“Please BA and the others come clean”

Reader feedback: Comment on the industry practice of fuel surcharges in general and BA in particular.

Trevor Heley, director, Blackcomb Marketing Ltd:

I really think that the airlines are treating consumers like absolute idiots in this practice. Fuel is a cost as is staff, landing fees etc. So why single this out as a separate fee to be charged `transparently’. 

The obvious answer is that they feel that they can then pass the blame on to others (as if the public do not already blame the oil companies enough). I can understand this with taxation (and indeed we can expect that to rise in the future if environmentalists get their way) as it can be a form of protest or politicking.  It really does not work with the oil companies though as they rarely respond to polticking because they have to deal with the world of Opec, Iran, Venezuela, Nigeria.

Of course to sweeten the situation they hold out the possibility that prices will go down when the price of oil goes down. That’s kind but of course meaningless as it also could mean increased profits by not passing on reduced costs, afterall they will need the money to deal with new taxes and pensions deficits!

So with the airlines having the tools to alter pricing very quickly anyway why don’t they just increase the fare (which reflects their costs + margin anyway), that is afterall what the likes of Ryanair and Easyjet do (I hope no one believes they are absorbing the fuel costs hikes themselves).

At least BA is having the decency to show an inclusive amount in its advertising and on their website these days.  At the end of the day that is the `fare’ that you and I pay to travel not fare+fuel+tax+ etc!  So please BA and the others come clean…we will understand the price increase.