Growth
#11
In reality, the whole blocking of the middle seats is a joke. It's ok to sit beside each other on 2 seat row but not a 3 seat row? Also, you still have someone siting all around you including in front, behind, and across the aisle..But if passengers fall for that then so be it, and I don't blame Delta for doing it. While I was a non rev recently, passengers were talking about this exact thing and saying it is false advertising promo.
Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk
#12
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Apr 2018
Posts: 3,191
In reality, the whole blocking of the middle seats is a joke. It's ok to sit beside each other on 2 seat row but not a 3 seat row? Also, you still have someone siting all around you including in front, behind, and across the aisle..But if passengers fall for that then so be it, and I don't blame Delta for doing it. While I was a non rev recently, passengers were talking about this exact thing and saying it is false advertising promo.
Agreed....shows how illogical a lot of our fellow citizens can be. BTW...those talking about this "false advertising" are even more ignorant....they realize how illogical it is, and then they pay the Delta "premium". What's up with that ? (unless of course Delta is the only option , or, somebody else is paying for the ticket)
#13
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Oct 2019
Posts: 391
Sure, legacies know not to get into too many of these fights, but Frontier announced a pilot domicile in ATL. While one can probably argue that ATL O&D isn’t a big deal or that F9 is going primarily after SWA’s market share, Delta can’t just let it happen. Same for leaving a vacuum in NYC, etc. It needs to be filled. The U/LCCs have made it obvious that they’re going to fill in every sliver of daylight like kudzu.
#14
Frontier's target customer is the customer Delta would rather not compete for and keep the middle seat open. I wouldn't be too concerned. Network folks have yield management down to a science.
Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk
#15
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Dec 2010
Position: 320B
Posts: 369
Based on the playbook the last time LCCs moved aggressively to growth, I would guess that a not insignificant portion of the forecast is based on having to get into targeted seat/fare wars with them.
Sure, legacies know not to get into too many of these fights, but Frontier announced a pilot domicile in ATL. While one can probably argue that ATL O&D isn’t a big deal or that F9 is going primarily after SWA’s market share, Delta can’t just let it happen. Same for leaving a vacuum in NYC, etc. It needs to be filled. The U/LCCs have made it obvious that they’re going to fill in every sliver of daylight like kudzu.
Sure, legacies know not to get into too many of these fights, but Frontier announced a pilot domicile in ATL. While one can probably argue that ATL O&D isn’t a big deal or that F9 is going primarily after SWA’s market share, Delta can’t just let it happen. Same for leaving a vacuum in NYC, etc. It needs to be filled. The U/LCCs have made it obvious that they’re going to fill in every sliver of daylight like kudzu.
#16
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Dec 2008
Position: NYC ER
Posts: 472
The difference between Delta and our competitors is we are currently making the same money of not more them while handicapping ourselves with no middle seat while they run at full capacity chasing poor quality revenue.
Furthermore, Delta doesn't need to add flights to grow capacity, we simply need to unleash the middle seats which is looking HIGHLY likely in April/May as we approach herd immunity.
Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk
Furthermore, Delta doesn't need to add flights to grow capacity, we simply need to unleash the middle seats which is looking HIGHLY likely in April/May as we approach herd immunity.
Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk
#17
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jul 2010
Position: window seat
Posts: 12,522
We may be in just the right bracket/fishbowl to leave the middle seats open while trying to please the yield model at all costs. But that won't be sustainable in the long run. Obviously middle seats will be back on the market at some point (probably sooner than later). But hopefully the stratedgy isn't to let the (always ruthless and often irrational) competition have our route map as a menu to poach whatever they want, whenever they want, counting on DL to retreat to preserve the almighty yield. That's guaranteed to backfire long term.
Sometimes you have to spend money to make money. If that means bleeding out a ruthless competitor for a while by being even more ruthless than so be it. DL can't ignore the LCC/ULCC poachers who think they can grow at will just to preserve short term yield premiums trying to get back to multibillion dollar burnbacks for EPS paydays. Lay flat transcons and any and all long haul international should be considered massive threats that justify total competitive warfare to defeat. Even low yield leisure out of dense markets should always be something to compete for because no one can afford to surrender a customer base that massive.
Letting irrational competitors metastasize long term while chasing myopic quarterly pumps will ultimately be more expensive than dealing with it earlier. Although sometimes it does makes strategic sense to let them walk fully into the choke point ambush by letting them add overhead and exposure for a while in order to cause them asymmetrical pain at the best possible time. It appeared that was the stratedgy of the legacies before all this happened and that needs to continue.
The nearly decade long detente of industry wide "capacity dicipline" was starting to come to an end before the latest macro event hit. Once recovery and return to "normal" really starts happening, all the shruken legacies should expect, and should provide, absolutely no quarter.
#18
.
The nearly decade long detente of industry wide "capacity dicipline" was starting to come to an end before the latest macro event hit. Once recovery and return to "normal" really starts happening, all the shruken legacies should expect, and should provide, absolutely no quarter.
The nearly decade long detente of industry wide "capacity dicipline" was starting to come to an end before the latest macro event hit. Once recovery and return to "normal" really starts happening, all the shruken legacies should expect, and should provide, absolutely no quarter.
Expecting either of them to compete effectively against the ULCCs for the low end leisure flying is probably asking them to capture a bridge too far.
#19
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jul 2013
Posts: 10,071
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post