5 ms·

Perhaps it's the one common feature of air travel (safety & reliability) that they may start playing with to "reduce costs" elsewhere. Imagining two flights fro

Perhaps it's the one common feature of air travel (safety & reliability) that they may start playing with to "reduce costs" elsewhere. Imagining two flights from L.A. to Vegas, one on an Airbus that costs $100, and one on a Boeing that's $5 but you have to sign a waiver going onboard.

Certhas 3y ago
It's perfectly possible that that cost difference is massively exaggerated. It might well just be 95$ vs 100$. But if you don't have the information that one is far more risky, then you always pick the 95$ option, don't you?
- JumpCrisscross 3y ago
  > if you don't have the information that one is far more risky, then you always pick the 95$ option, don't you? Air travellers by and large choose their travel based on price. If a subset started paying a premium for Airbuses, the market would sort them and remain relatively equally profitable for those flying Boeings.
  - jbm 3y ago
    The only signal that was surfaced on many sites was cost, it's not surprising that it is the only thing flyers look at.
    - wharvle 3y ago
      Make $/inch-of-floor-space prominent and easy to compare in flight listings and you might see something different happen.
  - bluGill 3y ago
    I decided about 10 years ago I'm willing to pay the premium for economy plus seats (more leg room). I don't fly often enough for the market to notice me, but when I fly I notice that those seats do sell out faster, if nothing else I can still pay extra for those seats. I can also pay extra for first class - however the premium is high enough that I cannot afford it despite wanting to.
    - JumpCrisscross 3y ago
      > those seats do sell out faster Given how quickly Delta's Comfort+ seats sell, I'd be surprised if they don't install more of those. Given their brand, a row or two of Basic Economy (for e.g. college students), a small main, a healthy Comfort+ and a solid front cabin might be the play.
      - sokoloff 3y ago
        I wonder if they're selling out or being consumed as upgrades? Domestically, I almost always buy an economy ticket on Delta and get upgraded to Comfort+ within 15 minutes of buying the ticket. That means the bus routes (between hubs) probably have a lot of these Skymiles high-tier members taking up the seats without charge. That data, which I'm sure Delta has and looks at, could strongly influence how many overall rows of seating to remove in order to fit more rows of Comfort+.
  - fbdab103 3y ago
    Outside of veblen goods, aren't most consumer choices driven by price? I have never flown top tier air travel, but even the best experience is somewhere on the scale of cattle-car-in-the-sky. It is a necessary evil to get me to somewhere in a way that is faster than driving. Paying a premium has rapidly diminishing returns when you are stuck in a shared space with the public.
    - JumpCrisscross 3y ago
      > aren't most consumer choices driven by price? To varying degrees. Air travel is a product where cost dominates more than with other services. > even the best experience is somewhere on the scale of cattle-car-in-the-sky This is most Americans. I personally find lay-flat seats worth the premium from time to time, though not always.
      - deleted 3y ago
        [deleted]
    - shiroiuma 3y ago
      >It is a necessary evil to get me to somewhere in a way that is faster than driving. I don't see it that way. I see it as a necessary evil to get me somewhere in a way that is much, much, much faster than a ship.
  - Certhas 3y ago
    "The market would work if only consumers had perfect information, and infinite capacity to analyze it"
- Vvector 3y ago
  I'd pay $5 more for a ticket on a better airplane, but not $50. Unsure where I'd draw the line
jonplackett 3y ago
I can see Ryanair going for this!
- chopin 3y ago
  They are all Boeing.
  - mp05 3y ago
    No. Please do your research. Mostly Boeing? Sure.
    - closewith 3y ago
      All Ryanair-branded flights are on a single type rating, the 737. They do have Lears for parts and personnel transfer and acquired a subsidiary, Lauda, which exclusively fly A320s. But if you book Ryanair, you'll board a 737.
dehrmann 3y ago
Hopefully it doesn't come to this. Something I really like about the airline industry is it doesn't compete on safety.

Certhas 3y ago

It's perfectly possible that that cost difference is massively exaggerated. It might well just be 95$ vs 100$. But if you don't have the information that one is far more risky, then you always pick the 95$ option, don't you?

JumpCrisscross 3y ago
> if you don't have the information that one is far more risky, then you always pick the 95$ option, don't you? Air travellers by and large choose their travel based on price. If a subset started paying a premium for Airbuses, the market would sort them and remain relatively equally profitable for those flying Boeings.
- jbm 3y ago
  The only signal that was surfaced on many sites was cost, it's not surprising that it is the only thing flyers look at.
  - wharvle 3y ago
    Make $/inch-of-floor-space prominent and easy to compare in flight listings and you might see something different happen.
- bluGill 3y ago
  I decided about 10 years ago I'm willing to pay the premium for economy plus seats (more leg room). I don't fly often enough for the market to notice me, but when I fly I notice that those seats do sell out faster, if nothing else I can still pay extra for those seats. I can also pay extra for first class - however the premium is high enough that I cannot afford it despite wanting to.
  - JumpCrisscross 3y ago
    > those seats do sell out faster Given how quickly Delta's Comfort+ seats sell, I'd be surprised if they don't install more of those. Given their brand, a row or two of Basic Economy (for e.g. college students), a small main, a healthy Comfort+ and a solid front cabin might be the play.
    - sokoloff 3y ago
      I wonder if they're selling out or being consumed as upgrades? Domestically, I almost always buy an economy ticket on Delta and get upgraded to Comfort+ within 15 minutes of buying the ticket. That means the bus routes (between hubs) probably have a lot of these Skymiles high-tier members taking up the seats without charge. That data, which I'm sure Delta has and looks at, could strongly influence how many overall rows of seating to remove in order to fit more rows of Comfort+.
- fbdab103 3y ago
  Outside of veblen goods, aren't most consumer choices driven by price? I have never flown top tier air travel, but even the best experience is somewhere on the scale of cattle-car-in-the-sky. It is a necessary evil to get me to somewhere in a way that is faster than driving. Paying a premium has rapidly diminishing returns when you are stuck in a shared space with the public.
  - JumpCrisscross 3y ago
    > aren't most consumer choices driven by price? To varying degrees. Air travel is a product where cost dominates more than with other services. > even the best experience is somewhere on the scale of cattle-car-in-the-sky This is most Americans. I personally find lay-flat seats worth the premium from time to time, though not always.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
  - shiroiuma 3y ago
    >It is a necessary evil to get me to somewhere in a way that is faster than driving. I don't see it that way. I see it as a necessary evil to get me somewhere in a way that is much, much, much faster than a ship.
- Certhas 3y ago
  "The market would work if only consumers had perfect information, and infinite capacity to analyze it"
Vvector 3y ago
I'd pay $5 more for a ticket on a better airplane, but not $50. Unsure where I'd draw the line

jonplackett 3y ago

I can see Ryanair going for this!

chopin 3y ago
They are all Boeing.
- mp05 3y ago
  No. Please do your research. Mostly Boeing? Sure.
  - closewith 3y ago
    All Ryanair-branded flights are on a single type rating, the 737. They do have Lears for parts and personnel transfer and acquired a subsidiary, Lauda, which exclusively fly A320s. But if you book Ryanair, you'll board a 737.

dehrmann 3y ago

Hopefully it doesn't come to this. Something I really like about the airline industry is it doesn't compete on safety.