shadow
Aug 19, 99, 7:49 am
Airlines Chase the Disappearing Business Traveler
by Stu Watson - August 16, 1999
Newspapers spent a load of ink early this month heralding United’s recent rollout of an Economy Plus section with more legroom for frequent flyers.
It must have been a slow news day.
Look, the rising cost of airfare has hit the business traveler harder than any other. Earlier this year, the National Business Travel Association (NBTA) rolled out a survey in which corporate travel managers said they were tightening the belt -- big time. The cost of business travel has gotten out of hand, it concluded, and it was time to fight back.
Here’s how they were doing it:
More than 73% of travel managers said they were cutting back on trips in the U.S.
72% said they were spending more of their travel budget on low-fare carriers -- the Southwests, Frontiers, Vanguards and AirTrans of this world.
83% -- more than ever -- said they are putting their people in Coach instead of First Class.
66% are requiring business travelers to stay over a Saturday night to get a fare break.
72.5% are turning to other technology -- videoconferencing and teleconferencing -- to avoid costly air travel.
Lastly, 83% are trying to book well in advance to get the minimum fares on those Coach tickets.
Clearly, the days of corporations acting like the wagging dog to the airlines’ tail have come to an end. The airlines, seeing the bread and butter head south, are busy looking for ways to keep business on board, and give
corporate (i.e., frequent) travelers more for the premium prices they often pay with last-minute bookings.
Hence, four to five more inches of leg room on United flights. That means a boost from the standard 31-inch seat pitch (the distance between the same point on seats in each row) to 35 or 36 inches.
Despite the hullabaloo around United’s legroom for frequent customers -- United Airlines' Mileage Plus members with at least 25,000 paid miles on Star Alliance flights, or at least 30 flight segments in a calendar year -- all the U.S. majors have the coveted business traveler in their crosshairs.
At US Airways, TWA and American, the strategy is to add seats in First Class and upgrade business travelers whenever possible.
"Some of our planes at one time had four First Class seats, some had eight," says Dave Castleveter, director of public relations for US Airways. "Now at minimum we have 12, and at maximum 24."
On some routes, full-fare Coach tickets earn an automatic upgrade. On others, the upgrades go to frequent flyers at the Chairman's Preferred level.
"That comes as a result of passengers saying, ‘Hey, I just paid full fare, and I don’t want to sit in a middle seat,’ " Castleveter says.
Tim Smith, spokesman at American Airlines, says the country’s second largest carrier will be watching United’s efforts closely. In the meantime, American, too, has been boosting the number of First Class seats in its planes to handle ticketing upgrades. Smith says American’s new Boeing 737-800s are configured with 20 First Class seats. In the Boeing 757, First Class has 22 seats.
Rather than adjust seat pitch like United, American is embarked on a $400 Mil. project to refurbish the interiors of much of its fleet. Included in that project are new seats by noted automobile seat maker Recaro.
"As part of their ergonomically designed seatback, because of the way they curve inward, it gives you an extra two inches of knee room," Smith says.
Those enhancements, Smith says, will occur throughout the Coach cabin in American’s MD-80s, 727s and 767s. Seats come with adjustable headrests, and side head supports to keep you from drooling on your neighbor.
Seat pitch -- the distance between seats -- will stay at 32 inches in Coach, 40 inches in First Class.
United’s Economy Plus has been tried before. American tried what it called Executive Coach a couple of years ago. Seats weren’t spaced differently, but blocks were reserved in the desirable forward cabin, and overhead bins
were reserved for those passengers.
"We still deliberately save seats for full fare Coach passengers," Smith says. "They said they liked the window and aisle seats in the front. We do block those seats.
"If you try to buy an advance purchase seat six months out, we'll reserve you a seat, but it won’t be in the first few rows or on the aisle."
Partly in response to weather and traffic control-related flight delays earlier this year, American has given pilots the discretion of letting captive passengers use their cell phones during delays (a good deal for road warriors, but not so great for the people who get to share their chatter.)
Three years ago, the folks at TWA began looking at what its best customers wanted.
"We decided that what frequent flyers wanted wasn’t a couple of additional inches in Coach, but First Class seating," says spokesman Jim Brown. So in late 1997, TWA began boosting the size of its First Class cabin by 60% -- from 12 to 20 in the MD-80, from 14 to 22 in its Boeing 757s.
That, and better seats, and better meals, has boosted First Class occupancy to a greater percentage than before the expansion.
TWA upgrades full-Coach passengers to First Class when they connect through St. Louis. And the airline adds bonus miles -- one per
dollar spent -- for people who fly on full coach fares.
"Efforts to control business travel costs have actually made us more competitive as far as selling," Brown says. "Now we have a larger inventory of First Class seats that we can offer in a corporate contract, as an incentive for corporate contracts."
