[FDOS_UK]

NTarrant – 23/09/2015 16:50 BST

WRT the BA seating change, I haven’t seen too many complaints from economy pax.

But when you look at the Club Europe changes:

Seat pitch reduced by 4″

Seat width reduced by 2.5″

I think one can understand the beef.

I’ve used the new seats on domestic flights and found them fine for 30-60 mins, but I wouldn’t buy CE anymore. Edit: I did think the new cabins looked very smart, FWIW.

When Ryanair changed to their new slimline seats, a few years ago and eliminated the recline, I didn’t hear too many comments, so you are right.

[NTarrant]

I quite agree with you FDOS, it was ok for LHR-EDI but any long would be uncomfortable and we were in row 1!

Taking the recline out has been welcomed by many. A friend of mine who does not travel other than his regular holidays each year was over the moon when he found out Monarch were taking the recline out.

[transtraxman]

The prestigious magazine “Which” has published a list of the top 100 brands.
“Ryanair, easyJet and Flybe fail Which? customer service test”
(Travel Weekly 17-9-15)

http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/Articles/2015/09/17/56628/ryanair+easyjet+and+flybe+fail+which+customer+service+test.html

In a list of 100 brands Ryanair comes in alongside Vodafone at a lowly 95.
Easyjet and Flybe were joint 89.
First Choice at 51 while Thompson and Thomas Cook shared 35 (with others).
British Airways came out as the top ranked travel business at 27.

Need one say more?

[FDOS_UK]

Need one say more?

-90 million pax per year
– continuously profitable for 25 years

Yes, I think one need say more, especially given the CAA data showing Ryanair and easyJet having far lower complaint rates than the other airlines mentioned.

The CAA being the regulator and having official data, not some unofficial poll.

[MrMichael]

On a full service airline such as BA, the numerous elements making up the experience are going to go wrong from time to time and thus generate complaints. FR on the other hand only sells the barest of bones, and thus less elements to go wrong, and therefore generating less complaints.

Hands up if the price, timings, departure and arrival point was the same, you would choose FR instead of BA.

[AnthonyDunn]

@ MrMichael – 24/09/2015 07:15 BST

Indeed, put like that, it really is a no-brainer.

[FDOS_UK]

“Hands up if the price, timings, departure and arrival point was the same, you would choose FR instead of BA.”

But they aren’t, are they? And that is the cleverness of Ryanair’s strategy.

The company has identified a huge market of individuals who regard flying as an airborne bus journey and just want low price, punctual departures and low fares, meaning they will fly from 2nd tier or 3rd tier airports to the same, which lowers operational costs and reduces the risk of delays on the ground.

Other passengers have no choice (e.g. London-Bremen) as FR is the only operator, due to their wide route network.

At the end of the day, would I be too bothered about flying FR instead of BA? Not really, though I’d rather take Norwegian over either of them.

By the way, I don’t buy the excuse that ‘numerous elements’ going wrong creates complaints for two reasons

1 – if you position yourself as a premium brand, the aim should be zero defects

2 – BA’s main two complaint generators are poor punctuality and losing bags – these are not differentiators between premium and low cost focus airlines and reflect (a) a choice to operate from an almost at capacity airport (because of competitive advantage) and (b) apparent operational execution challenges at T5

What I do think is unhelpful about the CAA data is that it is not differentiated into short and longhaul flights, which would give a much better comparison, e.g. Lufthansa achieved a very creditable performance in the CAA data, but I believe that only ex-UK flights were scoped in, therefore short haul only (my assumption.)

Edited: Virgin had over 80 complaints per million, for a bit of balance and BA was in the top 10 for least complaints, if you look at it that way, so not a bad performance.

[wowzimmer]

This same phenomenon can be seen whilst comparing very different hotels on TripAdvisor. A 1 or 2 star hotel catering towards a package holiday guest may attract consistently higher ratings that an 4 or 5 star establishment in the same area It’s not necessarily because the 2 star hotel is better but because their guests have much lower expectations. They don’t expect much and consequently reward such hotels with high ratings. However, the 4 and 5 star hotels will be immediately marked down for small issues by guests who have high expectations of the premium product they have bought.

