True First Class -- is it dead?
 

American is dropping F on many routes in favor of only business and coach.

Let's agree that USA domestic "F" is really not what we are talking about. We are talking about what is currently F in a 3 cabin plane, often on international flights.

The argument against F is that few people pay for F and that it is very expensive.

A while back NW dropped F. CO has no F. US added F to their great Envoy product but rumor is that they are/will drop it.

Do you think that true F is going to disappear?

I think that loads on carriers like BA and CX will justify true first class, their loads are pretty good and are usually filled with PAYING pax unlike US carriers where imho a substantial amount of the pax are using award upgrades or vouchers. BA hardly does anything in upgrades and will earn up to $12k per seat.

Exactly. If you look at UA's international F for example, it is filled with C paxs with mileage or SWU upgrades, award paxs and non-revs. Very, very few full-fare rev paxs. In these troubled times, it may no longer make economic sense for UA and AA to continue offering an international F product.

I already see apples and oranges mixing here.......

1) Most US carriers fly a lot of "short" long haul flights. East coast of the US to many European destinations is less than 7-8 hours. The truth is that there is very little need for a "true" first class with sleeper seats, etc for these types of flights. That being said UA and NW do fly quita a lot of "very" long haul flights, NW has gotten rid of their first while UA has retained it. Airlines such as AA, US, CO or even DL have very few "very" long haul flights (greater than 9 hours). An airline like CX or SQ has a vast majority of their long haul flights flying extremely long distances (and it should be noted that the aircraft used by these carriers for short haul is generally sold as 2 class even if there are 3 classes on the planes).

Look at it this way, a carrier such as BA, does not need flat beds in Biz or First for many of its flights. Who needs a bed for a 6 hour flight JFK-LHR?? If you eat, etc, you are going to use it for what 4 hours?? and on a daytime flight perhaps not at all...

2) Scott, I know that you are well meaning, but it is a dream to believe that the majority of BA First tickets are bringing in anywhere close to $12,000 a piece. I know of several companies that have pay Biz, fly F deals with BA. For that matter you can fly BA in First connecting from dozens of Euro cities and pay less than the BA club fare from LHR, we both know that. As for upgrades, they do them for US members which account for close to 35% of BA's EC membership -- this is not an insignificant amount although admittedly they are allowed only from higher fares (a la Delta). Lastly while many from the US use vouchers etc. generally US carriers only allow one class upgrades on upgrade awards (I am not talking about exceptional situations) therefore the guy buying a biz fare is upgrading to First generally, still representing a significant amount of revenue for the carrier(s).

3) All in all the truth is that there are very few people worldwide who purchase absolute full whack F fares. Of those they are generally only concentrated in a few cities around the world (yes, one of them is London). On many routes F does not exist (to use B/A as an example, until now there are many destinations where there is no F on the plane -- Generally Gatwick destinations.

The airlines are not idiots, when they get rid of First, there is a reason for it. Some of these include:

a) They are not selling enough F tickets.
b) They figure that the revenue mix of MORE business class as opposed to having F take up more room is better for their revenue.
c) they do not fly to dests that can truly support F.
d) Their business product has improved so greatly that the incremental benefits of F are lost on many passengers (a big occurrance lately).

It's no surprise that the airlines are starting to eliminate their "First Class" services.

Back in the day, First Class described the whole travel experience, not just time spent in the air. You'd get First Class service on the ground before the flight, in the air during the flight, and back on the ground after the flight.

Now when you take a First Class trip, you don't get much except a wider seat and free booze. For First Class trips within the US, there is no lounge you can go to unless go pay for the airport lounge, but many of those are stuffy and outdated anyways.

Additionally, there are no extra services that the airline provides, such as carrying your bags down the jetway for you as you board the aircraft, etc. That sort of stuff vanished when the industry matured.

So I'm not surprised that it's going away - I think the next incarnation of First Class will be the chartered jet, not the commercial airline.

I have flown both to Europe and Asia on more then one occasion. First Class was just to bus with too much attention. Business Class offers enough better food over Coach, and more time to sleep or rest without interruptions. Of course, the seats are being improved in most airlines Business Classes.

Having said that, I am looking forward to using some old AA miles on CX for the annual Dec trip to BKK in the ultimate First Class offered in the sky. It is more for the flat bed/seat, then the food or booze! And a morning in the deluxe CX lounges with more civilized arrivals and departures over NW from LAX. It will be nice to arrive clean and rested in BKK, and depart BKK/HKG at a decent hour. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...orum/smile.gif