Business class routine in Canada offered south of the border
Business class routine in Canada
In the new competitive marketplace, domestic flights have become spokes feeding worldwide networks. Many business travellers flying into Los Angeles, New York, Chicago or Dallas from an overseas city may well continue with the same airline to another U.S. city. Forcing those passengers to switch to a lower level of service, no longer makes economic sense.
On top of that, airline research indicates a demand for business class service on certain routes from passengers travelling strictly within the United States, particularly between New York and Los Angeles. Carriers say they will monitor reaction before deciding whether to extend the three- class offering.
Delta’s cautious move to three-class domestic service resulted from its takeover last year of services between New York’s JFK airport and London’s Heathrow. Since Nov. 1, two of the JFK-London planes each day continue on to Los Angeles, providing three class service on the transcontinental route. A third daily flight was added Dec. 15. But two daily flights linking Los Angeles with a different New York airport, Newark, still offer only first and coach class seating.
According to spokesman Neil Monroe, Delta’s moves to date are a direct result of the New York-London service. The carrier will “watch demand” for three-class service but has no immediate plans for any extension.
Last Nov. 1, United upgraded its business class product on international routes and gave it the brand name Connoisseur Class. If that moniker sounds familiar, it is because Air Canada once used it, with a slightly different spelling, for its own business class product.
By the first week in February, Connoisseur Class will be offered on 694 flights each week, 149 of them within the United States, said United spokeswoman Lynn Martenstein. All the domestic flights involved will be extensions of international routes served by three-class aircraft.
United has no plans to reconfigure any planes currently designed for two classes, but new wide-body planes coming into service will have three classes, she said. United has large numbers of planes on order as a result of its current expansion to South America and its earlier moves across the Pacific and to Europe.
American’s three class international service has been extremely well received on the carrier’s growing route network to Europe, Latin America and Tokyo. according to spokesman Tim Smith. Now the timing was right to introduce it between New York and Los Angeles. Other domestic routes may get three class service at a later date, he said, but there has been no decision on when or where this will happen. Last week’s column gave the best travel price of the Great Whale project in Northern Quebec as $12.6-million. It should have read $12.6-billion.