USAirways has jumped the shark

[PCL_128]

Are you willing to pay $2 for a beverage as flight crew?

Of course not. That's not what this is about. This is about the paying customers having to pay, not the employees working the flight. If you want to get the bare bones cheapest flight on cheapskateairtravel.com, then you'll get what you pay for. Welcome to deregulated aviation. Ready for regulation again?

 

[Redmeat]

Oh, and as far as being "trapped" in a metal tube with nothing free to drink. What about Amtrak? I haven't ridden them in a while. Don't they charge for everything while you are trapped on there for days? That might be a better comparison to the hotel listed above. Sure, you can take water onboard, but with my idea above, you can do the same on a flight.

If you get the 'Roomette' on Amtrak, you can bring on your own booze and food.

The wife and I did a trip cross country to Cali 2 years ago because I won't go near an airport on my days off if I don't absolutely have to (I don't eat, sleep, and breath aviation like alotta guys do).

The Roomette pax get free brekky and free dinner in the dining car on the two day trip. It wasn't bad and the service puts the airlines to shame (read: no attitude).

 

[BoilerUP]

Of course not. That's not what this is about. This is about the paying customers having to pay, not the employees working the flight.

Does that soda not have the same COST to the company regardless of who consumes it?

How would you justify to a passenger why you get a free drink but they have to open their wallet?

If you want to get the bare bones cheapest flight on cheapskateairtravel.com, then you'll get what you pay for. Welcome to deregulated aviation. Ready for regulation again?

So...by that logic, does a walk-up full Y fare passenger spending $800 for a one-way ticket deserve a complementary beverage?

I agree with you 100% that airlines should raise their fares to cover their costs...but the nickel-and-dime bullsh!t needs to disappear ASAP and get replaced with a fairly priced ticket and a fuel surcharge, just like UPS and FedEx and any taxi company charge.

 

[FR8mastr]

but the nickel-and-dime bullsh!t needs to disappear ASAP and get replaced with a fairly priced ticket and a fuel surcharge, just like UPS and FedEx and any taxi company charge.

I agree as well, if these supposed "leaders" had any clue at all they would follow the lead of successful companies like you listed.

 

[PCL_128]

Does that soda not have the same COST to the company regardless of who consumes it?

How would you justify to a passenger why you get a free drink but they have to open their wallet?

I don't need to justify anything. I'm getting their cheap ass halfway across the country for $99. It's their penny pinching ways that have created this situation. I don't want to hear a single complaint from any of them.

So...by that logic, does a walk-up full Y fare passenger spending $800 for a one-way ticket deserve a complementary beverage?

I'm sure the business and first class passenger will continue to receive free drinks. Want a free drink? Pay a reasonable price for your ticket to get into first class.

I agree with you 100% that airlines should raise their fares to cover their costs

Sorry, but can't happen. Welcome to reality. The fare increases aren't sticking. American tried just last weekend, but other carriers didn't follow suit. You can't be listed as $20 more than the other carriers on Orbitz and still get customers. This is why regulation needs to return.

 

[BoilerUP]

I don't need to justify anything. I'm getting their cheap ass halfway across the country for $99. It's their penny pinching ways that have created this situation. I don't want to hear a single complaint from any of them.

That's a great attitude to have in a service industry...painting every passenger with the same Orlando $69 web special leisure traveler brush.

I'm sure the business and first class passenger will continue to receive free drinks. Want a free drink? Pay a reasonable price for your ticket to get into first class.

$800 for one-way, walk-up Y fare ticket isn't a "reasonable price"???

 

[PCL_128]

That's a great attitude to have in a service industry...painting every passenger with the same Orlando $69 web special leisure traveler brush.

Hey, I treat the passengers with the utmost respect while I'm working. I go out of my way to greet them getting on and off the plane, I try to be in the gate area to answer questions on delays, I bring the kids up for pictures in the cockpit, etc... But that doesn't mean that I don't secretly think that they're a bunch of cheapskates that would kill their own mothers to save 5 cents on a flight from LGA to LAX.

$800 for one-way, walk-up Y fare ticket isn't a "reasonable price"???

That's not an average fare. You've provided a red herring for an example. If most tickets were $800, then we wouldn't be having this conversation, because the airlines would be profitable. USAir can't serve the two coach passengers who paid a reasonable fare a free Coke while making everyone else pay. Want a free drink? Upgrade to first class.

 

[Redmeat]

I don't need to justify anything. I'm getting their cheap ass halfway across the country for $99. It's their penny pinching ways that have created this situation.

Since when is getting the best deal on ANYTHING not a normal pursuance in this country?

I think you quoted the phrase yourself a couple posts back...IT'S WHAT THIS COUNTRY WAS BUILT ON.

Why are the fares $99 bucks? that's not the pax fault, thats some dumb managers twisted thinkings fault.

