These days there is much ado about various First Class and Business Class services on a variety of airlines.  The introduction of the A380 brought a new level of first class service from Emirates, Singapore and QANTAS.  Even their business class on those aircraft are more in line with First Class on any other. 

A week ago, I visited the Fort Worth air show at Alliance Airport.  While that show (and most others) tends to be oriented around military aircraft, I did get to tour the new Pink Ribbon American Airlines 777.  Like all 777’s tend to be, it was an impressive 3-class aircraft.  At least for First Class and Business Class.   Indeed, I actually thought that the Business Class arrangement on that aircraft was as good as First Class with respect to how I would value it on space and comfort.   AA’s First Class separates you more from fellow passengers but I don’t think its seat or entertainment is necessarily any better.

In any case, what I wonder about is Economy Class.  In this airline world, Economy Class remains largely what it was 30 years ago.  If anything, instead of rising in service or comfort, it has, perhaps, fallen just a bit.  Seat pitch is reduced.  The seating itself tends to be older and less comfortable on most airlines.  There is rarely entertainment and only on international flights.  

In my world, I put a premium first on seat pitch, then seat width and then on seat location (the opportunities to get either a window or aisle seat.)  In almost every case, entertainment means nothing to me.  While I acknowledge that it *does* excite some people, I would wager that if you gave a person a choice between a 34″ pitch seat with no entertainment and a 32″ pitch seat with entertainment, you would sell more of the former.  At least on most domestic flights. 

There appears to be no game changer for Economy Class.  There is no incentive to improve economy class service for almost any airline.  American’s 3-class 777 offers 2-5-2 seating (imagine sitting in one of those 3 middle seats) that is not one iota more comfortable in any way.  The one amenity, that I could observe, was a personal entertainment screen.  That was it.  I sat in the economy seat and it did not seem, to me, to be any different in pitch, width or general comfort than a AA MD-80 seat. 

There really isn’t any incentive for most airlines to improve this experience either.  By operating fortress hubs, the airline knows that most economy class passengers are a captive market.  There really isn’t much choice when choosing an airline for most destinations.  The only incentive for an airline to change seating comes from either being able to fit more seats onto an aircraft or to provide a seat that lasts longer.  

Delta is going to introduce such a seat using Thompson Cozy Suites.  You can see more about it HERE.  It is more comfortable and it does allow Delta to add some seats to their aircraft but they also have contract to use it exclusively (at least for a while).   jet Blue and United do offer some economy plus seating but they market it poorly.  Most passengers are unaware of it as an option to search for and only learn about it at check-in as an upgrade option. 

Wouldn’t it be nice to see a game changer for economy class for once?  A seat that offers some comfort and space even if it costs just a bit more to purchase.   Keep the free soda and coffee.  Keep the entertainment because I can carry a tiny MP3 player for music and I really prefer a book to a TV show anyway.   Keep the food and the pillows and the blanket because I can dress appropriately and probably sleep better with just a touch more room.  Find us a seat that we can sit comfortably in for 3 hours and I’ll buy your ticket every time.

Filed under: Airline Fleets, Airline Seating, Airline Service by ajax
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USA Today’s Today in the Sky blog brought attention to Porter Airlines announcement that they’ll be entering the Chicago (MDW) to Toronto (City Centre) market.  Porter Airlines flies sub-500nm routes using Bombardier’s Q400 aircraft, a turbo-prop commuter airplane.

The Q400 offers 4 abreast seating (no middle seats), near jet speeds and a 34″ pitch economy seat for up to 70 passengers while using as much as 40% less fuel (per seat) than mainline or regional jet aircraft.  Makes you wonder why more airlines don’t use this aircraft, doesn’t it?  Me too.

Porter Airlines is flying this aircraft on exactly the right routes.  They experience similar block times as mainline jets (the time used from departing the gate and arriving at the next gate) with a better than average on time record in part because this aircraft can use shorter, less crowded runways and also because it flies in less congested airspace (from 15,000 to 25,000 ft). 

I would love to see an airline like this operate in the Midwest area or Texas as I firmly believe it is a winning model.  Porter Airlines will have to prove this out in Canada and perhaps one day someone in the US will take notice. 

Filed under: Airline Fleets, Airline News, Airline Seating, Airline Service by ajax
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Read this blog entry first.

This press release from Virgin America came out this morning:

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080728/clm051.html?.v=101

It says:

SAN FRANCISCO, July 28 /PRNewswire/ — Virgin America, the California-based airline that is on a mission to make flying good again, today announced that guests now have a new option called “Main Cabin Select” (MCS), in addition to First Class and Main Cabin service currently available on every Virgin America flight. The new service is taking Main Cabin to the next level by offering guests the greatest available legroom within the existing Main Cabin configuration, at 38-inches of seat pitch in the exit row and in the bulkhead, as well as a host of perks that every traveler loves.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080123/LAW179LOGO-b )

“Our guests expect an upscale experience for less and they’ve been very enthusiastic about features like our on-demand menu and in-flight entertainment platform. We’ve responded by offering a new service option that combines many popular elements of our Main Cabin experience with the other premium services all travelers want,” said Virgin America President and CEO David Cush.

