Turn the clock back 25 years and you'll see first class on most jet airline flights. Long haul, medium haul and short haul. Business class then was much closer to what is called premium economy today, a bit more legroom, seat width, recline and more service. As a result, first class remained the only way to travel long distances and get some semblance of sleep. The soft product was luxurious, with personalised service, multi-course meals served on trolleys and platters. The hard product comprised pairs of seats that reclined generously, but never fully flat. On short haul flights first class also involved pairs of seating on narrow bodied aircraft, less recline and legroom, but still it was first class.
However, already first class was being sacrificed on short haul routes everywhere, except in the United States domestically (where it persists today), as that cabin was rebranded as business class or a new business class was introduced. Curiously, Australian domestic airlines, in the days of the "Two Airline Policy" would compete on service. TAA introduced a business class alongside first and economy, Ansett kept with just first class., until eventually both airlines had business class, and it merged into first. However, as travel patterns changed, with ever increasing business travel by those at levels lower than senior management, the demand for flexible economy travel grew, and the term "first class" seemed extravagant. First class started to be the preserve of international routes, and medium to long haul ones only. With the end of first class on intra-European flights in the 80s and 90s, first class also was removed from many medium haul international flights in Asia. Two cabin aircraft for medium haul became increasingly common, as the extension of ETOPs limits allowed the likes of Boeing 767s, and Airbus A330s to operate longer haul routes.
Business class in the meantime had moved on with ever increasing seat pitch and deeper reclines, to the point that the real differential with first class was narrowing with some carriers. The question for carriers would become whether first class was worth retaining, and if so, how to differentiate it from business class.
Aircraft technology would also play a role in changing demands for first class. First the Airbus A340, then the Boeing 747-400 would both significantly extend the range for fully laden long haul flights. Non-stop flights from the likes of Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore to major European hubs, along with non-stop flights from Tokyo to San Francisco would mean longer flights. By then business class had established itself as the preferred class for much long haul business travel, and for premium leisure travel. First class was increasingly the preserve of chief executives, serious entrepreneurs, the R&F (rich and famous) and upgrades.
Yes, the other trend in the industry was the rise of frequent flyer programmes and loyalty, and the ability to spend frequent flyer points on upgrades. Of course the price of promoting loyalty was to sacrifice empty seats for upgrades, and some airlines started to notice that the first class section was becoming more and more occupied by upgrades rather than paying passengers.
Similarly, the airline alliances and codesharing emerging in the late 1990s, along with the start of liberalisation of international air agreements meant airlines would now co-operate more often outside their core operations. Such arrangements meant, for example, that British Airways need not fly to most major airports in Australia and to New Zealand, but only fly to Sydney and Melbourne (dropped more recently) and use Qantas to codeshare beyond. Quid pro quo was Qantas flying to only a handful of European destinations, using BA to hub connections from Heathrow. The future was in frequency. Better to have a couple of daily flights to a hub, than single weekly flights to multiple destinations far away.
However, what did this mean for first class? Well at the same time the demand for first class was remaining flat, but business class was taking off. Then one trend would challenge airlines to lift first class up to a new standard, or drop it. Flat beds.
The first airline to do this was British Airways in 1996. The concept seems simple now, take out some seats, and design new ones that are private that convert to fully flat beds, with pillow and blankets. The result of this was to effectively challenge other major long haul airlines to do the same, or give up.
The list of those to give up would grow. Air Canada, Delta, Northwest and Continental all gave up from the North American side, whereas Iberia, Aer Lingus, KLM, Austrian, SAS and Finnair would give up in Europe. As others would quickly join the move to get flat beds, or at least seats that recline fully flat in first class (Singapore, Cathay, JAL, United, American, Lufthansa, Air France), those who went for what they called "Business-First" or the like would essentially take their first class recliners and offer a lower level of soft product. After all, they couldn't sell those products as first class, so they may as well sell the "best" business class they can, and so business class became like first class once was, without the trimmings.
Another trend was to differentiate lounges. With business class passengers (and increasingly premium status frequent flyers) filling up airport lounges, some airlines recreated new business class lounges to leave first class lounges as more exclusive. The noise, bustle and lack of privacy in first class lounges was simply addressed by moving them to new lounges. Separate first class checkin was also a must.
