Originally Posted by
kevanyalowitz
The numbers work out.
So you think that this is a 100% chance that UA is going to deploy 2-cabin 773s with 2-4-2 J on some of their highest volume/value international routes?
It seems like these 733's are just a stop gap measure because 744's have to retire. So they are crunching numbers to see what in the short term makes most economical sense, without thinking long term.
In order to compete with asian and gulf carriers, they need to install first class suites. Maybe only 4 per a/c but they should have them. Unfortunately as its been mentioned here many times, upper UA mngt seems to think GF and BF are essentially the same product (which is true at this stage).
Instead of making a true GF product with First class suites, they are most likely going to cut GF all together. This is a mistake in my opinion, and will cost them in the future. Unfortunately UA does not seem to only plan a year or two ahead to the next earnings and investor call instead of investing in products and its employees. As for BF, they should make a goal of having direct isle access for all a/c.
There has been no mention of having GF on any new a/c or a retrofitted one for that matter after Smisek took over. I doubt that will change, unfortunately, unless theres a management shakeup and they get someone in charge from operation side, not lawyer side.