13 hours straight in a virgin blue seat? :shock:danielribo said:
Yep, Aust continues to lambast countries like Japan for their anti-trade policies. Yet the govt continues to protect certain industries, citing unfair practises (government subsidization) of competitors. Methinks (thanks serfty) that Aust is being slightly two faced in adopting non-tariff trade protection policies, which as usual increases prices/ fares for the end user, to the benefit of some and at the expense of most.Gazza said:
From a QF point of view, it is a competitive route. UA is often substantially less expensive than QF, yet how often do you see an empty seat in cattle class? It's like going to a rugby game - if they can charge a higher price and still fill the stadium, then why lower prices?Yada Yada said:
If they keep filling the stadium, then its time to build a bigger stadium, which is the airline equivalent of adding more services on the route, and often results in ticket increases rather than reductions. Building additional stadiums provides more options and the punters can decide if they want to go to a Rugby match, a Rugby League match, a Soccer match, AFL expo, Cricket Pyjama Party, or a Tiddlywinks tournament.Damien said:
Granted, but if the route is opened to enough competition, pax will put more thought into whose metal they fly on. For the average person (ie someone who doesn't travel like those of us on AFF), the decision will come down to just one factor - price. Once this happens, fares will need to be lowered in order to justify flying the route. The downside to this is that once fares hit the bottom end, they will slowly creep up without people noticing.NM said:
No arguments here.NM said:
Yes they did, but certainly not non-stop from US West coast to Australia. They have never had an aircraft capable of that distance. It was a long time ago, but they used to operate their 707s down here (and possibly 747-SP but not sure about that).Yada Yada said:
HNL was one stopping point. Pago Pago and Nadi were also popular, especially with CO as they did well on the freight run through the south Paficic.Yada Yada said:
CO has 777-200ER that could be used, but they don't have a suitable West Coast hub (IAH and EWR are theur main hubs). Its a similar problem for NW.MIKEs said:
My fear is that once this happens, the service levels will fall even further in order to reduce the cost base to retain some margin. Look at how the fare reductions have affected services trans-Tasman. The only way QF can compete on some routes is to give the routes to JQ or to operate using NZ-based JetConnect crews.Damien said:
here.
