orbitmic

My personal prediction is that an increasing number of routes will lose F in years to come and BA will specialise in a few markets where they can sell their 8F at a hefty price. I think that they will keep more F destinations than, say, AF, but quite a lot fewer than they do now and I wouldn't be surprised if they announced that as part of equipment modernisation, they will switch more planes to 3 class than initially announced.

I may of course be totally wrong on all of that, but part of my thinking is that a paradoxical effect of the move to 8F is that whilst it makes seats less hard to fill, it means that the crewing impact of having an F cabin paradoxically higher (ie you commit the extra crew for an even smaller number of passengers and it may quickly not feel worth it). It also likely means that any ticket you need to sell at a discounted price (or worse, offer for awards or upgrades) brings the yield more dramatically down each time. All of this can quickly make the reduction in F a bit of a vicious circle, and whilst I have no doubt that this will prove a worthwhile switch on routes with high F potential (JFK, LAX, etc) many of the second tier destinations (from the point of view of BA's network -- I mean ATL is a huge airport, but simply not centre stage from the point of view of BA's strategy itself) will be deemed candidates to 3 class.

ATLCDG

Unfortunately for me I agree with your thinking and you are certainly correct about ATL not being "center stage" in BAs strategy.

I had forgotten about those.

ijgordon

I assume they go from 3 FAs for 14 down to 2 for 8, no? Yes it’s slightly less favorable but has to be considered in the context of the crew requirements for the rest of the plane, eg, they may need an extra crew for a larger J cabin now, so no overall change, and then it comes down to the relative yields. Lots of moving parts in this calculation…

orbitmic

Yes, it should be 2 crew members on an 8 F, but on several planes, I suspect there would be no (regulatory) need for extra crew members in J or W or Y if any of those cabins is enlarged instead of F. And yes, exactly, it is then a question of yield, but BA have never made a secret of the fact that F is not the cabin on which they make the most money: W and J are overall significantly more profitable. It doesn't mean that F loses money, and again, on some routes I'm sure it is a healthy earner, but my guestimate is that on an increasing number of other ones, BA will decide that F is not worth it.

As I said, it's a merely guestimate on my part and may very well be wrong, but it is a guestimate that was certainly trying to take into account those moving parts and more (such as the fact that complexity in the fleet leads to losses as sometimes you end up using a 4 cabin plane on 3 cabin routes which is suboptimal.

flying_geek

BA F out of ATL has often been really "cheap" - I go to Dubai a couple of times and F out of ATL is usually a lot cheaper than J from MIA - did that a few times and just bought DL or AA ticket to/from MIA. Was a nicer flight and great for AA points

Magnus77

i am on it in May, still shows 781 and in First

ATLCDG

That is the odd thing. You can no longer book seats in first in May. All F and A buckets have been zeroed out. I have a feeling they will switch your 781 for a non F 777. I hope I am wrong.

Magnus77

Just done a dummy booking only club on the app for the days I have booked. Guess I will be going via somewhere else then again 😪

ATLCDG

I hope not for you. 🤞

Magnus77

Thanks, looks like MIA or ORD are the only viable options. But I loathe the dump that is ORD's lounge. I am waiting for the dreaded email

DrAJ

We came back in F from ATL on Thursday due to plenty of reward seats. I suppose J only still gets the crappy security queues and terrible lounge but gets you off to sleep earlier with quicker meal service? That being said will be a loss of a 'easier' redemption

ATLCDG

That lounge is horrible.

Magnus77

Just spoke to the goldline.Firstly told me that cabin is sold out. I said I am the only person in First.Then we talked about this good forum, they said they had seen flyertalk Then confirmed for May, June and July its a non F 777, although stated no decision has been made apparently. Which is odd as its changed on the app. So clearly they have done so

ATLCDG

It will be interesting to see how long it takes them to send you an email about the change.

Magnus77

Yes they have said up to 2 weeks. Depends on revenue management. Regardless of that I will have to overnight in Atlanta on my return as my AA connection was timed to get me on the 226 service to London.