ONE of American Airlines’ senior executives has launched a scathing attack on rival Continental Airlines over its policy of increasing capacity.
American managing director sales and marketing for Europe, Middle East and Africa, Jon Snook said supply in the aviation industry was outstripping demand and airlines had to take a responsible approach.
“We’ve stripped back some of our capacity on routes and have been followed by British Airways and United Airlines.
“But Continental is growing by 30% in Europe, which seems like a most irresponsible act.
“It was only a few years ago that Continental was on the road to bankruptcy and now it’s adding capacity without any regard for the market.
“The airline industry is running into a downturn and we should remember that between 1990 and 1994, the industry lost more money than it had made in all the previous years put together.”
Snook added that airlines needed to work to increase the price of economy tickets, because in real terms they had stayed static for 17 years and, when inflation is taken into account, they have decreased in price by up to 40%.
“I saw a round-trip fare to Boston of £120 last month, the same as Sir Freddie Laker 20 years ago.
“It’s so bizarre that the airlines have had to go to war over business and first class, continually refining the product.
“But you can’t keep improving business and first class because people won’t pay ever-increasing prices,” he warned
“People will migrate to economy and we have to put the prices up in economy.”