Are Airline Acting Like Bus Lines.

747400sp · Sun Oct 08, 2006 5:24 am

With airlines like Southwest and Jetblue giving low fares and some of the bigger airlines trying compete with them. Do you think airline are basely becoming Air buses ( not the aircraft builders). I know the old saying to passengers who fear flying is, that flying is just like riding on a bus, but it seem that some airlines want to low there standers to that of a bus. Look there was a time when you had a hot meals on a flight. I was shock when I saw American Airlines giving out box lunches on a near cross country flight.Am I going over board, or am I right about airlines becoming basically flying bus lines?

SonOfACaptain · Sun Oct 08, 2006 6:09 am

Short answer...yes.

The thing is, in the past, flying was a luxury. Not many people could afford to fly multiple times a year. Today, flying has become a mode of transport for the masses. To accommodate this, the airlines can't afford to offer all the things we took for granted in the past.

-SOAC

chewingplastic · Sun Oct 08, 2006 10:02 am

I think flights under 2 hours should be like bussing, because its short, and you don't need much.

But flights over 2 hours should be considered luxurious, and have all the amenities.

PlymSpotter · Sun Oct 08, 2006 10:03 am

As SonOfACaptain said, they sure are. Part of this is through the six million different ticket types that you can now get, it used to be common, if you flew, to fly in Y class, whereas it is now very rare. You'll either be busing it with Southwest, Ryanair...etc (the list goes on and on these days) or flying a mainstream carrier on a ticket that gives you few, if any air miles or leeway to cancel and make changes to your ticket.

This has gotten to the extent that flying is virtually cheaper, for me at least, on my journey to and from university and home:
Coach: £43 return + £12-15 taxi fare.
Train: £56 return + £12-15 taxi fare.
Plane: £40 return + £20 train to the airport.

I'm not complaining though bigthumbsup

As a result of cheap fares I've flown probably more times this year than some pilots, I mean I paid £5.82 for one flight, including taxes, that is LESS than it costs me to get the bus from my house into town and back!

Dan Smile

ANCFlyer · Sun Oct 08, 2006 6:32 pm

Quoting 747400sp (Thread starter):
Am I going over board, or am I right about airlines becoming basically flying bus lines?

In a word: YES.

I don't fly Y, especially because of the distances and time of the day I'm travelling from ANC . . . nearly everything leaves in the middle of the night heading east and it's a good 5-6 hours just to MSP or ORD or DEN or PHX to connect to elsewhere.

Even in F - especially on the Red Eyes mentioned above (Except DEN) I've noticed the dramatic cut backs in cabin service.

You're not going overboard at all . . .

There is no longer a need for domestic aviation - catering to the general masses - to be anything other than a bus service. There are benefits for the business traveler however - the folks that continue to provide a stable income for the airlines.

And there are a few carriers - and I mean damn few - that haven't forgotten their bottom line is a direct result of how they treat their pax in most cases.

AirWillie6475 · Mon Oct 09, 2006 11:49 am

There are airlines like AmericaWest and other legacies that still serve food but you have to pay for it.

Quoting SonOfACaptain (Reply 1):
To accommodate this, the airlines can't afford to offer all the things we took for granted in the past.

It's a myth and saddly most belive it. In 2000 or around that time I flew TWA from NY to LA. Served steak and chicken and ticket price was the SAME as the price it is today.

Duff44 · Mon Oct 09, 2006 1:01 pm

Quoting AirWillie6475 (Reply 5):
In 2000 or around that time I flew TWA from NY to LA. Served steak and chicken and ticket price was the SAME as the price it is today.

And where is TWA now???

AirWillie6475 · Mon Oct 09, 2006 2:41 pm

Ok scratch TWA and insert any legacy airline same argument.

SonOfACaptain · Mon Oct 09, 2006 3:02 pm

Quoting AirWillie6475 (Reply 5):
It's a myth and saddly most belive it. In 2000 or around that time I flew TWA from NY to LA. Served steak and chicken and ticket price was the SAME as the price it is today.

Fares are only a small part. Truth-be-told, the costs to do business for airlines have drastically increased over the years (read fuel). Who would have thought 10 years ago that fuel would cost more than salaries at major airlines? Today, airlines don't have the ability to pass on these costs to the customer, because of all the competition. So while the ticket for a route may be the same 6 years ago, the costs for the airline have risen drastically.

Plus, airlines can no longer pass costs to less crowded routes like they did in the past. It is becoming rarer and rarer to find $1,000 fares now.

With that being said, there are so many factors that play into this subject that a novel can be written about it.

-SOAC

PureKiwi · Mon Oct 09, 2006 3:37 pm

Airlines are starting to act like Bus Lines and there probably going to get worse. Now people want to get from A to B as quick as they can and even though they would like extras such as free hot meals and extra seat pitch they prefer to get to there destination as cheaply as possible. Competition from airlines such as Ryanair is making this problem worse as other airlines need to lower there prices to compete but if airlines lower there prices they can't afford the extras anymore. This causes a chain reaction and unless an airline can start offering these extras at a lower price than other airlines this will continue until airlines are the same as busses.

jpetekyxmd80 · Mon Oct 09, 2006 3:54 pm

Quoting AirWillie6475 (Reply 5):

It's a myth and saddly most belive it. In 2000 or around that time I flew TWA from NY to LA. Served steak and chicken and ticket price was the SAME as the price it is today.

.....what?

First of all, way to generalize the whole industry based on one of your experiences...

Secondly, how much did fuel cost in 2000? How much inflation has happened? And of course...in retrospect it doesn't seem your steak did much for their bottom line.

acjflyer · Tue Oct 10, 2006 2:00 am

The problem of it all is that we got too comfortable with the service that was being offered years ago. Now days we expect everything to be the same as it was a decade ago.

It's getting bad enough that while I was waiting for a flight from PHX to SNA a few weeks ago they announced that our one hour flight was going to be delayed for 30 minutes due to a mechanical problem. I was blown away when a passenger immediately approached the desk and asked for a meal voucher. I couldn't believe it! I wanted to approach the customer and tell her to walk 50 feet down the terminal and pay for her own meal at Wendy's.

Yes a lot of services have been scaled down considerably or done away with all together but I also believe that many passengers are taking it to an extreme amd trying to milk the airlines for all they are worth. It would do good for passengers to remember that airlines are still businesses that need to make a profit.