They are with the A320's at Gatwick!

The market that these aircraft are aimed at may well put up with it for low fares. We tend to see things from the point of view of people who expect to fly long-haul every year, and often many times every year. It's not for you or me.

But there are plenty of people who may do a long-haul trip once a decade. Even if not technically true, it'll feel like a trip of a lifetime for them, each time. Yet it'll also be a trip that they can barely afford, scraping together all the cash that they can. Will they be uncomfortable on board? If they get a cheap fare that enables the trip to take place at all, they won't much care, and certainly not in advance. For them, all long-haul travel is a mystifying ordeal anyway; the important thing is that they get to go where they're going.

Having looked at the photo, I don't think anyone would be comfortable in the window seat.

And I wonder how many people would still be happy with their cheap fare, if they knew in advance how cramped their seat was going to be...

I think that the argument that everyone wants something (be it groceries, household goods or flights) as cheaply as possible is overplayed.

There is a distinct segment of the market that sees things in these terms but I would argue it is a much smaller portion of the market than many think it is (for instance the big supermarkets have been following the discounters lime Aldi and Lidl like sheep at exactly the same time as the premium market served by the likes of Waitrose or Booths is growing strongly).

Whilst it is easier to pitch price as the only thing that people care about, that seems to me to be just a lazy way of thinking which fails to take account of the true complexity of most customers purchasing decisions.

Great chance for BA to fit some new CW seats if it were to buy MH's A380s, although obviously they wouldn't!

I completely agree with this.

When i chose my flights i look at the price, but i also look at the type of Aircraft operating it and the seating configurations available.
I often dont book the cheapest flight, but rather the flight that will offer me the most comfort long haul.

Well yes, but one can't expect Aldi to be Waitrose or vice versa. And price becomes quite an important factor if one is to focus on volume, but as we can see it always brings down service levels, like an ever-expanding ANA vs a smaller JAL and their divergent profit and volume paths.

I'd imagine if the engines are that inefficient, BA can talk to RR about replacing them or just the fan blades. A lot of airlines sign up with RR for this, as by putting in up to date fan blades, they can increase fuel efficiency by 1% to 2% (depending on how old the original ones are). As you can imagine, 1% improvement is a lot of fuel saved.

T

I think even in the most complex consumer behaviour algorithms you will find that for economy flights price is a very big part of the equation...

I believe that some recent research has revealed that only a feeling of imminent danger can trump it (hence the demise of MH) but most people will suffer 8 hrs in a bad seat to save €100. (Family of 4... Do the math...)

None of these people ever visit the BA forum. They hang out on the http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mileage-run-deals-372/ section. :)

Personally I have issues with 10 abreat in Y, or even 9 abreast or 8 abreast. Therefore I pay extra not to travel in Y. You pay your money and take your choice. Simples, eh?

6 abreast in J with a droopy leg rest? Dear heavens, I hope not...

Is there any plans for JFK T7 to become A380 friendly?

A Captain told me that there are 12 white B747s in Seattle waiting to be painted in our livery.

No rumours of it, and I think it would be a tough ask given how T7 is shoehorned into its current location. The Super Hi-J B744 fleet was developed with JFK in mind (plus as a back-up to any tech A380's given the F and J class capacity are now almost the same).

Interesting that WW is willing to disclose numbers on the extra A380's they are looking for - a potential fleet of 18 would be nice, and maybe moving the B77W fleet to between 18-20 as well (if they can find the aircraft).

MH originally had looked at getting rid of 4 of their aircraft, keeping 2 for the LHR route (that was last years rumours) and Airbus have 2 white tailed Skymark aircraft sitting in TLS which they are keen to shift - so the 6 aircraft could come from those 2 sources (Skymark's engine choices are less of a concern given none had been fitted yet).

Pilot37

Although not officially confirmed, it's strongly rumoured that all three of the BC aircraft (including the aircraft that had not yet reached final assembly) have been sold to NH. Here's one specialist source, which contains a lot of links to other mainstream sources: http://a380.boards.net/thread/1301/ana-order-3-a380

I would be surprised if this was the case. The 747-8 has not been a roaring success (mores the pity) and if Boeing had sold them to BA they would be shouting this from the roof tops.

Would be good news if you are right though.