British Airways announced this week that an "enhanced seating policy" would be introduced from 7 October 2009. The PR spin sounds nice until you get to this on the BA website...
"Customers can choose seats from the time they book up to 24 hours in advance of travel at the following costs:
- Euro Traveller (economy in Europe) and Domestic flights will pay £10 per
person per sector
- Club Europe (business class in Europe), World Traveller, and World
Traveller Plus (economy and premium economy long haul) passengers
will pay £20 per person per sector
- Club World (business class long haul) passengers will pay £60 per
person per sector
- First passengers can choose their seat free of charge at any time"
Hmmmm. While BA made a net loss of £358 million in the last financial year and net loss of £106 million for the quarter ended 30 June 2009, this is probably not the best way to go about stopping the financial haemorrhage. I can't see many customers opting to pay £10 in advance just to select a seat in economy class on a short-haul flight. As for a £60 premium on a business class seat? It seems a bit Scrooge-like after the customer has alright forked out a substantial sum just to secure a ticket for the flight.
The nickel and diming is likely to be welcomed by competitors, such as Virgin Atlantic, more than anything. Even penny-pinching Aer Lingus doesn't charge for seat selection on long-haul flights. Yet!
I expect to see a follow-up announcement from BA in the not too distant future. Ryanairisation of BA will only be accepted by their customer base up to a point.
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