Originally Posted by
fripperies
It's not self-evident that this would be a better business model or serve the majority of pax better. There are too many aspects that would need fixing, each at an incremental cost. This thread focuses on meals, previous ones have griped about the type of champagne served pre-departure, the amenity kit etc. etc. By "proper F experience" you presumably mean something highly personalised including the full package, e.g. chauffeur limo, escort from lounge to seat, gourmet food & wine, exclusive fast-track everywhere, much smaller cabin, and generally no evidence of penny pinching. This then becomes a product for a hyper-rich elite, and at that point is ceases to interest me. What we have at present is something that's a bit better than CW, a bit more comfortable, a bit more exclusive, at a slightly higher cost if you buy discounted fares or upgrade with Avios. To me, that's quite a useful option. Like everyone I'd like to have my cake and eat it but realistically I can see that an affordable First is going to involve compromises.
I think provided you raised the cost across the board (i.e. for all F passengers be they purchased ticket, redemptions, UuA etc.). then you could probably lift the food quality and wine quality a notch and have better amenity kits etc. That wouldn't impose too much of a fixed overhead (whereas increasing crew to PAX ratio would). The variable costs wouldn't rise if passengers weren't there and if passengers were thee they would be paying for the increased variable costs.
I suspect that demand in F (be it revenue, upgrade or redemption) is relatively price inelastic and an extra £100 wouldn't see passengers defect in the way that it might in other cabins.