I was just in a meeting in NY with one of my client's on Monday. He was working on expected 2006 travel expenses. Their travel negotiator was there to review carrier options and expected cost. I had to sit through the presentation and found it fairly interesting.

There was an odd section not presented but in the handout entitled Reconfigured First for CO. It basically stated (this is from memory), Continental is reevaluating all routes and reconfiguring/eliminating first class on several flights. Each route has a # based on paid first load (pfl). Several markets that are burdened with low coast carriers will eliminate first to accommodate more coach class seating. Several aircraft have already been reconfigured to accommodate 6 first class seats. In this case the pfl is 80% and no additional reductions are warranted.

In markets where the pfl is below 50%, flights should be reconfigured to a pfl of 80%. If the pfl over the last 18 months is equal to or less than 4 seats, first class should be eliminated.

This is the first time I have ever heard of PFL and am not sure if it is an internal term or not.

The other section read, “Employees should avoid UN when possible.” Internal complaints have more than tripled in the last 4 months and most of our travelers have requested permission to seek flights from various other carriers (based on concerns of reliability and safety). Effective May 1, 2005, employees are not required to fly UN in UN dominated markets.