July 16, 2022
An industry with many question marks.
Recently I wanted to fly from Vienna to Zurich. I had actually resolved not to do any more one-day trips, but in this case there was no other choice, and so I had to break my promise and go back to Switzerland in the morning and back in the evening. I lived in Zurich for a few years, so I know the track well. Before the pandemic, tickets cost around €200; when Air Berlin went bankrupt, around €300 to a maximum of €400.
However, when I checked flights for the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic, the price tag showed €920 – for a one-hour flight from Vienna to Zurich. It can now be said that airlines have finally understood that for years they have been selling too cheap tickets, not only destroying their competition but also damaging the environment – but further research on third-party platforms showed that the airlines’ pricing policy is not only completely non-transparent has become, but also completely imbecile.
Because on this third-party platform, a flight from Vienna to Zurich only costs €420. The highlight behind it: Hidden City Hack. Third-party platforms book flights that lead via the desired destination to a third city as a stopover – and the passenger simply gets off halfway. In my specific case, that meant: I might book from Vienna to Zurich and then on to Palma and get off in Zurich; the flight would then return from Zurich via Vienna to London. Why such a flight should cost less than half of a direct flight is a mystery to me to this day.
The manning of aircraft does not always work smoothly either. Airlines systematically overbook machines and bet that a certain proportion of passengers will not show up. When everyone suddenly comes, seats are auctioned off. I wouldn’t really care if airlines hadn’t received so much tax money to survive the coronavirus pandemic. And if the situation continues as it looks so far – where flights are canceled due to storms, strikes, etc. – it will not be the last cash injection that we (i.e. the state) have to give to Austrian Airlines or Lufthansa. I think that’s generally a mistake, but if so, then with appropriate compensation; For example, far-reaching investments in our own fleet, in the development of biofuels or electric drives, etc. But above all, a massive rethink is needed when it comes to pricing. While Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary is mulling free flights (he wants airports to share in sales), short-haul flights are costing three times what they were before the pandemic on other airlines. While you can fly from Berlin to Paris for €17, others pay 200 times that on the same plane.
It is high time that the aviation industry recognized that environmentally harmful behavior, a lack of strategic thinking and a complete lack of transparency in prices do not have a great future. That the states have not yet recognized that, okay – sometimes they need a little longer. But they too will (have to) understand it. It can’t go on like this.
Klaus Fiala
…is editor-in-chief of the German-language edition of Forbes.
