United says they’re not worried about having too many premium seats, even if we go into recession. They can discount the premium seats and people will still buy them. And then they’ll just steal passengers from Spirit and Frontier to fill up coach with basic economy fares. That doesn’t mean, though, that they’ll make money!
Delta Air Lines says they see weak demand for coach travel right now, but no decline in premium cabin demand. Their executives believe that once passengers fly first and business class, they’ll do anything possible not to go back.
- There’s probably too much of a focus on premium cabin product, since most customers will always fly coach. There are just so many more coach seats.
- Premium doesn’t just mean premium cabin, it means offering a better experience throughout the aircraft. Before the pandemic Delta really was on a path towards premium, rolling out coursed meals, welcome drinks, and hot towels in economy. Now they’re cutting earbuds from the back cabin.
At the same time, there’s a truth here. It’s one thing to fly coach regularly when that’s all you’ve experienced. Then once you’ve flown up front you really don’t want to go back.
When I started getting upgrades in the late 90’s, I’d do anything possible to keep getting them. I used to take unnecessary connections at odd times, like flying DC to San Francisco via Denver at Noon on a Wednesday because I knew I’d be upgraded. And when a $99 mistake fare in first class fell apart on Alaska Airlines because the aircraft for my DC to Seattle flight was late, and would have forced me to misconnect, I spent an entire day obsessing over the DC to Houston to Seattle flight I got rebooked onto in back.
Somehow though I’ve softened my stance. I used to shiver at the prospect of long flights in back but I’ve changed my definition of a long flight compared to six years ago. In 2019, I was 100 pounds heavier than I am today. I started dropping pounds when I got off the road in March 2020. I’m not nearly as wide as I was back then. And it was width, more than legroom, that made me more comfortable up front (it certainly wasn’t domestic catering).
So I start to wonder about discussions like this one from premium flyers, who dread coach, just how enduring that sentiment really is?
Rapper Fat Joe doesn’t like the idea of flying economy,
This is part of my prayer every day. God please don’t put me in coach. It’s a different type of atmosphere back there.
On the other hand, MC Jada Kiss thinks no big deal, “I watch a few Law & Orders I’m there.” (Does the move by United and Delta to embrace seat back entertainment screens make trading down to coach an easier pill to swallow?)
Just how enduring are the premium Über alles sentiments – airlines would save $80 million a year if passengers were lighter but would GLP-1 drugs also reduce demand for premium products since the passengers would be smaller?
This matters because it’s core to the airline theory of premium demand that undergirds earnings forecasts and also planned retrofits of cabins to add more first and business class. 51 business class seats on new American Airlines Boeing 787-9s is a lot. 64 for United’s is even more. And domestically United has a lot of economy plus, while American is adding a row of first class to Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft (eventually).