Virgin Atlantic's Upperclass Suite
Unless you haven’t been watching the news and this is the first time reading this blog you are well aware of this wonderful global economic mess we are in. Businesses have been looking at ways to cut back and save a few dollars.
One of their solutions is putting their frequent travellers back in coach instead of paying for Business or First class. This leaves airlines with a large hole in their revenue with premium passengers down 21% in February and almost 17% in January of 2009.
With these additional empty front seats, airlines have to start asking – is it time to re-arrange their aircraft? Will business travellers be upgraded back to the front of the plane when the economic turmoil is over or will businesses enjoy the money it saved on airline tickets and continue to only pay for economy seats?
Airlines, like British Airways, who rely heavily on long-distance premium travellers for their revenue are hoping to see more frequent travellers returning to the front of the plane soon.
Source: Guardian Image: Start Creative
I think this is a really interesting indicator to measure the health of the industry. I wonder if we really start seeing seat lay-out re-arranged.