Since discovering FT, I've taken my wife to Europe three times, in First Class every time. Now, she's not the world's most sophisticated traveller; for that matter, neither are most of my co-workers. Many of them have never even flown domestic First!
Anyhow, in order to impress upon her the uniqueness of what we were doing, (and to drive home the point about what a cool, talented guy she had married) I asked her:
"Do you have any idea of how few people have actually done this?"
"No. How many?"
" ......Uh....Well...It's a rhetorical question! Not many!"
So ... would anyone care to hazard a guess as to how many different people have actually flown transatlantic in First Class? (The guys who do it every week only count as one each.)
I'm guessing less than a million, but that's just a WAG. Anyone have any hard numbers? How about transpacific?
Anyhow, in order to impress upon her the uniqueness of what we were doing, (and to drive home the point about what a cool, talented guy she had married) I asked her:
"Do you have any idea of how few people have actually done this?"
"No. How many?"
" ......Uh....Well...It's a rhetorical question! Not many!"
So ... would anyone care to hazard a guess as to how many different people have actually flown transatlantic in First Class? (The guys who do it every week only count as one each.)
I'm guessing less than a million, but that's just a WAG. Anyone have any hard numbers? How about transpacific?
OK, some SWAG to start a conversation..
A quick look at key US cities in the OneWorld timetable shows about 150 daily TA flights. So I extrapolate to 400'ish per day total. Seatguru says 12-18F seats on the big planes, so 6000 capacity per day, 2.1 million per year.
In the history of flying, maybe 40 million seats available. Factor in empty seats, repeat flyers, etc, and pulling a number from my, um, thin air, I'd guess 8 million.
About as far from "hard numbers" as you can get, but at least a few facts to start a conversation.
A quick look at key US cities in the OneWorld timetable shows about 150 daily TA flights. So I extrapolate to 400'ish per day total. Seatguru says 12-18F seats on the big planes, so 6000 capacity per day, 2.1 million per year.
In the history of flying, maybe 40 million seats available. Factor in empty seats, repeat flyers, etc, and pulling a number from my, um, thin air, I'd guess 8 million.
About as far from "hard numbers" as you can get, but at least a few facts to start a conversation.
Quote:
A quick look at key US cities in the OneWorld timetable shows about 150 daily TA flights. So I extrapolate to 400'ish per day total. Seatguru says 12-18F seats on the big planes, so 6000 capacity per day, 2.1 million per year.
In the history of flying, maybe 40 million seats available. Factor in empty seats, repeat flyers, etc, and pulling a number from my, um, thin air, I'd guess 8 million.
About as far from "hard numbers" as you can get, but at least a few facts to start a conversation.
The previous posts only cover flights from/to the US. Don't underestimate the number of F seats in the air flying between other continents. I don't have any numbers, but I feel the worldwide number (incl. US) will be at least 2 or 3 times the US number.Originally Posted by CPRich
OK, some SWAG to start a conversation..A quick look at key US cities in the OneWorld timetable shows about 150 daily TA flights. So I extrapolate to 400'ish per day total. Seatguru says 12-18F seats on the big planes, so 6000 capacity per day, 2.1 million per year.
In the history of flying, maybe 40 million seats available. Factor in empty seats, repeat flyers, etc, and pulling a number from my, um, thin air, I'd guess 8 million.
About as far from "hard numbers" as you can get, but at least a few facts to start a conversation.
Regarding the estimate based on Seatguru's 12-18 F seats per aircraft... Remember that many airlines with TA service do not offer F at all, but only a business class as the highest available class.