brunos,
Whilst I agree with the second part of your statement about Air France's C class product lagging behind the best in class, let me point out that they are in a peer group with other renowned airlines like Lufthansa, SAS, KLM, Iberia, Emirates (yes!). I start having a feeling that AF actually makes a very clever management decision, where it has found the optimal balance between "giving passengers enough comfort so that they stil travel with us" and "let's control the costs as well as the fare which we can demand". Air France can do that because
a) it has a large captive market in France
b) the percentage of routes on which competitors offer a better product on direct flights from France is small: SQ, CX, SA, QR, EY, TG, NH, JL. That's it. On the rest of its network, i.e. on routes to North and South America, Africa, the Middle East, India and some of the Far Eastern destinations (China, Vietnam) Air France actually offers the superior product. Now one can of course argue that they face the risk of loosing pax that are willing to connect in LHR to British Airways or in HKG to Cathay Pacific. But I am sure that they have analysed passenger behaviour quite well to build their business model and come to the decision to offer the product they offer.
So, in sum, whilst I, too, would like to see a superior C class product, I must actually commend Air France for its shrewd business decision.
Originally Posted by brunos
What surprises me is that AF does not offer a true P product. Only the seat is First class, all the rest of the product (video, food, lounge, service...) is business-like. This will lead to the disapearance of F on AF.
On this point, I don't agree. Air France's First Class is not on par with Singapore's new one, but it's definitely top notch. Aspects of it I rate higher than British AIrways, and I would argue that Air France's F class shares the European pole position with BA and Swiss. Each one has its strengths. Whilst this may be a (debatable) subjective opinion, there are also some facts that qualify your statement: food for instance. Air France uses a completely different caterer for F class than for C and Y. Service: no European airline manages to have a more "classy" service than Air France. The refinement and sophistication of the FAs is unsurpassed by any European airline (and arguably neither by any Asian carrier, let alone American or African). I quite frankly prefer to have my measly Air France amenity kit handed to me by a well groomed, polite and charming Air France FA than by Tracy from Essex ("Here's your toothbrush, luv").
To sum up, Air France's First is much closer to the top position than its C class. Both could do with some improvements (F on amenities, food, IFE; C on seat, food, IFE). These improvements would raise First to really the highest standards and make C really comfortable.
I am often quite critical about Air France. Their European C class is dishonest and disgraceful, and the way they handle customer interactions on the ground is a schoolbook example of Gallic incapacity to organise things. But it's their longhaul product which has traditionally been the show case of French sophistication and hospitality. That still holds true for F, and I hope that some refinements will make that hold true for C as well.
Sorry for the long post, but this is one area where Air France really merits at least some credit.