If the price is $99 bucks or you could volunteer to pay a "fair" price of $499 bucks which would YOU choose?

It ain't the flying publics fault.

 

[PCL_128]

I think you quoted the phrase yourself a couple posts back...IT'S WHAT THIS COUNTRY WAS BUILT ON.

America has always been about the best combination of price and quality. Fare shopping on the net has turned that on its head. No more thoughts of quality. Just a simple list of fares in order of cheapest to most expensive. It's ridiculous.

But since you asked, NO, I don't always go for the cheapest on everything. I refuse to shop at WalMart and haven't even been inside one in years. This obsession with cheap crap is destroying this country. "More lead in that GI Joe, son?"

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

Where have you guys been? Under a rock.... this guy copied SWA overseas and then started down this new path years ago.....

Its the wave of the future..... wave of the future.....wave of the fu(king future..... God save us all......

A radical fix for airlines: Make flying free
Ireland's Ryanair gives away tickets to earn big profits from other aspects of the travel experience.

By Matthew Maier, Business 2.0 Magazine staff writer
March 31, 2006: 11:31 AM EST

(Business 2.0 Magazine) - Michael O'Leary, Chief Executive of Ireland's Ryanair (Research), Europe's most profitable airline, wants to make air travel free. Not free as in free from regulation, but free as in zero cost. By the end of the decade, he promises, "more than half of our passengers will fly free."
The remarkable thing is, few analysts think his prediction is far-fetched: Ryanair already offers free fares to a quarter of its customers.
By a wide margin

More from Business 2.0 Live chat: your new online salesperson










Even without free flights, Ryanair has become one of Europe's most popular carriers. Last year it flew 35 million passengers to more than 100 European destinations, while its customers paid an average fare of just $53. The airline enjoyed revenues of $1.7 billion, up 20 percent over 2004, at a time when most competitors were stuck in a holding pattern.
Even more impressive, Ryanair's $368 million in net earnings gave the airline an industry-leading 22 percent net profit margin. (By comparison, Southwest Airlines's (Research) net margin was 7.2 percent.) "Ryanair has the strongest financials in the European airline industry," says James Parker, an equity analyst with Raymond James.
The secret? Ryanair's austere cost structure almost makes Southwest look profligate. In addition, the Irish airline puts a price on virtually everything except tickets, from baggage check-in to seat-back advertising space. As a result, last year Ryanair collected $265 million--15.6 percent of overall revenues--from sources other than ticket sales.
"We weren't the first to figure this out," O'Leary says. "But we do it better than everybody else."
The similarities to the Southwest model are hardly coincidental. In 1991, when Ryanair was just another struggling European regional carrier, O'Leary went to Dallas to meet Southwest executives and look for lessons he could take back to Ireland. The visit prompted a wholesale reconsideration of how the airline did business.
Following Southwest's lead, Ryanair embraced a single type of aircraft--the venerable Boeing (Research) 737. Likewise, it focused on smaller, secondary airports and began to offer open (unassigned) passenger seating.

You should be ashamed for not posting the other side of Mike O'learly....

Sure he copied SWA, but not the culture side. He treats labor like garbage....

Like this....

Ryanair bans work phone charging
Budget airline Ryanair has banned its staff from charging their phones at work, saying it is an inappropriate use of office time.
An article in the Daily Mirror claimed staff were "furious" about the rule.
Headed "Power Mad", it quoted a worker saying: "The implication is they are accusing people of stealing electricity by charging a mobile phone."
But a Ryanair spokeswoman said no-one had "batted an eyelid" since the rule was introduced about two months ago.

It's not good for people to be charging up their phones in work time
Ryanair spokeswoman

She said the decision to ban the charging of phones was more related to work ethic than cost-cutting - though "obviously there is a small saving".
"It's not good for people to be charging up their phones in work time," the spokeswoman said.
She said contrary to the anonymous complaints reported in the Daily Mirror, the rule did not appear to have caused any unrest. "We've had no reaction whatsoever here at head office - nobody has batted an eyelid."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/business/4467877.stm

Published: 2005/04/21 09:37:18 GMT

© BBC MMVIII

The low cost carrier model of SWA is being copied... but it is really the RyanAir version.. a copy of a copy... the LUV culture is now where to be seen.

If RyanAir doesn't make it s money on ticket sales but rather incedentials like wheelchair needs, then you can see how he values flight crews... very poorly, becuase they don't generate the real revenue...

It is not just flight crews.. it is his customers too...

http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/ryan.htm

 

[eaglesview]

Are you willing to pay $2 for a beverage as flight crew?

35% paycuts, I think I have already paid for it.

 

[carl p]

I dunno about that, Airways has proven to be the turd that won't flush.

Bud, that is the line of the year!

