in the price
. But really the awful seat is the major reason I avoid the AF nonstop. And we fly often, you wish to fly in decent conditions even if that means adding a short hop.
For airlines having a flat bed, price becomes the major element as comfort is more or less comparable.
The main reason why airlines tend to ignore opinions on FT is the reason that the average FT member is only representative for a very small group of travelers, by the way, also not a really lucrative one.
Major corporations sign agreements based on the amount of flights an airline can offer, pretty simple, and they do not really care whether 83 or 91% have a cutting edge C cabin. It is all about time for lucrative travelers and accounts.
Safety is certainly a factor as well and KLM tried to compensate for the deficits of AF in terms of safety and poor connections at CDG, unfortunately Schiphol saw major renovations as well, which did not go well with many travelers over the last years.
Under the bottom line, it is not surprising that AF and KL became less relevant for C class passengers, they still owe their home market, but the competition simply became more relevant...resulting in the fact that AF is not even mentioned any longer when people talk about major airlines in Europe in 2025. That was different ten years ago, when everybody predicted 3 legacy carriers plus two major low cost carriers.
I fear that FB did not really help trying to stop people migrating away from KL and FB. And I am pretty sure that the new FB will not stop the migration either.