I actually disagree, and disagree pretty strongly. I think the issue is that you are ultimately selling transportation. The vast majority of people are buying a ticket to get from one place to another. People simply aren't looking for anything else, so what, exactly are you going to sell them on?

Meals at mealtime is a classic example. CO simply can't offer a meal at a cost that can reasonably be recovered by increased fares. I mean, they can't possibly be more efficient at food service than your average airport eatery but it is hard to imagine they can charge any more than your average airport eatery up front. I mean, why pay $10-$15 extra for the ticket if you know that you can eat somewhere else for $5? Why buy a first class ticket for a 3 hour flight? A hot towel and a couple of cocktails isn't worth but maybe $15.

And when the airlines do offer something that people might be inclined to pay for, they get the pricing all wrong. I am much more worried about long-term yields than LK seems to be. I see no way that J fares recover, simply because the J seat does not offer sufficient utility to cover the price differential. Even corporations are starting to recognize this, and I can't imagine that we will see $5k TATL fares anytime soon - it simply isn't worth that. What will the airlines do when the BF sale fares become the norm?

I hate to get all TWA Fan on you, but I think he is probably right in that PE might be the legacies best hope of attracting a revenue premium. Certainly, I think that a domestic F cabin is nothing more than a waste of capacity and an increase in fixed costs, and should be replaced with a more flexible, European-style J product to better match the product with the pricing in most markets.