April 23rd, 2012
In a recent poll we asked, Should airlines offer special group rates for families travelling together?" And the response was convincing with 72 percent of the votes in favour while only 20 percent of you thought it was unfair to passengers travelling alone.
Which begs the questions, can airlines be more innovative in their approach to pricing, following reports that a Californian start-up, Surf Air is launching a novel business model - for a monthly fee you can fly with the airline as much as you want.
Really? Could buffet-style air travel actually work.
JetBlue and Sun Country Airlines have both already tried offering all-you-can-fly passes, but so far no carrier has built its business model exclusively on a buffet plan. The idea isn't bad, but some scepticism is warranted. At $790 (about R6 217 -R7.87/$) a month, Surf Air's flying plan will probably only appeal to business travellers who often go to the same places and rich Californians in long-distance relationships.
Will that customer base allow Surf Air to make a profit? Maybe: 20m frequent flyers jetted between San Francisco and Los Angeles in 2011, according to the company's numbers. The airline plans to launch with service between Palo Alto, Monterey, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles, but it still needs to secure regulatory approval, according to a company press release.
Frequent flyers make up a huge portion of the business-traveller population, and almost every airline relies on business travellers to get (and stay) in the black. There is surely some group of private-jet-sharing business travellers who might be attracted to an all-you-can-jet airline as a cheaper alternative. A lot will depend on how many flights and how much convenience Surf Air can offer, and how quickly it can expand service. The company's promises certainly seem attractive:
It's easy to make promises, though. It's much harder to run a profitable airline.
