BA CEO Alex Cruz defended his decision to start charging for food on short-haul routes, saying the measure was necessary in order to compete in an environment of falling ticket prices. “Given some of the fares in the marketplace, we make no apology for making ourselves more efficient in various ways so we can consistently compete effectively,” Cruz said Wednesday. He added that BA remains, “and always will be,” a premium airline. The unit of IAG SA scrapped free meals on European flights in January, inviting passengers to buy onboard snacks and sandwiches from Marks & Spencer, who moved from discount unit Vueling in 2016, has also overhauled BA’s loyalty program and come under fire for planning to board passengers in the same class according to how much they paid. The carrier is seeking to compete with network peers Air France-KLM and Lufthansa and fend off discount specialists including Ryanair.<br/>
oneworld
American Airlines is planning to add extra-large storage bins on the bulk of its in-service Airbus A321s, 202 aircraft in all, and has chosen Airbus’s aftermarket services unit Services by Airbus to perform the retrofit, the manufacturer said Wednesday. The Airbus-produced bins, called Airspace XL, will provide 40% more storage space for carry-on bags. American is Airbus‘ first retrofit customer for the bins. “The contract is a major step for Airbus into the US service market,” Service by Airbus head Laurent Martinez said. Airbus created the Services by Airbus unit in 2016 to address company projections for a global commercial aviation aftermarket service market worth $3.2t over the next two decades. According to the Airbus 2017 Global Services Forecast, cabin and systems upgrades over the next 20 years will be worth $180b, 14% of which will come from North American carriers (38% will come from Asia-Pacific carriers). The upgrades market will be driven in part by intense competition between airlines “who value the ‘passenger experience’ as a differentiator (comfort, connectivity, etc.) as well as systems upgrades,” Airbus said.<br/>