I'm certainly not missing the switch of many flights over to Rouge. What wasn't clear to me in your first post was, is your experience with Rouge actually firsthand? Or have you just refused to fly it right from the get-go? In my humble opinion, Premium Rouge international service is almost identical to that of domestic Business Class. There may be a few minor service differences but I certainly don't notice them. However, you said that you're willing to "upgrade to Premium Economy or Business if my pocket allows it", while talking about the AC Toronto to Zurich non-stop. So you'd be comfortable with Premium Economy on board an AC 333 but not the Premium Rouge product on board an RV 763?

I am not going to presume to know what your schedule is like, but the decisions made when thinking about booking flights are personal decisions. If you were to book a flight 12-14 weeks ahead of time, for example, perhaps the Premium seats would be available? Since the cabin is already booked up by the time you're ready, clearly other people are making the decision earlier. In regards to the question about you and your wife not flying together, again, that's a personal decision. I am single so that isn't something I have to worry about, but when my parents travel together but can't be seated together my Dad will take the lesser seat, giving my Mom the more comfortable one. I would guess that many married couples would solve that problem the same way, if they were faced with it (assuming that "Happy wife, happy life" mantra is true? Haha).

Yes, there are fewer 'reasonable' seats, but they're still out there. But since there are fewer, I would assume they tend to book up faster. I have no qualms whatsoever about Rouge replacing mainline flying. In fact, I am booked on a RV 321 YYZ-YYJ in less than a month. I had numerous mainline AC flights available, but I chose (YHZ)-YYZ-YYJ as it was the quickest and most convenient for me on that particular day. Now, the possible downgrade of Rouge to all-economy is another story all together. If that were to happen, I would not travel on those flights, full stop. One of my personal restrictions is: I try to avoid economy as much as possible.

I have zero issue with flying on board narrowbody planes, Rouge or not. I understand some people can feel claustrophobic on board a narrowbody, I am not one of them. I do prefer flying on a widebody, but that is only because of the pods in the Business Class cabin. As mentioned above, if it happens, I totally agree that the move to an all-economy Rouge would be a decrease in the product offering. But I would change my travel patterns to avoid it. I also have zero issue with any cost cutting program, including maintenance. I have full confidence in the mechanics that work on the planes. They and their families fly on board those exact same airplanes too. There have already been cost cuts totaling hundreds of millions of dollars annually over the last few years and I still do not hesitate to book an AC flight. I would hazard a guess that the "airport worker" quoted in the linked article doesn't have the faintest clue what he is talking about. If, as he said, has "...never seen anything like this in my life" then he hasn't been around the airline industry very long!

I totally agree with you that the idea of an ULCC sounds terrible. But I will accept the increased cost and/or time to avoid such an ULCC in accordance with the personal restrictions I have placed on myself to ensure an acceptable level of comfort. If that means I have to spend more money to keep the same level of comfort, I will spend more and take fewer trips. Or I will reevaluate my priorities and possibly accept a less comfortable environment and take more trips. Those are the sort of decisions every person makes every time they travel (or do anything, for that matter).

I have not, nor will I disagree that it is a "race to the bottom". I know airlines are in it for profit; I'm in my line of work for profit too. But I will never fault airlines for giving people all over this great world the option to broaden their horizons and experience things that can change lives forever. I know my life was fundamentally changed when I experienced, firsthand, the depths of human darkness and despair in Cambodia in 2014. Is it really a bad thing if many other young adults can now afford to travel to far flung places and experience life altering events, too?