Originally Posted by
ijgordon
ETA: I think this also highlights the market for a true premium economy product on long-haul flights. Clearly this guy can't/won't fly coach but buying a business class ticket is apparently impractical too given what it typically a huge fare differential. I think there are a lot of people out there who would trade up from economy at a reasonable cost. I assume it's enough people to offset those that may trade down from business class based on the apparent success of PE on the likes of VS, BA, AF, QF, etc.
with all the complaints AA gets about their flagship suites lagging behind other OW carriers and the NGBC seats being less than stellar, AA could kill two birds with one stone and simply eliminate Intl F, re-name the 777 suites as the "New World Business Executive Suites" and re-label the NGBC seats as the "New Premier Executive Economy Seats" and become the first carrier to offer real lie-flat in an "Economy Class" (different from air nz's idea). All AA will need to do is change a few signs, everything else stays as they are!