So by the turn of the century the product differentials were clear. First Class on any decent world class airline involved a rather private lie flat bed with all the trimmings. Business Class would be a wide amply reclining seat, with some trimmings. Economy was, well economy.
Yet the next revolution was becoming clear. Virgin Atlantic had never had a first class, it offered what it called Upper Class, which was pitched between business and first class. By now it had started offering fully lie flat recliners in Upper Class that meant, in effect, business class with a lie flat seat, particularly as its pricing was generally competitive with BA's recliner based business class.
The response of BA was revolutionary, for it launched Club World, with fully lie flat seats, in business class. Suddenly, business class was looking better than first class had been only a few years before.
This was quickly followed by other airlines which would not replicate BA's fully flat model, but rather a halfway house of angled lie flat seats. Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, JAL, Air France, Cathay Pacific would all introduce seats that would lie flat but slope towards the floor. From 2001 through till 2008 airlines would still be introducing this product as "lie flat seats", with American, Air Canada, Iberia, Swiss, KLM, Austrian, SAS, Alitalia, Thai, JAL, ANA, Malaysian, Qantas, Korean etc all replacing recliners with what was appearing to be the industry standard.
Yet in the UK, Virgin Atlantic responded to the BA product with its own fully lie flat product in herringbone style. It would take only four to five years before the likes of Air NZ, Air Canada, Delta and Singapore Airlines would introduce their own fully lie flat seats on long haul, with more recently Swiss, Continental and ANA moving towards fully lie flat business class.
Where did this leave first class? Quite simply, increasingly isolated. With fully lie flat business class available on more and more routes, the simple question would be asked as to what value first class offered? Unless money was no object, and exclusivity and service were especially valued, business class offered to more and more a perfectly acceptable premium product. Those with top tier frequent flyer status may even have access to first class lounges whilst flying business class, but what mattered the most was a flat surface to sleep on and space. Less and less premium travellers were willing to pay 50-100% more than business class to simply get a wider and longer flat surface, better food and wine, and even more attentive service. Certainly not enough to justify first class on all long haul international routes.
So first class has continued to be culled from some airlines (such as Egyptair), with others cutting back the routes offered and upgrading the product even more. In the race for the best first class in recent years, Singapore Airlines and Emirates have been at the top of the game, with both offering semi-cabins for passengers. The Suite product on Singapore Airlines A380s with a separate bed surface is first class par excellence, whereas Emirates is not far behind with shutter doors on the wide reclining seat with a personal minibar (and shower on the A380). Lufthansa has preferred to upgrade ground service, with an exclusive First Class terminal at Frankfurt and limo service to and from the plane. Even then, whilst Etihad rivals Emirates, Qatar Airways is abandoning first class on all new aircraft.
The extravagance of semi-cabins has not been followed by new first class products for Qantas, BA, Cathay Pacific or United, all of which have tweaked their semi-private lie flat seats with more room. What is most notable is the increased number of routes without first class, with the concentration more and more on major hubs connecting other major hubs over long haul routes. For example, first class has gone from Tokyo to Sydney on Qantas. Only two carriers offer serious long haul first class from New Zealand now - Emirates and Singapore Airlines - reflecting the relatively low volume of very high yield traffic to and from that country.
Yet first class persists on both United and American Airlines on many of their international routes, as it does on BA, Lufthansa and Air France (but precious few other European airlines). Emirates and Etihad often provide the only first class option for various trip combinations, but the big Asian hub airlines - Singapore, Cathay, Malaysian, JAL, ANA and Korean all still have first class. So do the growing Indian carriers Air India and Jet Airways.
Unless airlines have a serious premium product (and demand for such a product) first class will becoming rarer, as few travellers will see the point of paying more once they can buy a lie flat business class product. Yet for the discerning traveller for whom budget is no object, it IS a taste of something a bit special, especially when some airlines have over 60 passengers in business class, a cabin of 8-12 in first class guarantees personalised service.
In coming weeks I will be reviewing what's left in first class by airline alliance (and those outside) and what there is to offer.
