Don't people think that this is a little 'unfair' in a way though?, QF using their international product against DJ... - there is no way the DJ J class will compare to Skybed.
That's like saying QF can't compete with EK because they have better suites, more buying power to acquire more 388s, the full backing of a government and favourable industrial laws in the UAE.
Forget it - it doesn't work that way.
From the comments on the thread, it's possible that the actual impact of having international standards and/or Skybeds on the route may be less than what is perceived.
I didn't think about the fact that Y will go from 2-4-2 on most configs to a 3-4-3 on the 744, resulting in a bit more discomforting flight for most.
Pricing is an interesting question for discussion.
DJ won't be able to go super cheap as they will need to get a ROI on their new capex and they aren't exactly rolling in money at the moment.
Also a huge % of J travel are corporates of which QF well and truly have stitched up. So DJ will need to attack them and QF know they are coming, it won't be a short process to get a corporate across to fill their cabins.
The corporates typically have access to decent discounts on retail J rates, in addition to volume rebates etc. QF then keep retail rates comparatively higher for the average Joe... Do we really think DJ will price their retail rates THAT much lower? Will they be able to without the corporates filling the rest of the seats?
I'm trying to think back to when VA launched and set a brand new precedent for airfares on the Trans-Pacific. Yeah, they didn't make any money for a while, but the action still forced the hand of the competition.
I see the same thing happening as a very valid outcome. Even if the difference is $200 in mass market fares, that'll be enough to put the tack on some of the seats of the bean counters and yield management at QF.
Keep in mind that on this route DJ PE is much, much cheaper than QF J, albeit the former is certainly inferior to the latter. However, DJ is coming from a much lower cost base than QF (newer fleet, less legacy issues (especially w.r.t. wages)). DJ's new J - no matter what comes out (unless it is a complete disaster, which is 99.99% unlikely) is also going to be a lot more "fresh" than even QF's Skybed Mk II, of which the latter has close to no chance of being introduced on the transcon for a long time. For DJ not to have a "stuffy" image and without the burden of precedent is a great booster for their marketing effort at nil cost.
In saying all that, I wouldn't be surprised if the new DJ J will enter the market at a "rack rate" of at the very least $200 cheaper than QF J, with opening specials perhaps as low as current PE rates.
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