Why Some Airlines Are Betting Billions On First Class

I don’t think there’s anything here that’s going to shock regular OMAAT readers, but sometimes it’s nice to have concepts broken down in a simple way that anyone can understand, even if they don’t follow the industry closely…

Why airlines like Air France are investing in first class

The Wall Street Journal has been producing some great video content lately, explaining various aspects of the airline industry. For example, I recently covered the hidden airport design tricks that airports use to guide travelers.

A new roughly seven minute video has just been published, about how some airlines are investing billions in first class. We know that we’ve seen a huge increase in premium cabin demand for long haul flights, though that has largely been about increased business class demand. Airlines largely differ on the concept of long haul first class — some airlines think that there’s no future for first class, while other airlines continue to see a lucrative market for this.

So the below video from The Wall Street Journal does a great job breaking down why airlines like Air France are investing in the product, with Air France having recently rolled out its new La Premiere first class. The video also has some comments from Air France-KLM CEO Ben Smith (and Air France SVP of Customer Experience, Fabien Pelous, giving a tour of the seat).

Like I said, there’s nothing shocking here, but several things stand out:

• I think many people don’t realize how long the process of introducing a new seat takes; Smith shares that the process of designing the new La Premiere cabin took around six years, including over three years for testing and certifying (and let’s not even talk about what’s going on in Germany, in terms of timeline)