[Flames in 07]

Originally Posted by photon

I've never been on an AC flight that has had any resets on the entertainment, my anecdote can beat up your anecdote?

That's awsome for you. Do you have the same need to point out the small sample to the guy i was responding to as well? I responding to someone saying that it doesn't happen to him, however I don't see you quite as motivated to be as humorous yet petty with him.

Originally Posted by photon

This doesn't make sense, customers aren't the ones in the board rooms deciding what an airline does with its fleet. The other airlines and what they do are what pressure airlines to make those decisions. Customers choose the airline that offers the best value for that customer, if airlines want a bigger slice of the customer base they have to ensure they offer an equal or better value proposition to the customer. Different things are important to different people (price, space, entertainment, rewards, service, schedule, etc), and the more things are equal the smaller the difference that will make a customer choose one airline over another.

Of course it makes sense. Companies respond to demand. If there was demand for something, it gets filled. The 'pie' you are referring to is price sensitive customers, not service sensitive customers. The supply of anything is a function of demand. Your about about confirm this is true in your below statements.

Customers are in the board room essentially, if a critical mass wanted to pay a few bucks for seat pitch, promised on time arrival (and if not you get a refund), or thousands in baggage insurance then board rooms would have executives that would say "we need to reconfigure our cabins and our value proposition" Pretty short sighted to say the customers don't have much say in what is offered to them. When you say "best value" that's vague. It's better to say that customers have their own definition of what IS valuable to them, they express that through their consuming behavior, and companies respond to that.

Originally Posted by photon

Price is one of the biggest factors, so they have to price close to each other, and as a result have to walk a narrow line between cutting as much as they can so they can break even or turn a profit and still offering enough to out compete the other guys.

The price is close because it's THE most important factor. You are prooving it with the 2nd half of what you say here. My entire point.

Originally Posted by photon

And if an airline offered a full plane business class service and seating for the same price no one would fly another airline if they could help it.

I've read this several times, I don't get what you are trying to say. If you are trying to inform me that at the same price a customer would prefer better service, thanks. However I already knew that.

Originally Posted by photon

Again, airlines are competing for customers, and the difference between them is so narrow that the things that can make someone choose between one or another do approach the level of trivial.

If I'm flying somewhere, and the flights are the same price, the times are the same, the service is the same, what is the problem with choosing AC because I can watch a new movie rather than TV? Or choosing WJ because I can get a Spolumbo's sandwich. I don't know why that's "complaining", that's choosing the better value proposition among almost identical choices.

I understand market economies, you don't need to spell it out. What I said, and say again is that things seem pretty trivial when TV and Spolumbo's are the big differentiators.

In the US they complain about being stuck on the tarmac for 5 hours at EWR. Maybe that happens in Canada to, but in the scheme of problems on airlines I'm just commenting on how things can't be that bad when you get transported across the country, safely, for almost nothing, but you had to endure diet coke service instead of coke zero service. Also if on demand TV is so important, mix in a ipad and you aren't so depended on the dreaded awfulness that is an airlines service.

Things are pretty good in Canada when are differentiating between TV systems. You could be in the US where they lose all your bags and don't give a F. You could be kicked off a flight that you are on with your kids and now figure out how to manage that, or in Russia where planes fall out of the sky.

Seems like the ultimate in 1st world problems.