Originally Posted by
brooklynflyer
I work at a company where a lot of us travel a lot internationally and we have a fairly strict travel policy. Just because some travel manager says that the company won't pay extra for a lie-flat product doesn't mean that the employees don't expect one given that other carriers (especially foreign flag carriers) routinely offer it for the same price as CO. Even though we have "preferred" carriers, there are enough loopholes in our policy so that we can pretty much choose our carrier. Guess who's popular to London? Eos, BA and Virgin (not CO). By hook or by crook, they are going to have to offer a product that is competitive with others if they expect people to pay the same fares.
The critical issue is whether companies will pay the same for a lesser J product. That's what it really boils down to.
The full fares for J on BA, VS, and CO are all the same and so there is very little incentive to buy CO J.
Of course, CO fills its front cabin by discounting very aggressively. At that point, though, you have to wonder what good the additional density in J is doing them if the effective RASM's are in fact lower...