Originally Posted by
tuolumne
Nonsense. CO's product was never "way more than a hybrid". United and American's mid-late 90s First were powered barcaloungers that were nearly flat. CO's product was not similar other than being 2x2x2. The pitch was NOT the same. And it certainly didn't come close to UAL/AMR's F soft-service service.
Fast forward to 1999 and UAL/AMR started with fully lie-flat state of the art workspaces that turned into loungers and fully flat beds.
By this point, CO was offering a seat that was VERY similar to United C, the only difference being an added inch of width, and it was powered. The sad fact remained that the Kioto seat in the early 00s was built out of 1) bargain basement materials, and 2) had an awful bar placed in the lumbar section that made the seat frankly awful to use.
And yet the C soft service pre/post 9/11 was never comparable to UAL/AMR...
so in sum, No, CO business was 1) never "comparable to F in the 90s", and 2)
never a "hybrid" after the big boys (i.e, the ones with Heathrow & Narita freedoms) went fully flat F.
CO business has always been business class with an inch more width. Nothing more, nothing less.
I'm not sure why there is so much hate for pmCO BusinessFirst and the reluctance to accept that it was a hybrid. Up until the widespread introduction of lieflats by other carriers and the subsequent (shortsighted) continuous delay by CO to install their new seat (waiting until the 787 was delivered, and then the decision once they realized the 787 wasn't coming anytime soon to install on other aircraft), CO offered a Business Class product that was in fact superior to what other carriers were offering and something that was closer to First Class. No it wasn't a true First Class product, but mid/late 90's F probably paled in comparison to what's being offered today (by most standards).
Recapping BusinessFirst vs OAL Business
-Standard 55" pitch vs OAL offering as low as 40"
-2x2x2 vs 2x3x2 (then 2x1x2 vs 2x2x2 on 767s)
-Plated 5 course meals either hand-delivered vs 3 course mostly casserole type dishes served from a cart
-Concierge service (when they actually showed up)
So other than a bigger/wider seat with greater recline, smaller cabin, a few more items during the meal service, and higher fares I fail to see how CO was that much different than UA or AA F soft product in the mid 90s.
Now if we flash forward to 2006 when UA/AA were offering lie-flat in F, most other carriers offered angled lieflat and services similar to BF, and CO started slowly chipping away some of the more distinguishing features, then at that point then yes it wasn't a hybrid; it just became another business class product on par with everyone else and less of a hybrid.