FlyerTalk Forums - First Class to be eliminated?

FlyerTalk Forums (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/index.php)

- MilesBuzz (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/milesbuzz-370/)

- - First Class to be eliminated? (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/milesbuzz/836110-first-class-eliminated.html)

B6 Musing About F

At an analyst's conference today, Jet Blue mgt. indicated that it's thinking about introducing F as a way to boost revenue and that it's recent reconfiguration with premium economy (my phrase, not theirs) at the front of the plane and at the exits, might be a first step in that direction.

This is silly. First Class is not going anywhere - VX, Spirit, AirTran and soon jetBlue will be LCC carriers with F cabins, although offering a varying degree of service enhancements. If the LCC competition is adding the product, what in the world could make anyone think that legacies carriers would remove it?

First Class and elite benefits are the only remaining product differentiators between most of the airlines - take these items away and customers WILL make their flight selections based only on price and schedule.

The goal is driving more incremental revenue into the F cabin by making it easier for people who must book coach to buy-up into F - for example, my company buys my DL coach ticket and I give them the small fare difference to re-issue into the F cabin.

Perhaps the name "First Class" will remain, but the product will look a lot like... the crap today they call "First Class" today?

Or maybe not.

I think we might see what we call F evolve into a premium economy product. 3-3 with the current pitch increases capacity by 50%. Basically just take the current seats we use for crew rests, and throw in some food and booze, and you have a decent product. With the 50% increase in capacity, they could reduce fares so that seats actually sold.

Because of corporate contracts that artificially inflate fares up front, plus FF bennies, we have almost no incentive to pay for an F seat. Reduce the price and rebrand the cabin as PE, and a lot more of us could get it to pass muster with the travel policies we have to live with.

haha!

First Class? We lost that a long time ago!!

Two picies of fruit and a free glass of wine! How exciting!!!:eek:

Quote:

Originally Posted by pmaddock (Post 9909121)

While I agree that things are going to change the Legacy Carriers are taking thier lives in their hands if they screw around with the fundamentals. This is just my opinion of course but if they took away major aspects - say NW actually eliminating the FC benefit - then there would be no effective difference between them and the "Cattle car" (WN). In that case I'd stop fighting the various "cheap as possible" policies in my company and just take solace in the easy WN reward redemptions.

I just posted pretty much the same thing over on the Southwest forum. Except:

1. Lack of availability of international awards is another way legacy carriers are alienating the high-fare customers they need to keep.

2. Southwest Airlines is not a cattle car any more than any other airline's coach. In fact, it's better than most. The new boarding process is more orderly than any other airlines', and you'll be in line literally 2 minutes or less.

3. Award redemption for Southwest Airlines has taken a dramatic turn for the worse this summer. It's not as tight as legacy saver awards, and it may open up in the fall, but right now it's downright ugly.