Main Cabin Select service will offer:

— Complimentary food, cocktails, and beverages from the full in-flight menu, via the airline’s unique touch-screen food ordering system

— All-access pass to the Red In-flight Entertainment(TM) system’s countless on-demand entertainment options, including premium TV and films (currently live TV, videogames, Google Maps, MP3s and music videos are complimentary for every class of service)

— 38-inches of seat pitch
  — A dedicated overhead bin space for luggage

In addition to special features in the air, MCS also offers guests premium services before leaving the ground:

— Priority check-in at airports
  — Priority security screening
  — Priority aircraft boarding

“MCS is for the business or leisure traveler who wants a more streamlined boarding process, a spacious, custom-designed leather seat, an unlimited all-access pass to the most extensive in-flight entertainment library in the skies, and the ability to order cocktails, food and snacks right from their seatback video touch-screen or remote control,” added Cush. “In short, this is for the traveler who wants an upscale experience for far less than what they would pay for business class on someone else.”

Virgin America’s premium entertainment options includes a 25-film library with latest releases like “Ironman,” “Hancock,” and “Smart People,” as well as premium TV like Showtime’s “The Tudors” and NBC Universal’s “The Office.”

MCS will be available for purchase starting Sept. 15, 2008, for flights from mid-October 2008 on.

Virgin America’s brand new planes offer guests mood lighting, custom-designed leather seats and the Red In-flight Entertainment(TM) system which allows guests to control their on-board travel experience. Guests can order food, watch one of 25 movies, satellite TV, play a videogame, create a personal play list from over 3,000 MP3 music tracks onboard or instant message with other guests – all from a 9-inch video touch-screen and qwerty keyboard/remote control at every seat.

 

While I have other issues with Virgin America and their business model, it’s interesting that this came out at the time it did.

One other item of note: David Cush, Virgin America’s CEO, used to work for American Airlines as CFO until recently.

Filed under: Airline Seating by ajax
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Not first class.  Not really.  To misquote the movie Jerry McGuire, today’s first class is really a whole different lifestyle, not just a more comfortable seat.

It’s a whole different show in coach, however.  Just for kicks, I looked up the seat pitch on a Braniff 727 for coach in the 70’s.  Today’s seat pitch on a legacy carrier is about 32″ with an inch variance.  For a 6’2″, 260lbs man, like myself, that means a pretty uncomfortable ride.  Braniff’s seat pitch was 38″.  (in the future, I’ll provide some cites for such information but I looked that up 3 or 4 months ago and I can’t remember where I found it now.) That missing 6″ drives me crazy. 

The truth is, a 32″ seat pitch makes sense economically.  The average flight sector here in the US is less than 2 hours (Why do I always seem to be on 3+ hour flights?) and 32″ is plenty tolerable for 99% of us for the price and time spent in the seat.  There are even some airlines who are adopting better seats for once.  Not harder, thinner, flatter seats.  Seats that are a bit more ergonomic, better contoured and, best of all, designed in a way that a 32″ seat pitch offers just a touch more space.  Airtran’s Recaro seats on their Boeing 737-700 fleet are a great example of this. 

For a time, American Airlines *increased* their seat pitch from 1 to 2 inches in the late 90’s / early 00’s.  (Later reduced again post September 11, 2001 to provide a greater potential load density) I’d rate that current Airtran seat the equivalent and that means a lot coming from me.  I should also mention that Airtran offers affordable upgrades to their Business Class product priced about $40 to $80 per segment and I’ve found them quite easy to get even at the gate.

Delta is about to install a new seating product from Thompson that is a kind of herringone pattern that offers greater legroom, an armrest for both arms and even greater privacy.  Still more surprising is that this new seating configuration actually allows them to *increase* the seat count on an airplane.  Look for this in their international 767 airplanes first although I suspect favorable customer acceptance will cause it to show up on other airplanes in the future too.

I think that one day we’ll see  a greater number of choices for seating on many airlines.  It’s already starting now to some degree.  Airlines such as United Airlines and Jet Blue and US Airways have started selling seat locations that have greater seat pitch and/or favorable location(s) for slightly more premium prices.  United Airlines offers Economy Plus with greater seat pitch as a sub-section of their coach cabin and having tried it I’d say it was worth the extra $30 / segment I paid.  US Airways is selling location on existing configurations such as exit aisle seats, bulkhead seats and aisle seats all for a slight increase in price.   Jet Blue has been reconfiguring their aircraft to offer a choice in seat pitch at varying prices. 

Jet Blue’s model is where I expect the majority of legacy airlines will go.  Over time, new seating products such as Delta’s (described above) combined with varying seat pitches will allow the airlines to price discriminate among their customer and generally *increase* their revenue without necessarily a loss in total passenger capacity. 

30 years ago, the model was to price discriminate on the basis of flight convenience.  A passenger who bought far in advance paid less than an impulse buyer.  Then airlines such as American Airlines realized that an unfilled seat was lost revenue and began offering unfilled seats at prices that includes restrictions on flight times and days (convenience). 

Next we’ll see far greater choice in our prices based upon seat pitch, location, service, advanced purchase, travel dates and times and even based upon how much luggage you want to carry (already happening.)  My prediction is that seat choice will be the prime discriminator.  Today’s passenger most wants a decent seat and a flight that takes off and arrives on time.  The airline that provides that wins.

Filed under: Airline Seating by ajax
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