I recently flew AY with Mrs SLBV (no status) and ordered a soft drink for me and a small bottle of wine each. I had every expectation of paying for the lot but to my pleasant surprise it was all on the house.

I’m surprised people are still surprised, but continuous indignation simply means that those who thought ‘oh well, that’s the way the industry is going, whiners will get used to it’ were wrong and failed to appreciate that for many of us, BoB affects the very identity of an airline and the entire onboard experience and notably interaction with cabin crew who are the ‘face of the airline’.

There are many things I continue disapproving in this world well after I have accepted that they are here to stay, because nothing has changed about their causes, consequences, or what they say about the person or company that enacts them. Whilst BoB is a very minor example, it nonetheless squarely fits into that description and I suspect the same is true of many other frequent ET passengers.

Just like BoB, the indignation is here to stay.

And I priced mine: £650 for a one way LHR-NCE in Y, and nearly £2900 for a return in WT+ to Singapore with a Saturday night stay which also would also sit me in ET on the short haul (not that I flew ba at that ridiculous price in the end).

That’s the problem with the price argument be it to justify BoB in ET or the lousy connection service in F. Much of the FT ethos is very rightly about bargain hunting, but we shouldn’t forget that those ultra cheap promo prices are there because many passengers sat next to us pay very expensive tickets in all classes of service. In fact, whilst the lead prices in the industry have gone down a lot in the past 40 years, top prices haven’t at all, and some have even increased because airlines know they will then offer big discounts on corporate tickets.

having seen confidential fare distribution figures for another airline on a sample of routes a few years ago, despite popular belief, it is not just a handful of people who pay the outrageous fares on a seat near you.

It is admittedly very difficult for any airline to define service standards that match the profile of both the £59 and the £2900 ticket guys but arguably, losing one £2900 customer is consequential.

Service is also far from the only reason you lose customers but it is one ingredient which can combine with others. As a result most European legacy carriers (LH, AF, LX, KL, AZ, AY, SK, etc) have gone for various hybrid models offering anything from free water, tea and coffee to free light meals to all customers. Some like SK and AY have also added extra provisions for frequent flyers, as have most airlines on the question of checked baggage.

By contrast, IAG airlines including BA have chosen to implement fundamentalist versions of BoB and HBO.

They are fairly isolated in that choice, and personally, I suspect that the more nuanced models of others will prove more intelligent. BA has had little opportunity to test the limits of their choices given the strong and dynamic U.K. economy in the past 20 years, but with the prospects of drastic economic consequences of a potential no deal Brexit looming, that test might come sooner than ba might have wished

(bold added)

I’m not sure this is a matter of ‘sympathy’ but I do believe your fundamental point is well-made.

To my way of thinking, it’s more about awareness.

It was only a very short while ago - when measured against the long history of the airline - that BA ceased to be a full service (or ‘premium’) airline option for short-haul economy passengers.

Ryanair, in contrast, began life as a low cost carrier and so their passengers’ expectations were aligned accordingly from day one. I just feel that it might need a good few years yet - especially for those who are perhaps only ‘annual holiday flyers’ - to get fully accustomed to the reality that the onboard experience in BA s/haul is now no different from that provided by Ryanair.

Nostalgia can be a powerful emotion.