I've always appreciated RyanAir's approach, it's the most earnest of the airlines. Many legacy carriers tip toe around the issue but RyanAir just dives right in. They fill their marketing with allusions to a refined product. Airlines for the most part are a utility and cost is the primary incentive to demand followed closely by convenience. No airline save a few major Asian and Mid East carriers truly differentiate on service or quality and that's mostly limited to long haul flying. But domestic airlines in particular would do well to maybe be truly honest about their brand role and why flyers actually choose their product. Cost and convenience dictate. Many airlines have tried to differentiate but almost all seem to regress to the mean eg Alaskan.
And don't get me started on AA's past 12 months of commercial decision making...
Hey Charles! I tend to agree with you - both on the honesty of Ryanair and on the commodity nature of airlines. That said...
We're starting to see evidence of the opposite. Delta and United are positioning themselves as premium carriers and it appears to be working. They've invested in consistent, higher quality onboard product and command a premium for it. In other words, consumers may no longer see airlines as commodities.
Now, the question is - can we really attribute the price premium to consumer preferences for a given airline, or is it due to something else? It could also be due to monopoly power following decades of consolidation, a prescient strategy to increase capacity of business/premium economy seating, or a larger share of long-haul flying, which is doing particularly well. Time will tell...
I've always appreciated RyanAir's approach, it's the most earnest of the airlines. Many legacy carriers tip toe around the issue but RyanAir just dives right in. They fill their marketing with allusions to a refined product. Airlines for the most part are a utility and cost is the primary incentive to demand followed closely by convenience. No airline save a few major Asian and Mid East carriers truly differentiate on service or quality and that's mostly limited to long haul flying. But domestic airlines in particular would do well to maybe be truly honest about their brand role and why flyers actually choose their product. Cost and convenience dictate. Many airlines have tried to differentiate but almost all seem to regress to the mean eg Alaskan.
And don't get me started on AA's past 12 months of commercial decision making...
Hey Charles! I tend to agree with you - both on the honesty of Ryanair and on the commodity nature of airlines. That said...
We're starting to see evidence of the opposite. Delta and United are positioning themselves as premium carriers and it appears to be working. They've invested in consistent, higher quality onboard product and command a premium for it. In other words, consumers may no longer see airlines as commodities.
Now, the question is - can we really attribute the price premium to consumer preferences for a given airline, or is it due to something else? It could also be due to monopoly power following decades of consolidation, a prescient strategy to increase capacity of business/premium economy seating, or a larger share of long-haul flying, which is doing particularly well. Time will tell...