So the point is this – many Ryanair passengers know they are not buying into a premium product. They expect very little and are not surprised when they very little.

This isn’t to say that BA don’t have room for improvement. I’m sure that many complaints made to BA are genuine and made for good reason. But then level of expectation will lead to harsher judgement and a willingness to complain if things are not quite as the passenger expects.

[transtraxman]

@FDOS_UK – 23/09/2015 20:52 BST

Please do not run “Which” down. It is a well respected consumer magazine which has done sterling work for fifty five years. It certainly is not a pollster.

[FDOS_UK]

wowzimmer

I think you make a good point, but is this not an implication of classic market positioning decisions?

Companies selling low grade/low cost products just have to ensure that their goods are fit for purpose, whereas high grade/high cost providers are selling an image, as well as a more luxurious product?

Small issues should not occur, but when they do do, they need immediate and effective service recovery (itself an opportunity to impress and create goodwill.)

In the hotel field, I stay in a lot of 5* hotels in the ME region and very rarely find anything to complain about, as the attention to detail and service response are usually excellent. Of course, that costs money to provide (training, staffing numbers), but that’s why they charge the big bucks.

These are two of my regular ‘homes from home’ and I believe the feedback tells its own story

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g295424-d302463-Reviews-Jumeirah_Emirates_Towers-Dubai_Emirate_of_Dubai.html

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g295424-d1553922-Reviews-The_Address_Dubai_Marina-Dubai_Emirate_of_Dubai.html

These two are also places are stay at, less frequently

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g294013-d1557740-Reviews-Fairmont_Bab_Al_Bahr-Abu_Dhabi_Emirate_of_Abu_Dhabi.html

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g294013-d656277-Reviews-Shangri_La_Hotel_Qaryat_Al_Beri_Abu_Dhabi-Abu_Dhabi_Emirate_of_Abu_Dhabi.html

It seems to me to be about understanding your market positioning and then behaving in line, e.g. when Canucklad and his mates were a few minutes late for Ryanair check-in, they were shunned, but I’ve seen business or first class passengers on premium airlines let on when very tardy.

[FDOS_UK]

transtraxman – 24/09/2015 09:26 BST

I’m not running Which down, but they got some data from a poll they conducted, whereas the CAA is the official airline regulator in the UK and collected the whole population of complaints in 2014.

The CAA data is factual, the Which survey is an opinion poll of a sample of the population.

[AnthonyDunn]

@ FDOS_UK – 24/09/2015 08:49 BST

1 – if you position yourself as a premium brand, the aim should be zero defects

But, let’s be truthful here, I don’t really believe that IAG’s accountants (the customer service & marketing functions were dissolved a long time ago…) understand the concept of a “premium brand”. Which is why they have pitched themselves resolutely at “average plus” within the legacy carriers: they can price and deliver accordingly.

Maybe it’s just that we, as punters, have yet fully to catch on to this and persist with complaining in the vein hope that they’ll up their game… Personally, I am prepared to pay a certain % over cattle class for a product that is a certain % better than cattle class. On the basis of their financials, I cannot be alone in that. If I wish to push the boat out, I will indulge myself on CX…

[FDOS_UK]

AnthonyDunn – 24/09/2015 10:51 BST

It seems they understand what a premium class should be like 😉

“Experience dedicated service, exceptional comfort and understated British elegance in every stage of your journey, from the moment you book to your final destination. From luxurious lounges to on-board fine dining, we make sure everything meets our meticulous standards.”

From ba.com, the overview of First.

The problem is that if you describe your product offer like this, charge quite a price for it and then ram everyone together in a bus to/from a remote stand or run out of meal choices or slippers, it tends to generate complaints.

I don’t disagree with your point though; the problem with being ‘average plus’ is that markets either want cheap or plus and it is the dominant position at Heathrow that allows this average plus approach.

Quite a dangerous strategy to rely upon, IMHO as the best companies are moving forward and playing catch up becomes harder and more expensive, the longer you leave it.

Does okay for the P&L in the short term, though.

[Author]

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