UA just announced that they will be reconfiguring 13 757's with 3 class (F- lie flat, J- 64" pitch and Y+ 43" pitch) for transcons and will provide service identical to overseas flights.

didnt CO and DL once offer their BF and BE products on transcons?

as i do not think they do so anymore, did they not make money on the routes?

I know that Delta used to offer BE on transcons. I don't think it was at the same service level as International, but it was BizE. I don't think CO every marketed their transcon F as BF. However, some BF equipped planes run those routes (EWR-LAX/SFO), but the service is standard TRANSCON F, which is better than regular F.

Also, where did UA annouce this?!? I looked on their website Press Releases, and nothing! You're not leading us astray are you?

Continental has never offered it's precious BizFirst on domestic routes, (except to Hawaii, which was considered to be international) Delta's BizElite was not so geographically limited.

Wrong. BF service between EWR and LAX (and maybe SFO as well?) was heavily marketed as such for a while in the mid-90's.

I still miss the upper deck on the 747 between EWR and LAX.

Check out USA Today travel section.

United readies transcontinental changes: Flying United between New York and either Los Angeles or San Francisco could soon come with all the perks usually reserved for overseas flights. New planes with fewer seats will offer laptop plug-ins throughout; first and business customers will get hand-held DVD players and a choice of films; menus will meet international standards � with hot meals free even in economy. Complete details are expected to be unveiled today, The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reports. USA TODAY says that United is "effectively is conceding that it can't compete profitably for price-sensitive travelers on the traditional transcontinental routes. Instead, United is pursuing corporate travelers on two of the few routes where officials believe there is still significant demand for premium air service at current prices." A United spokesman said the carrier will still match its rivals' lowest-priced fares of rivals on the routes, but said the airline offer fewer seats at those unprofitable prices. The carrier will replace the three-class, 168-seat 767s them with 757s with just 110 seats in three cabins. All coach-class seats will be "Economy Plus." The upgrade called "p.s." will launch Oct. 18 between New York JFK and LAX, followed in December by JFK-SFO. By February, all 13 planes will be refitted, giving six daily flights to Los Angeles and six to San Francisco with the new layout. In addition to demand, another reason for the new service my be stiff cross-country competition � America West, JetBlue, Continental and American all offer competing non-stop service. Updated at 9:30 a.m. ET

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040802/nym076_1.html

That is 34" on the economy plus, not 43.
I wonder what will be the seat ration between F, C and Y on those planes. 34" is about the same as in JetBlue so there is nothing much to offer there.

Continental does not offer BF service domestically. Even if the plane is equipped with BF seats, the service is the same as domestic F. So is the treatment of pax at the airport - F check in, no lounge access, "free unlimited" Elite upgrades.

they announced in the wallstreet journal.

also, im messed up typing. y+ is 34 not 43. sorry.

that's what i thought. what ever happened. no profit on the routes?

The domestic BF trans con was marketed BIG TIME. Sadly the sales didn't meat expectations. So it was gutted...for regular domestic service. If I'm not mistaken Gordon pulled the plug on it.

Hasn't AA maintained 3-class service between JFK and SFO/LAX all this time?
I'd think this was to directly combat that (and gain more premium marketshare).

I'd love to see more BF-equipped planes (regardless of service) flown from Newark to the West Coast. As it is, for many flights to Europe, you have to fly almost half the flight in domestic F.

Steve

i agree. BF service should depend on length of flight. there are flights flown wholly within north, central and south america that are much longer than nyc-lon or lax-hnl, yet they have the same seats i get on msy-iah.

good BF routes would be ewr to anywhere on the west coast. iah to lima. iah to sea, pdx or alaska. i guess though, it would be a toss up. play the hokey game with bf or pay for it, or get the EUA's into regualr FC seats or pay less for them.

check this out:

Seating plan: United's "p.s." 757

like CO's 757-300, it only has 12 FC seats. But at least United's seats will recline to a flat bed!!!

it'll be interesting to see what CO does to stay competitive...

It will be more interesting to see how Continental would pay to be more competitive. They stopped the BF seat changes at the 777s because the retrofits were more expensive than projected, according to a FA I know. Don't know if that's really true, but the seat installs were started around 9/11/01 so it's possible.

But the UA aircraft also has 26 BC seats, which are like standard domestic FC. 12 FC + 26 BC is much greater than CO's either 16 BF or 24 FC or 12 FC (753). Domestic FC is really BC. Plus the UA coach is all E+.

CO's 753 competes more in the class of SONG, ATA, and some other discounters. But JetBlue has better seat pitch. Plus many of the discount airlines have FC, like Spirit, AirTran, etc. Spirit has 16 FC seats on an MD-80, more than CO had when it used the MD-80's.