FLYING VISITS
What can short-haul carriers do to make travel easier for passengers? Jenny Southan reports from our recent reader event
What can short-haul carriers do to make your life easier?
Nipping across to the continent, or taking a plane to another part of the UK, should be a pain-free experience. However, even a simple one-hour flight can inflict stresses on your time, energy and bank balance. With this in mind, a group of Business Traveller readers assembled for lunch at the Royal Automobile Club on London’s Pall Mall to discuss how airlines could make these journeys easier. The event was sponsored by Flybe, Europe’s largest regional airline, which operates 189 routes in 11 countries. In the UK it flies more domestic flights than any other carrier.
Kicking the debate off, one reader said: “It would be nice if the flight took the same amount of time as entering the airport and getting to the aircraft. Sometimes [the airport process] can take longer.” Others agreed that it was frustrating when fast-track queues were slow, and security rules were not consistent globally: “Are liquids a danger or not? Let’s have conformity – people are sick of being hassled.” Still, they acknowledged that such issues were largely out of the control of the airlines.
One topic that caused a stir was cabin baggage. There were suggestions for a ban on hand luggage altogether, making hold bags free, or charging £2 to put each piece through an X-ray machine. There was all-round resentment at the delays caused by people bringing too many items with them, flouting the rules on dimensions for carry-on, and then struggling to stuff them in the overcrowded overhead bins.
Some said this was being made worse by airlines offering cheaper hand-baggage only fares. One attendee said: “I would happily pay for my hand baggage [if it put others off bringing it].” He accepted that banning hand-luggage altogether might be extreme – a briefcase and a small bag would be passable – but suggested that airport security teams work with the airlines to enforce their policies. As one reader put it: “Whichever airline makes my life easiest will get my money.”
The price of flexible tickets was another hot topic. Flybe has three ticket types at varying levels of flexibility, as well as 20 fare classes, “which is the industry standard”, said Paul Simmons,
its chief commercial officer. But readers argued against the fluctuations in price this could create.
One said: “I know flexing in travel is prevalent but airlines can flex their fares from £70 up to £600. If I worked as a solicitor or an accountant and had different pricing structures for different times of the year, I would be brought in front of my regulators.” Simmons said: “One of the things we are looking at is if you show up earlier and we have space, we won’t charge you the extra.”
What about loyalty schemes? Legacy carriers already have them, and low-cost airlines are introducing them. Flybe offers passengers Avios and may in the future enable tier-status earning in some form. All readers agreed that this would be a good thing and that lounge access was important, “especially if there are delays”. One participant pointed out the merits of recognising SMEs with corporate loyalty schemes: “It’s nice to know if you do 60 trips with one airline that you are going to get something back as a thank you.”
Onboard catering also came up. “I prefer a two-ticket structure where you can have a no-frills experience or one where you can have bags and vouchers for a drink,” said one. It was agreed that having to rummage for change to buy a snack or cup of tea was annoying. “Having water freely available would be better for your health,” said another reader, while someone else pointed out that the benefit of free food depended on the flight length – a sandwich might be nice but when flying London-Edinburgh, it seemed a bit pointless.
Are travellers willing to pay ancillary charges? “People being able to choose their seat has caused more chaos for my office than anything else,” said one reader. Another said: “Sometimes, by the time you have added the fees all up, you may as well have flown with BA. ”In defence of them, one participant said: “In the US, Spirit Airlines charges for everything and it works.” Another believed having the option to book seats with extra legroom was essential.
What airlines do need to do is “make it clear what is or isn’t included”. But there could be demand for optional end-to-end extras to make the overall journey easier: “The low-cost airline proposition needs to encompass everything from the travel to the airport, to parking, extra baggage, lounge access and a pick-up at the other end,” one reader said.
Airport connectivity also proved crucial – something Flybe is working to provide through codeshares with the likes of Cathay Pacific, Air France-KLM, Aer Lingus and Emirates. Better technology could also be a differentiator. “If you could use an app and see a flight two hours earlier for £50 then I would pay for that,” one said.
Readers ultimately said they would shell out for a better quality short-haul experience. One said: “The dumbed-down business class product is not that different from economy, but I think one day a carrier will say: ‘Let’s put in a proper business class’ and people will pay for it.”
To attend a future editor’s lunch, email Emma Gordon at egordon@panaceapublishing.com, stating your name, job title, company and topics of interest.
‘It’s nice to get something back if you do 60 trips with one airline’