'Is Flying First Class Doomed?'

Old Sep 1, 2014, 9:42 am
  #91  
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Originally Posted by joshwex90
Fair enough - time will tell whether when they've "finished" spending tons of outlay costs, we see a drastic change in profits.

3 things to watch though:
  1. Once you've gotten into the habit of spending, it's hard to break it, especially when airlines like EY are trying to outdo you every step along the way
  2. All these outlays could very mean high variable costs to maintain, even when the fixed sunk costs finish
  3. Amazon is great. But not their profits. In an effort to gain market share, they've lost profit
That's pretty much expected. They have, however, vacuumed up a lot of longhaul European airline market share, which is why LH et. al. are panicked about EK. EK has good service to a part of the world that's going to drive airline growth (India), they're well positioned as a scissors hub for SE Asia and Australia, and their labor and tax regime gives them advantages, plus they're an airline that's able to use the A380 for what it's meant to do (be rammed full of pax on low-frequency, high volume routes, and reduce CASM). They also run solid premium classes (including their F). It's a pretty good value proposition for their business. I'd expect that at some point they will cap out their growth (there are certain markets where cabotage will mean they never fly the route, plus I don't think that a low frequency A380 model that does fifth freedom flying works in certain markets, especially in the USA, and DXB only works for certain routes).
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Old Sep 1, 2014, 3:35 pm
  #92  
 
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Originally Posted by DYKWIA
Complete rubbish yet again.
I worked for Emirates as crew for eight years. I was involved in an accident while out in Dubai which would have led to around two months of non working then a phased back schedule due to broken limbs. My contract was terminated within minutes of my appointment with my manager to discuss my accident. After eight years of service without a single day off sick. I was sent home three days later.

What part is complete rubbish DYKWIA?
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Old Sep 1, 2014, 4:14 pm
  #93  
 
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Originally Posted by duckied
I worked for Emirates as crew for eight years. I was involved in an accident while out in Dubai which would have led to around two months of non working then a phased back schedule due to broken limbs. My contract was terminated within minutes of my appointment with my manager to discuss my accident. After eight years of service without a single day off sick. I was sent home three days later.

What part is complete rubbish DYKWIA?
No free lunch, is there? Westerners complain about the age of flight attendants and marvel at the Stepford-wife equivalent on many foreign carriers. What happens to the cute young women as they become not quite so cute and not quite so young anymore? We enjoy the benefits of less-restrictive labor regulations (on some foreign carriers) without thinking much about the cost.

So what does this have to do with travel in F? Maybe that the relatively-low costs and "attractiveness" of the F we see on foreign carriers are often subsidized by poorer working conditions.

Last edited by Mike Jacoubowsky; Sep 1, 2014 at 8:28 pm Reason: clarity
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Old Sep 1, 2014, 8:15 pm
  #94  
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So the answer is, F is not doomed?

Yay.
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