When it comes to earning money, the reason why Austrian Airlines cut back on board service in economy class on short-haul flights in the previous year with the resumption of flight operations is quickly forgotten.

From June 2020 until a few days ago, AUA passengers were only given tea, coffee or water. Snacks and other drinks were removed under the "Corona guise". The carrier justified the measure in the previous year by saying that it wanted to reduce the contacts between crew and passengers. Austrian Airlines has never been able to conclusively explain the difference between the cabin crew handing over a cup of orange juice or water.

There was a completely different reason behind the measure, which massively angered many economy class passengers. The company wanted to save money and simply used Corona as a clever pretext that was not questioned very often. But even then there were very specific rumors that they would switch to paid catering.

But when it comes to that Money can be made with food and drink on boardThen the previous reasons why only tea, coffee and water were offered are quickly forgotten. The credibility of Austrian Airlines drops even further when you look at the number of infections: the “mini beverage service” was introduced at a time when the incidences across Europe were extremely low. The “cashing in” started when the number of infections was extremely high. In this respect: Do the crews have less contact when the products are sold? No, but the income is increasing.

Low-cost product at a "premium price"

For some years now, Austrian Airlines has been trying desperately to sell itself as a “premium airline”. What actually is "Premium"? An airline that demonstrably cancels flights without notifying the passengers and tries to avoid compensation payments under EU Regulation 261/2004 with the "Corona keyword", but then pays at rocket speed after consulting a lawyer?

The fact is that with the abolition of the included on-board catering, which was also rather puny "before Corona" in the short-haul economy, Austrian Airlines has removed the last distinguishing feature from competitors such as Ryanair or Wizzair. Apart from the different dimensions for hand luggage, the products are more or less identical. Every move, for example checked baggage or drinks / snacks on board, has to be paid extra. The main difference is now only in the price: The AUA tends to be more expensive, although this statement is subjective, because it can happen that low-cost airlines can have higher prices.

The number of passengers who book Austrian Airlines because they want to fly “Austrian” is now negligible. The vast majority book the cheapest price. The AUA cannot currently provide an argument that essential added value is offered for the often higher ticket costs. Especially in times of the Coronavirus, Austrian Airlines should adopt a different strategy: Instead of playing low cost at the pharmacist price, you should position yourself clearly: “With us it costs a little more, but there are no suitcases, catering, check-in at the counter, everything included bad surprises at the airport ”. With this, Austrian Airlines could create trust in the market and certainly win many passengers who would choose this airline because of the added value.

At Austrian Airlines in particular, you should know exactly what the consequences of your last trip to paid catering were. Under the general manager Vagn Sørensen, the cashier was asked to pay for food and drinks in the early 2000s. There was water for free, which meant that sales fell far short of expectations. The number of bookings has also collapsed and many passengers have switched to low-cost trailers such as SkyEurope from Bratislava. The otherwise rather hapless successor Alfred Ötsch abolished paid catering.

Originally, no one wanted to grant water

Based on the experiences made in the early 2000s, the AUA - in contrast to Lufthansa and Swiss - originally did not want to grant free water. An internal uprising by the flight attendants led to a rethink, so that the AUA is now "generous" and continues to provide water. Generously, you don't have to pay for it ...

Unfortunately, one sees it completely differently in Frankfurt, because one is of the opinion that the modular system of the low-cost airlines is the great savior for the Lufthansa Group. Of course, nobody has a legal right to free food and drinks, but this question will soon arise with old bookings, because from a legal point of view, holders of tickets that were issued before the announcement of the changeover have a right to them because it was made when the booking was made has just been labeled as included. In this context, a judgment was even issued against Eurowings in Germany. When the catering, which was previously included in the Smart tariff, was "forgotten" about old bookings. One passenger actually sued for rolls and drinks. A curious lawsuit, but it won against the Lufthansa subsidiary.