British Airways to let passengers go hungry on short flights

British Airways have announced plans to no longer provide meals onboard short-haul flights in an attempt to cut cost and stop the airline bleeding cash. The changes will take place from Monday 3rd August 2009 on all flights less than two and a half hours in duration.

This move is a likely to put many passengers who have already purchased tickets off-side as they will have paid for a full-service airline experience yet will be left with a budget experience. Worse still British Airways will not be offering passenger the ability to purchase food onboard, leaving it up to passengers to bring their own food and drink. This move is interesting for a traditionally full-service carriers like British Airways as it signals a move into the budget domain.

It will be interesting to see whether prices on these short-haul flights are lowered to reflect the fewer included benefits because if they remain unchanged it is likely the numerous budget carriers (who at least offer the choice to buy food onboard) will see a pick up in demand as passengers defect away from BA.

The big risk for British Airways is that if they cut services without reducing the price they will lose passenger volume, meanwhile if they reduce the price they also face the risk of lower revenue which may offset and intended savings.

It will be interesting to observe the public response to this move over coming months...