Broken Things in BF from Berlin to Newark
Jul 26, 2006 | 8:58 pm
#46
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Originally Posted by TWA Fan 1
What can I tell you? I have personally shelled out $40 to fly E+ on UA. I realize i'm only only passenger.
Regarding IFE I respectfully disagree that passengers don't care about IFE. In an informal poll of my jetBlue fellow passengers virtually everyone agrees that the PTV is a huge factor in their decision to fly B6 vs another airline.
You can also look at the numerous threads here on FT Continental, the number of complaints that are directed at what is seen as CO's lackluster IFE offerings.
As far as it not bieng a source of revenue, it may not be a profit center per se, but if it's getting customers on the plane in the first place, it's simply a cost of marketing the product. And if CO loses customers to B6, or any other competitor, then the opportunity cost of not investing in improved IFE can be tremendous.
I realize that CO is flying virtually full without these amenities. What I'm concerned about is a couple of years down the road when CO's competitors have gained a huge leg up by investing money today in better quality in-flight amenities while CO was taking that money and, instead of investing it, reporting it as profit.
Regarding IFE I respectfully disagree that passengers don't care about IFE. In an informal poll of my jetBlue fellow passengers virtually everyone agrees that the PTV is a huge factor in their decision to fly B6 vs another airline.
You can also look at the numerous threads here on FT Continental, the number of complaints that are directed at what is seen as CO's lackluster IFE offerings.
As far as it not bieng a source of revenue, it may not be a profit center per se, but if it's getting customers on the plane in the first place, it's simply a cost of marketing the product. And if CO loses customers to B6, or any other competitor, then the opportunity cost of not investing in improved IFE can be tremendous.
I realize that CO is flying virtually full without these amenities. What I'm concerned about is a couple of years down the road when CO's competitors have gained a huge leg up by investing money today in better quality in-flight amenities while CO was taking that money and, instead of investing it, reporting it as profit.
In fairness, if you look at the financials for JBLU, it's clear to me that they're not capturing extra revenue for the value they add. The airline, IMHO, as a bad pricing model. It needs to refocus on shorter flights with slightly higher fares. For most passengers, the IFE is nice to have rather than got to have. The experiment they have to try is to jack up the ticket price--or charge a slight premium for the IFE and see what the passenger does. My attitude is that most people intuit that since restaurants and movie theaters don't fly people around the place as part of their offerings, why should airlines offer food or entertainment for a fee. I think most people just view an airline as a means to get from A to B--they'll pay the lowest price possible to travel.
Jul 26, 2006 | 9:11 pm
#47
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Originally Posted by ijgordon
You forgot about cost.
I really think that most people look at price and not cost. Most people don't put a value on their time. I think many don't like connections, so that probably is some kind of opportunity cost calculation going on there, but for most people, IMHO, the sold determinant truly is price.
Jul 26, 2006 | 9:49 pm
#48
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Originally Posted by ContinentalFan
Originally Posted by ijgordon
You forgot about cost.