It's obvious why first class is F. It's less obvious but understandable that economy is Y. Does anybody know why business class is J? Just curious, is all.

With 3 class service I believe business class is noted as "C". In 2 class service where an airline does not offer its former F/C, it now now offers an "enhanced" business service noted as "J" ie CO B/F, DL B/E, NW WBC etc.

MisterNice

I usually take OK's 2-class setup where business is designated as C

AF uses P (Premiere) to designate its First Class cabin and J to designate its long-haul business class cabin. C refers to its medium-haul business class cabin (as well as on its Caribbean - Indian Ocean long-haul network).

Fare bucket designation is a different issue.

A lot of it depends on which letters are spare at the time a new style of service comes along, all sorts of letters have been used over the years, there are really only a few left !

Business class was initially C because it was known as "club class" by its pioneers (and still is by a few airlines, like BA). Other airlines used different marketing names for it and didn't want it known as C (which has nevertheless stuck in internal industry descriptions). Hence J was available and used.

Premium class (ie enhanced First class with sleeper seats) got P.

There were arguments over Y class known as "Coach" in the US and "Economy" in the rest of the world, but as a compromise the last letter of Economy got chosen !


Some retired codes for nostalgia buffs:

K - a reduced service "Thrift class" discount fare with no meal service at the back of the plane in the US (particularly to Hawaii).

A - First class on propeller main line aircraft

T - Coach class on propeller main line aircraft. A and T were actually provided in different single-class aircraft on the same route.

And plenty of retired marketing names too. Pan Am's new C-class was "Clipper Class" following a long standing aircraft naming convention of theirs.

I read somewhere that this was the origin of "C".

That's been my understanding - that business was coded "C" after the classic Pan Am Clipper Class, which set the standard for decades.

lots of 3-class carriers use j as well (usually instead but sometimes in addition to c). in fact i can't think of a single OW carrier that codes business class as c (though i'm not thinking very deeply).

It's also my understanding that in the 70s, Pan Am introduced the first three-class configuration: First, Clipper and Economy and designated "C" for Clipper Class. Clipper Class was located directly behind F. Seats were exactly the same as economy, with the only difference being an enhanced meal service including a special appetizer and wine split, and free movie headsets. IIRC it was reserved for full fare Ys.

I know that American uses "J" as its full fare Business Class and "C" was its fare class for upgrades. My understandign is that this has now changed to "R." On all Oneworld carriers, "U" is a miles purchased Business Class ticket and "Z" is a miles purchased First Class ticket. Also, all Oneworld carriers use "D" as discount Business Class for RTW tcikets and "A" as the fare bucket for RTW First Class. Adding to the confusion, American also uses "A" for mile and certificate upgrades to First Class and "X" for electronic upgrades. While "F" is American's usual code for full-fare first class, it uses "P" for full fare first class on premium transcon (three-class) flights from JFK to SFO and LAX.

Basically, I do not think there is much uniformity in the designation of these fare codes across airlines.

It will change to "R". It hasn't started yet.

pres,
I believe the OP was refering to service (as opposed to booking) class designations.

FT (Frequent Traveler) members were allowed in there as well. The cabin had no movie screen on many (all?) 747, and it was really nice to cross the Pacific in a dark, silent cabin with just 4-5 fellow passengers.

I preferred "R" when it used to be "supersonic"

I work in the travel business and have found what seems to be almost a pattern for class designation:

First: F, P (full fare) / A (discounted first)

Business: J, C (full fare) / I, D, Z (discounted business)

Economy: Y (full fare, usually used for OW) / B, M, H, K (normal fare) / Q, V, T, L (discounted economy).

Full fare means usually no minimum stay, no advance purchase and no penalties, while the discounted classes are usually inclusive of these restrictions. Also, the discounted classes in all types of services are usually the ones used by consolidators, for upgrades, secured (not viewable to the public), etc.

Finally - I think that the airlines control seats by using different classes for different points of origin and destinations around the globe. The lowest fare from the U.S may be in L class while the lowest fare TO the U.S will be in V class.