As a concession to the rest of the poor schlumps in the back of the bus, TWA sells its middle seats last. But as Brown crowed about TWA’s recent 80% capacity rate, you had to believe more than a few executives on
corporate cutback mode will be sharing an arm rest -- and not liking it.
by Stu Watson - August 16, 1999
Newspapers spent a load of ink early this month heralding United’s recent rollout of an Economy Plus section with more legroom for frequent flyers.
It must have been a slow news day.
Look, the rising cost of airfare has hit the business traveler harder than any other. Earlier this year, the National Business Travel Association (NBTA) rolled out a survey in which corporate travel managers said they were tightening the belt -- big time. The cost of business travel has gotten out of hand, it concluded, and it was time to fight back.
Here’s how they were doing it:
More than 73% of travel managers said they were cutting back on trips in the U.S.
72% said they were spending more of their travel budget on low-fare carriers -- the Southwests, Frontiers, Vanguards and AirTrans of this world.
83% -- more than ever -- said they are putting their people in Coach instead of First Class.
66% are requiring business travelers to stay over a Saturday night to get a fare break.
72.5% are turning to other technology -- videoconferencing and teleconferencing -- to avoid costly air travel.
Lastly, 83% are trying to book well in advance to get the minimum fares on those Coach tickets.
Clearly, the days of corporations acting like the wagging dog to the airlines’ tail have come to an end. The airlines, seeing the bread and butter head south, are busy looking for ways to keep business on board, and give
corporate (i.e., frequent) travelers more for the premium prices they often pay with last-minute bookings.
Hence, four to five more inches of leg room on United flights. That means a boost from the standard 31-inch seat pitch (the distance between the same point on seats in each row) to 35 or 36 inches.
Despite the hullabaloo around United’s legroom for frequent customers -- United Airlines' Mileage Plus members with at least 25,000 paid miles on Star Alliance flights, or at least 30 flight segments in a calendar year -- all the U.S. majors have the coveted business traveler in their crosshairs.
At US Airways, TWA and American, the strategy is to add seats in First Class and upgrade business travelers whenever possible.
"Some of our planes at one time had four First Class seats, some had eight," says Dave Castleveter, director of public relations for US Airways. "Now at minimum we have 12, and at maximum 24."
On some routes, full-fare Coach tickets earn an automatic upgrade. On others, the upgrades go to frequent flyers at the Chairman's Preferred level.
"That comes as a result of passengers saying, ‘Hey, I just paid full fare, and I don’t want to sit in a middle seat,’ " Castleveter says.
Tim Smith, spokesman at American Airlines, says the country’s second largest carrier will be watching United’s efforts closely. In the meantime, American, too, has been boosting the number of First Class seats in its planes to handle ticketing upgrades. Smith says American’s new Boeing 737-800s are configured with 20 First Class seats. In the Boeing 757, First Class has 22 seats.
Rather than adjust seat pitch like United, American is embarked on a $400 Mil. project to refurbish the interiors of much of its fleet. Included in that project are new seats by noted automobile seat maker Recaro.
"As part of their ergonomically designed seatback, because of the way they curve inward, it gives you an extra two inches of knee room," Smith says.
Those enhancements, Smith says, will occur throughout the Coach cabin in American’s MD-80s, 727s and 767s. Seats come with adjustable headrests, and side head supports to keep you from drooling on your neighbor.
Seat pitch -- the distance between seats -- will stay at 32 inches in Coach, 40 inches in First Class.
United’s Economy Plus has been tried before. American tried what it called Executive Coach a couple of years ago. Seats weren’t spaced differently, but blocks were reserved in the desirable forward cabin, and overhead bins
were reserved for those passengers.
"We still deliberately save seats for full fare Coach passengers," Smith says. "They said they liked the window and aisle seats in the front. We do block those seats.
"If you try to buy an advance purchase seat six months out, we'll reserve you a seat, but it won’t be in the first few rows or on the aisle."
Partly in response to weather and traffic control-related flight delays earlier this year, American has given pilots the discretion of letting captive passengers use their cell phones during delays (a good deal for road warriors, but not so great for the people who get to share their chatter.)
Three years ago, the folks at TWA began looking at what its best customers wanted.
"We decided that what frequent flyers wanted wasn’t a couple of additional inches in Coach, but First Class seating," says spokesman Jim Brown. So in late 1997, TWA began boosting the size of its First Class cabin by 60% -- from 12 to 20 in the MD-80, from 14 to 22 in its Boeing 757s.
That, and better seats, and better meals, has boosted First Class occupancy to a greater percentage than before the expansion.
TWA upgrades full-Coach passengers to First Class when they connect through St. Louis. And the airline adds bonus miles -- one per
dollar spent -- for people who fly on full coach fares.
"Efforts to control business travel costs have actually made us more competitive as far as selling," Brown says. "Now we have a larger inventory of First Class seats that we can offer in a corporate contract, as an incentive for corporate contracts."
As a concession to the rest of the poor schlumps in the back of the bus, TWA sells its middle seats last. But as Brown crowed about TWA’s recent 80% capacity rate, you had to believe more than a few executives on
corporate cutback mode will be sharing an arm rest -- and not liking it.