FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - United Airlines' First Boeing 787 Dreamliner Begins Assembly
Old Aug 18, 2011, 11:28 am
  #72  
mduell
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Originally Posted by tuolumne
Also, I find it interesting they released a PR statement calling the C cabin "BusinessFirst", instead of just "United Business". If they are in fact keeping BF, the only logic I could think of is that it may possibly "cushions the blow" per say of not having an F cabin to upgrade into, so "hey, you get a BusinessFirst hybrid (PMCO CO 2-cabin), which has more storage space than 3-cabin (PMUA) C". This would imply that they then intend to differentiate between the two different B/E Aerospace models they both use for C, both possibly being dissimilar enough to name and sell differently.

That would mean, of course, that the two would be different products, and 3-cabin C would be "that one with more seats thrown in and has less privacy and storage of 'BusinessFirst'". So then what, do you price the two differently? Are service levels identical between both? These points ultimately has me leaning on the side of both products simply being named and sold as "United Business" - Having the C cabin being named (and possibly sold) differently depending on whether it's 2-cabin or 3-cabin (PMUA or PMCO) C seems to create more noise and other issues than it's ultimately worth.
For the purposes of FT discussion, it's more convenient to call it BF instead of "biz on a 2 cabin aircraft" to differentiate from business/"biz on a 3 cabin aircraft".

Originally Posted by sbm12
I don't think so, though maybe. The space between door 1 and door 2 on the 777 is about 60" more than on the 787. That means you lose a row. And there are only 26 seats in zone 1 on the 777 so that puts you at 20 (or possibly only 18 if they do full rows) to fit in that area.
The 777 can fit 5 rows between door 1 and door 2 - and they do in the center column. The window seat columns on the 777 are constrained by the lav behind 1L instead of in front of it as on the 787, and the closet in front of 2R.
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