Temporary Low Cost Travel Cafe

[attitudetravel]

The CEO of Malaysian Airlines, Datuk Seri Idris Jala, has stated that during the next five years MAS will transform itself into a "five-star airline at low-cost carrier cost"

[attitudetravel]

Eh? What is he on about??!

If all he's talking about is reducing internal company costs, well, duh, that's not worth a press release, is it? He should be doing this anyway.

If he imagines that it's possible to provide competitive low fares while simultaneously offering five star service, why on earth does he think Tiger Airways and Air Asia - which have some of the lowest passenger-mile costs of all airlines worldwide - don't do this?

What does that leave us with? An efficiently run airline with fares lower than they used to be, but still more expensive than a dedicated no-frills airline? That's hardly worth shouting about, is it?

Or is he trying to say he wants MAS to follow Virgin Blue's New World Carrier model? (Defined by one Virgin Blue observer as "forward-driven [...] with a different approach and strict focus on a low cost base" whatever that's supposed to mean...)

It sounds to me like a bid to create an expensive no-frills airline - with a few frills thrown back in to try to make you feel better about the fact that it's more expensive.

Drivel...

[attitudetravel]

And what is he calling "a superior product"?

A padded head-cushion and a nice cup of Earl Grey?

Why is it that legacy airline executives rarely see that getting the passenger from A to B quickly, punctually and for as little cash outlay as possible is the superior product?

It's 2007, not 1937. Most passengers are not looking for a "cruise" experience on a short-haul flight anymore than they want to be served a full English breakfast in the back of an expensive, early-morning, deluxe taxi to the airport.

Clean, efficient, punctual and friendly for the lowest fare possible does the job excellently.

[attitudetravel]

Here's another quote from Idris Jala (this time from an interview with the International Herald Tribune):

[MetalTraveller]

You're right about it.
All airlines are trying to get their internal costs down but don't aim to be low cost 5 stars...

I just would like to point that some airline are really good at this, like Qatar Airways and Emirates. They are not low cost airlines but often offer the lowest prices from Europe to Asia (500€ for almost 30 hours on a return flight) and manage to have great service.
They can do this for 3 reasons :
- Low oil prices
- Good management (the most important, because for exemple Kuwait Airways has low oil prices but can't beat Emirates' service and has higher prices)
- Government owned companies with huge investments in development.

Here in France it's often said that there are 2 mayor threats to regular airlines : Low cost airlines for short haul and Middle Eastern Airlines for long haul to Asia and eastern / southern Africa.