When I worked for British Caledonian in the 1980s a member of the Board gave a wonderful insight into how an airline decides on what new destinations it should serve, or not, as the case may be. The company was in the process of thinking about flying from London to Denver and had done a great deal of research into the size of the market – the possibility was looking very attractive. Or it was until the company’s Sales Director sent his opposite number on the BCAL board responsible for planning a memo with his views on the potential.
“I was returning from Los Angeles to London last week and our non stop flight took us overhead Denver. We were at around 35,000 feet and it was a beautiful evening and I could see the whole of the city clearly. I must say it didn’t look like a very big place to me and I would counsel against starting a new route; one on which we inevitably fail to make any money.”
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