With all the moves AC is making to "enhance" the flight experience - tangoization, rouging, changes to eupgrades, HD seat configuration, and so on - made me think of a more existential question: is there a future for business class travel in Canada?

On AC for example, are there any statistics on how many customers in the front cabin are actually paying customers (I'd include LMU in this category) and how many are using eUpgrades or other means to get into a J seat without buying a J ticket.

Furthermore, how many paid J tickets are actually purchased on corporate accounts for bona fide business travel? My experience in working for a major multi-national corporation is that the purchase of business class tickets is becoming highly restricted, such that the vast majority of travel is in economy, even for long distance travel - basically you need to be on a plane for 10 hours before qualifying for business class. To add another wrinkle, just today a new policy was rolled out - cold hard cash ($750) for anyone who elects to travel in economy class if otherwise eligible for business class. Sort of tells you just how expensive paid J really is, if the company can pony up that kind of cash and still save on the total cost.

So after all this, who's really in the "business" section on a typical flight? Is it FFs using upgrades, business travelers with lax expense policies, the self-employed, wealthy leisure travelers? Do we really think that there are enough people in the Canadian market to sustain traditional business class on most flights? Or is it all going to Rouge from here on out...