 

[Air1980]

Here's a novel idea; why don't the carriers stick with the fare hikes and keep service the same. European carriers (BA, LH, VS etc) have increased their prices, but KEPT, and in many cases improved quality of service. That way Joe businessman, while probably not enjoying paying more, at least gets the same experience on the plane, and may even enjoy it.

Last (and only time) I jumpseated on US Airways it was the worst experience I've had. Awful F/A's, advertising all over the place, a whopping 1 choice of purchaseable food, passengers subjected to the worst inflight service I've seen. I was truly embarassed to be a pilot , and felt sorry for the very professional guys who gave me the ride that see this on a daily basis. I couldn't be happier flying cargo now - away from all that. God help us if the Europeans start flying domestically; they'll wipe the floor with us.........

 

[Captzaahlie]

35% paycuts, I think I have already paid for it.

Excellent point and my answer to the first pax that asks me about my coffee/soda consumption!

 

[Redmeat]

America has always been about the best combination of price and quality. Fare shopping on the net has turned that on its head. No more thoughts of quality. Just a simple list of fares in order of cheapest to most expensive. It's ridiculous.

But since you asked, NO, I don't always go for the cheapest on everything. I refuse to shop at WalMart and haven't even been inside one in years. This obsession with cheap crap is destroying this country. "More lead in that GI Joe, son?"

The first rule of bizzness is you gotta give the customer what they want or people won't buy your product.

That includes quality but unfortunately... more these days price.

I'll give you one example. You can buy a Craftsman hammer for $20 or a chinese hammer at Wally World for $5. How much will the quality of that product factor into the decision?

That's kinda what our industry faces. People say 'I'm just gonna pound nails with the damn thing...what do I care about quality? Translate: I'm just gonna be on the plane for 2.5 hours what do I care about service, I can take it.

Maybe this topic has to do more with the state of our country as a people than the state of our industry...

 

[brokedash]

Southwest will OWN LAS after this summer. And they won't give it back. I would expect that they will take all of the A and B gates. US will be lucky to beg for a handful out in the south 40. When good times return US will be sitting there with their mouths hanging open watching the cash roll by.

Oops, forgot, they have Philly - well oiled machine that it is.

Interesting story regarding HP/US @ LAS. When the red eye bank first opened in the mid-80s it was to better utilize planes that would have sat on RON.
Apparently it made more financial sense to keep running flights with modest profit levels. From what I understand the LAS hub, particularly the red-eye bank was never a huge money maker. Now with today's economic enviorment it appears the LAS hub, especially the red eye bank, is a losing proposition. LAS will lose hub status by years end, but the red eyes get axed after Summer ends. On one hand it is sad to see another vestiage of HP fade away, but then as mentioned the airlines have hit a down cycle and it's survival time.

Yes, WN will dominate LAS, but the growth will be cautious given current conditions. When this cycle comes on the up swing, WN will become LAS airline of choice and Doug and Co. will not have the resources available to build LAS back to hub status if it even made sense. I'm sure WN has been quietly working on a take over of old US gate space for some time so they can get to work striking a deal with LAS to insure there future dominance there.

 

[PCL_128]

The first rule of bizzness is you gotta give the customer what they want or people won't buy your product.

The problem is that it is no longer possible to give the customer what they want, because what they want is unreasonable. Sorry, but you can't fly from New York to California for $199 and still get free drinks, food, and IFE and expect the airlines to stay in business. Doesn't work that way.

I'll give you one example. You can buy a Craftsman hammer for $20 or a chinese hammer at Wally World for $5. How much will the quality of that product factor into the decision?

For me, a lot. My garage is filled with Craftsman tools. Not a single thing from that godforsaken rat hole you call Wally World, though.

 

[PBRstreetgang]

Fuukem, we got some of their money, lets try to get the rest!
PBR

 

[SaturnPilot]

Don't like it? Write you Congressman and Senators and tell them that you want re-regulation. Otherwise, stop yer b!tchin' about paying $2 for a drink on a $99 ticket that takes you 1500 miles across the country.

I'm going to disagree with you there. This $2 charge is not going to do anything other than anger the passengers. How much extra revenue is this expected to generate anyways? It's certainly not enough to even come close to making them profitable.

This reminds me of when NW decided to stop serving pretzels on their flights in order to save a whopping 2 million dollars. Doug Steenland makes that amount in a few months.

This $2 charge might get them some extra money, but I guarantee it will be a small amount, not even close to what the executives paychecks are, meanwhile it will enrage the passengers who feel even more nickel n' dimed. It's just not worth it.

 

[airborn]

This thread has gone insane.


Tell you what, don't like the charge, don't fly US Airways. Enough said. Speak with your wallet.

The airlines are paddling as fast as they can just to stay 10 feet underwater. They have to do something to try to make it back to air.

You all could argue with a brick wall.....it's made out of cinder blocks, no it's not, its brick veneer, no it's not it's stucco..............oh boy