BA getting rid of first class in new planes
British Airways is eliminating the First Class cabin on its new plane. I'm not surprised. First Class costs thousands of pounds more than business class, and the only substantial difference between the two services is that First comes with a free pair of cheap pyjamas and a lobster salad. You can buy the same jammies at Heathrow and pick up a lobster salad at Pret on your way onto the plane and save a mint.
"The long-haul aircraft that we take delivery of this year will not have any first class cabins in them," said Willie Walsh, BA's chief executive. He insisted there was no direct link to the recession, but he added: "Longer term we will review the configuration of [all] new aircraft." BA is also launching a service this year from Heathrow to Las Vegas, a prime destination for high-rollers, with no first class option.British Airways ditch first class in new planes as age of austerity bitesFirst class is the last remnant of the more romantic days of air travel when BA's predecessor, British Overseas Airways Corporation, offered first class tickets alongside the more down-at-heel tourist or economy cabins. Its upmarket reputation has become even more rarefied over the years following the introduction of slightly less luxurious business class seats in the late 1970s, and cut-throat competition on the transatlantic market.
the latest
latest episodes
Now if the British tax code could only be made more progressive to match.
Practically no one pays for First Class. It's a perk for frequent fliers. BA is just getting cheap.
To be fair, in addition to the jammies you get a completely flat bed that fits my 6'2" frame, and a puffy duvet cover for sleeping. Oh, and when you're in row 1, you're in the nose of the plane and it's completely quiet with no engine noise.
Would I pay extra pounds for that? Good heavens no. But when they had an "upgrade for 5,000 points" deal, heck yeah!
My only conclusion about this article is that Mr Doctorow has not travelled in business class at all.
"Thousands of pounds more" isn't very accurate: it seems to usually cost *at least* twice to three times as much.
Business class is actually worthwhile, as it often means the difference between a flight that is miserable and one that is actually enjoyable. But for the price of an LAX to LON first class flight, I could fly the same route business class and have a staff of ten people come with me, or have a smaller staff and have the difference pay for their salaries during the trip too...
"You can buy the same jammies at Heathrow and pick up a lobster salad at Pret on your way onto the plane and save a mint."
Maybe so, but you cannot buy yourself a better class of fellow passenger.
I'd rather be self loathing in the knowledge I had the *option* to have payed the extra to sit a few rows away from the cheap suits and financial times brigade I find myself surrounded by.
Without first class what can the cheap-seats live to aspire too?
@#6 SF: Maybe so, but you cannot buy yourself a better class of fellow passenger.
Perhaps you're using "class" in the strictly economic sense of the term?
I've flown first, business, and steerage class, and I've found that people are people no matter where you sit. My most interesting conversations have been with people in the back of the plane actually, but that might be coincidence.
(Note however that I've also met really fascinating people on a Greyhound Bus, so your definition of worthy people might be significantly different from mine!)
However, as a relatively tall fellow, I greatly appreciate the extra *legroom* one gets near the front of the plane.
IIRC, there's some Asian airline (Singapore?) that has chairs which fold out into full-length beds. *That's* flying in style!
I've flown both Business and First class with Air France, and I can tell you the difference is quite marked.
Business class: Seat that reclines
First class: seat that converts into a proper bed with mattress and sheets. Pyjamas, big pillow. Food is surprisingly crap. Airplane food will always be airplane food.
The real difference is the level of service. Check-in is a personal affair. When I had to make a transfer at CDG, there was a car waiting for me at the foot of the plane waiting to take me to the lounge.
Actually, for the few remaining people on the planet who can afford such a thing, Singapore Airlines goes WAY, WAY beyond "regular" first class. Pajamas and a lobster salad?? Ha!
http://www.singaporeair.com/saa/en_UK/content/exp/new/suite/seatfeatures.jsp
I remember when I once flew BA to London, and thought that the extremely posh business class was first class. The conference organizer, on hearing me gush about it, said, "Where you get on the plane, that's not first class. On your way home, sneak towards the front of the plane and take a look." Holy crap.
obviously you can choose your own stories for your own blog.
But I wonder what proportion of boingboing visitors this will be relevant to?
Maybe you are getting ready to introduce boing boing platinum?
Air travel is as close as most people get to corporate farming. The day an airline starts catering to tall people or assigning seats based on height will be a happy day for me.
@#11"The day an airline starts catering to tall people or assigning seats based on height will be a happy day for me."
As long as they start weighing the TOTAL weight of passenger and luggage. Why should I susbsidise the fat and/or tall? I suggest ~ 100kg per passenger, any heavier means you pay more.
@9: What in all glorious holy hell would someone not on their own jet need an airborne SUITE for?!
Heck, why would someone on their own jet need a suite anyways?
Cory, look at you, they've even got you talking and writing like a Brit now!?!? What happened to "You can buy the same jammies at Zimmerman's Discount on the way to Pearson and pick up a lobster salad at Shopper's on your way onto the plane and save a buck."???
Just joshin', but I was honnestly waiting for when this service would drop. Air Canada just launched a new ad campaign showing their new fully-flat reclining seats for first class. Bad timing much? I'm kind of thinking bad marketing department much?
