Originally Posted by
Anglo Large Clawed Otter
Those statements would appear to be inconsistent with each other. That aside, this is the highest quality Aeroporn I have read all week. Things are beginning to get intriguing. Let the rampant, mostly unfounded hard-product speculation commence.
Yes, they are....as in, they haven't made a decision on how to reconcile.
Smisek said they had a meeting w/ top business travel mgrs, and asked whether they would pay a premium for lie-flat. Their answer was 'no,' but they expressed interest in something 'cheaper than businessfirst' but more amenities and premium priced vs today's economy product. His comment was, they are exploring how to accomplish that, but noted they prefer to stay with a 2 class product.
It may also mean a singapore air EWR-HKG type intl config on some flights (i.e. the 777/787 get a premium economy throughout). Or (hopefully not and unlikely) business first becomes business lite. It would depend on whether there is proof people will pay for an improvement from 9 across / 31" pitch to 35" pitch, etc. Sounds dubious either way.
As for lie flat...
Yup, if they can get it to fit in the same space that's a green light but from his comments sounds like that hasn't yet been resolved.