Originally Posted by
Vulcan
THIS is what it is all about. I remember when Kellner was at CO when they bought out the first (cradle) Business First seats. Kellner's charge to the developers was 'not to lose any seats'.
Until UA gets over this concept, they will never have a really competitive product. If Oscar was smart, he would grab the bull by the horns and put a hold on the Polaris hard product until they get it right.
If there is one thing I have learned from my 17 years on Flyertalk, it is that we see things correctly early. The rest of the flying population eventually gets to our view.
There are different facets of competition. If you want the "best" product, you could give up some seats and take less density. Then, you'd have to "pay" for the product by eliminating upgrades.
United has chosen to be competitive by offering a product that is of equivalent (or comparable) density to its US peers. United has also chosen to be competitive by installing significantly more seats than its US peers and maintaining, at least for the time being, access to Polaris via upgrades.
While the details of business class seat are important, it comes down to a simple math equation for airlines: how productive is the limited square footage in the aircraft. Every airline knows the return and cost per square foot and remaining competitive here is critical to staying in business.