Originally Posted by
florin
What may work and may even end up happening eventually is a decent Y+ product, with much better seats and no additional biz benefits such as lounge access and excess luggage, priced reasonably enough to get people to buy it. (That or simply sell reasonable UGs to J when seats are available, as some airlines already do.)
This already exists and does work on many major airlines and in various iterations. It's hugely nicer than economy but a) it's not lie flat (more akin to what US airlines call First Class, b) it usually comes with slightly better food and wine than economy (but not much better) and c) it's not free, unlike US airlines' E+ offerings.