^

I understand your point a bit, but airlines (even ones that consistently lose money) don't fold with much regularity, so still being in business isn't really much of an achievement. This isn't to say that I don't have some sympathy for the enormity of the task LK was handed, but I'm not going to throw him a parade, either. As I said upthread, and which I think is perhaps the general sentiment here, LK did a good, maybe even very good, job in his role, but he wasn't a trailblazer by any means, and it isn't clear that being good at the job is enough.

Two Minuses Make a Positive
 

Much of the discussion here has revolved around E+ and many have pointed out that CAL is unlikely to want to remove any seats in their Y section because of the concern this might lead to lost revenue.

How about this as a possible solution?

The front third of the Y cabin is reconfigured to E+ with 4 additional inches of legroom. while the rear two-thirds takes a 2 inch hit in seat pitch.

The result, same number of seats, no loss in potential inventory, a differentiated product that can accommodate elites who don't receive FC upgrades, and upsells to all others, while the rest of the cabin is still perfectly adequate for those who only buy airline travel on a purely commodity basis.

Surely there will be those of you who will object to 29" seat pitch, which would become E double minus, but it's already out there, mostly on LCC's in Europe. In the U.S. major carriers, sich as AA and US, already have 30" seat pitch in at least a part of their fleet.

Remember, 31" seat pitch is not written in stone.

It's not a perfect solution, but one that allows for a differentiated product that represents zero reduction in inventory, the prospect of a very tangible benefit for elites, as well as a positive revenue stream from upsales.

A longer expression of sentiment over LK's departure:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrvIM1ENcbA

Funny stuff. You know how some of us have an FT monicker that ends in "fan," such as "ContinentalFan" or "TWA Fan 1", I think you really ought to consider changing yours to "HeathrowGuy aka KimIlSungFan1"...:D