I don't see why we can't take subway all over the world; at least then I could get some decent Chinese food and pick up a few new threads.
This is a shame, considering the money of people rich enough to pay extra goes to subsidize the seats of folks at the back.
Also, having flown 1st class in BA, I can tell you the seats are nicer than business class, and also it craps all over Singapore Airlines.
I'd say the best Economy I've ever flown in was Virgin, the best Business Class was BA, and the best First Class was Emirates.
It goes without saying that they all outshone any US carriers by the power of a thousand suns.
Oh there is more than that for the differences between BA first and business!
The Anya Hindmarch bags of first are so much nicer than the generic business class kits. The Kiehls amenities are better than the Elemis ones. The PJ's....ok I'm not as crazy about the BA first PJ's versus CX's Shanghai Tang or QF's Akira Isogawa (sp?) pj's. The oak laminate around our seat much nicer. The white roses in the larger bathrooms?
Have you considered the differences in the lounge experience? The haughty experience of getting your bags with a nice first tag.
First nearly the same as business? Ridiculous! I think not. Now go scuttle behind the curtain where you belong. ;)
Give me First or give me death! :)
"thousands out pounds." srsly, trs, hw d th typs nt drve y nsn?
I've never had the luxury of riding on an airplane in any class, this whole air travel thing sounds pretty neat... I'd love to try it someday.
Sadly, I'll more than likely continue to live a terrestrial life, never getting more than a few stories off the ground.
Damn you sky travellers! Take me with you!
You can get the feel of air travel at a fraction of the cost by squeezing yourself into a small refrigerator for a few hours. Make sure to leave the freezer door ajar so the motor runs really loudly.
BA is also launching a service this year from Heathrow to Las Vegas, a prime destination for high-rollers, with no first class option.
More accurately, a roundtrip ticket for "high rollers" is a plane ticket to Vegas and a bus ticket back to Heathrow.
Antinous / Moderator "You can get the feel of air travel..."
Don't forget shitty movie, sweaty man beside you, baby with ear infection across the aisle and sugar-filled brat behind you (kicking the back of your seat).
@ #21:
Just like travelling by car or bus or boat, plane travel can be wonderful, or it can be awful. It's a breathtaking experience to be circling in to land over some beautiful natural vista at sunrise. It is mind-numbingly frustrating to be stuck on a 10 hour flight without enough legroom and with people of questionable personal hygiene sat in the general vicinity.
It's rarely more than a means to an end in my experience. But then I've never flown better than economy. For all I know BA First Class has Bar Refaeli and Adriana Lima bringing you Laduree macaroons whilst Gregory Isaacs sits in the corner playing a series of acoustic selections from his oeuvre. Seems unlikely though.
Here's an interesting twist (and I think it's becoming more common) to how airlines meet the changing demand for first-class flying: Some A320s and 737s have been fitted entirely with first class seats; 44 to 64 seats in each jet, in airplanes normally built for 120 to 180 or so.
For now these are flown in tiny numbers, each jet connecting a single city pair. When you take an airliner and fill it with only big seats, the passenger and luggage (and interior) weight is lower, allowing the jet to carry more fuel. With an endurance of 10+ hours, these small jets can easily connect cities in different continents.
For example, ANA owns only one of these jets and it only does flights between Tokyo and Mumbai, with one all-1st-class long-range 737 flying back and forth once a day. PrivatAir (who codeshares with Lufthansa) owns four such 737s (they do Frankfurt-Dubai, Munich-DC, Zurich-NYC, and Amsterdam-Houston) and one A319 (Frankfurt-Pune).
More details here, here, and here.
(By the way, I learned about this after that LOST episode where Ajira flight 316 (a 737) lands on the Hydra island. I was skeptical that a 737 would ever be used on a flight across the Pacific, so I decided to look up what the longest-range 737s and A320s are. One engineering manager at Boeing told me that he helped to certify modifications to one of these all-1st-class 737s that allow it to do 14-hour flights, although I think that includes one refueling stop. The "10+ hours" for an A19 was the longest endurance I could find online, and the longest unrefueled endurance I could confirm, for a 737/A320 derivative. So I guess flying a 737 across the Pacific is not so crazy after all).
sorry to be so late to comment.
businesses will reimburse for international "business" class, but not for first (at least in the usa). that's why no us airline has an international first class anymore. instead, they offer an equivalent set of amenities. lie-flat or near-flat seats, free-flowing champagne, actually tasty food, personal service at the gates, luggage first off, full avod at no charge. many airlines around the world have made this adjustment. it sounds like ba is catching up.
i work for northwest (now part of delta) as an engineer, and avod is my life nowadays.
oh, and i'll be in business class to tokyo later this week. yay!
One to four classes exist aboard various aircraft and airlines. Most - not all - BA longhaul aircraft carry First, Club (Business), World Traveller Plus (Premium Economy) and World Traveller (Economy). The British newspaper report this item was based on didn't know that already some trips have eliminated First: the airline's move to have this configuration on four new aircraft (of the fleet of over 100) is not surprising, and just gives them a little more flexibility in serving markets with a lesser proportion of premium passengers.