Should Economy Class be moved to buy-on-board only model?

[LionKing]

I have been thinking with the increase of premium travel demand, and high sensitivity of price for budget travellers, which fuels the competition from budget carriers, should economy class be redefined in the future as a Buy-on-board only model class?

I would imagine the future of Economy Class travel should be:

• 0 kg checked baggage - Charge passengers extra at check in and provide extras bundles.
• 0 kg carry-on baggage - Charge passengers extra at the gate and provide bundles.
• Points be awarded based on amount of fare, and extras paid.
• No status points
• 0 Meals - Buy-on-board is available, lower cost for pre-booking meal
• No free WiFi - WiFi should be a chargable feature
• No free inflight entertainment - BYOD for your own movies or you should be paying extra for the licenses paid by the airline - or adopt a pay-per-view model in collaboration with Netflix etc.
• Add 1 seat per row. For B777-300ER and A350, should be 10 abrest, 9 abrest for A330 etc.

If customers want standard checked and carry-on baggage, meals, entertainment, WiFi and Status Points, they should be flying Premium Economy, which would provide more spacious seating and all inclusive fares. This would have reduced the amount of Economy Seats and significantly increase PEY and J seats, which would have boosted airline revenue.

Moreover, this model would eliminate any airlines need for establishing a low cost carrier, where those who wanted budget travel simply fly Economy Class, and normal passengers will fly Premium Economy and Business. This will also lower the cost base for most legend airlines as well.

I think it is time to move away the all-inclusive model at Economy Class and make Economy Class be a budget only option, so that the real benefit of Premium Travel is unlocked for premium passengers, and give us what as premium passengers deserve on thin and regional routes.

 

[Forg]

If all airlines did it at once, so there’s no other choice, then maybe.

But the fact people buy Qantas seats when Jetstar ones are available, and the fact that there are still more full-service airlines than discount ones, says a lot of people want to pay to get those inclusions.

From a technical point of view … given the cost of fuel & leasing costs & infrastructure, what percentage of an economy ticket would deleting all that stuff save an airline?

 

[serfty]

I have been thinking with the increase of premium travel demand, and high sensitivity of price for budget travellers, which fuels the competition from budget carriers, should economy class be redefined in the future as a Buy-on-board only model class?

I would imagine the future of Economy Class travel should be:

• 0 kg checked baggage - Charge passengers extra at check in and provide extras bundles.
• 0 kg carry-on baggage - Charge passengers extra at the gate and provide bundles.
• Points be awarded based on amount of fare, and extras paid.
• No status points
• 0 Meals - Buy-on-board is available, lower cost for pre-booking meal
• No free WiFi - WiFi should be a chargable feature
• No free inflight entertainment - BYOD for your own movies or you should be paying extra for the licenses paid by the airline - or adopt a pay-per-view model in collaboration with Netflix etc.
• Add 1 seat per row. For B777-300ER and A350, should be 10 abrest, 9 abrest for A330 etc.

If customers want standard checked and carry-on baggage, meals, entertainment, WiFi and Status Points, they should be flying Premium Economy, which would provide more spacious seating and all inclusive fares. This would have reduced the amount of Economy Seats and significantly increase PEY and J seats, which would have boosted airline revenue.

Moreover, this model would eliminate any airlines need for establishing a low cost carrier, where those who wanted budget travel simply fly Economy Class, and normal passengers will fly Premium Economy and Business. This will also lower the cost base for most legend airlines as well.

I think it is time to move away the all-inclusive model at Economy Class and make Economy Class be a budget only option, so that the real benefit of Premium Travel is unlocked for premium passengers, and give us what as premium passengers deserve on thin and regional routes.

What Airline?

Many already are BoB in economy ...

 

[offshore171]

Haven't you just essentially described a LCC (Low Cost Carrier)?

 

[oz_mark]

I don't understand the points of this. There are choices available now. Why dictate what Economy is? Let the market sort it out.

 

[esquire]

Haven't you just essentially described a LCC (Low Cost Carrier)?

Indeed - if I wanted to fly an LCC I would book them.
My organisation specifically didnt want LCCs as it was causing so many issues.