I already see apples and oranges mixing here.......

1) Most US carriers fly a lot of "short" long haul flights. East coast of the US to many European destinations is less than 7-8 hours. The truth is that there is very little need for a "true" first class with sleeper seats, etc for these types of flights. That being said UA and NW do fly quita a lot of "very" long haul flights, NW has gotten rid of their first while UA has retained it. Airlines such as AA, US, CO or even DL have very few "very" long haul flights (greater than 9 hours). An airline like CX or SQ has a vast majority of their long haul flights flying extremely long distances (and it should be noted that the aircraft used by these carriers for short haul is generally sold as 2 class even if there are 3 classes on the planes).

Look at it this way, a carrier such as BA, does not need flat beds in Biz or First for many of its flights. Who needs a bed for a 6 hour flight JFK-LHR?? If you eat, etc, you are going to use it for what 4 hours?? and on a daytime flight perhaps not at all...

2) Scott, I know that you are well meaning, but it is a dream to believe that the majority of BA First tickets are bringing in anywhere close to $12,000 a piece. I know of several companies that have pay Biz, fly F deals with BA. For that matter you can fly BA in First connecting from dozens of Euro cities and pay less than the BA club fare from LHR, we both know that. As for upgrades, they do them for US members which account for close to 35% of BA's EC membership -- this is not an insignificant amount although admittedly they are allowed only from higher fares (a la Delta). Lastly while many from the US use vouchers etc. generally US carriers only allow one class upgrades on upgrade awards (I am not talking about exceptional situations) therefore the guy buying a biz fare is upgrading to First generally, still representing a significant amount of revenue for the carrier(s).

3) All in all the truth is that there are very few people worldwide who purchase absolute full whack F fares. Of those they are generally only concentrated in a few cities around the world (yes, one of them is London). On many routes F does not exist (to use B/A as an example, until now there are many destinations where there is no F on the plane -- Generally Gatwick destinations.

The airlines are not idiots, when they get rid of First, there is a reason for it. Some of these include:

a) They are not selling enough F tickets.
b) They figure that the revenue mix of MORE business class as opposed to having F take up more room is better for their revenue.
c) they do not fly to dests that can truly support F.
d) Their business product has improved so greatly that the incremental benefits of F are lost on many passengers (a big occurrance lately).