Originally Posted by
chongcao
Business travellers travel on company expense would choose Business whenever possible.
Business travellers travel on own dime would rather choose Business whenever possible, only when the fares are drastically different one may consider PE.
That premise is certainly not universally true. My business travel is always coach for every employer I've had (government [Canadian and Australian] and universities). Justifying premium economy or business even if it's the same price as economy would be difficult or impossible in most cases. And even if policy allowed premium economy or business class travel, I wouldn't do it in most cases (certainly not for any flight that isn't overnight) because I have a certain budget in the grant, and if I burn it on one business class trip, I wouldn't be able to make two more trips that I really ought to take.
PE is primarily designed for travellers who wants better facilities yet not able or not willing to pay the price of Business. There are two types of PE travellers. The first is broadly leisure group. Travellers usually purchase lowest PE prices. The second is last minute business people, they often purchase W fares, which can be more expensive than I class in business.
I don't agree with this premise either; businesses have budgets too. There certainly are businesses whose travel policies allow business class no matter what, perhaps for flights over a certain distance, but there are plenty of businesses who are (to varying degrees) cost conscious and for whom premium economy would make sense.
If any past experience and numbers are true, PE would not erode Business class sales. There is no reason for people used to business class and first class amenities to downgrade rather than affordability. And if you are not willing to pay Business/First at the first place, maybe you are not liked by AA any way. They are just happy to take your money for you to settle in PE and sell the Business/First to other passengers who would like to pay the silly prices. And effectively, AA is double happy as you chose PE which is the most profitable cabin for them.
I can see more PE seats per plane for important markets next decade.
I mostly buy all of this. Although I suspect that premium economy is mostly attracting people buying up from coach, there are probably some buy downs from business, especially on daytime transatlantic flights, as other have noted.
But on topic, it seems perfectly logical close in for AA's revenue management model to be willing to sell either W or J close-in in some cases and upgrade or op-up to J if needed.