According to an April 2003 report from the Alexandria, Va.-based National Business Travel Association, less than 5% of business travelers fly first and business class, while more than 70% fly in restricted economy. But this tiny group is contributing to the majority of the airline's revenue. "These premium seats can account for 40% to 60% of the revenue, while they're practically giving away seats in the back," says Bennett.
This is an interesting piece of news! There were a few threads asking what was the travel policy of FTer's employers, but it was not statistically conclusive
That may explain why airlines are moving to a revenue-based status instead of a strict flown-miles based one...
On the rest of the article, I find too that the methodology is strange... Helicopter service offered by MH beats a limousine service hands down, and is much more valuable than turndown service... Every airline feed its pax, but not the same way etc. I agree with the 13 categories they use, but having a 0 or 1 mark for each is not quite right...
But the advantage of this is the objectivity, while "FA friendliness" cannot be judged on a single flight (and I doubt forbes was willing to pay someone to do RTW in first class for the purpose of writing the article).