When the economy imploded, corporate business travel took a nosedive. Those companies that still allowed their staff to fly, changed the corporate policy forcing everyone into the back of the plane.
Within many companies, travel policy allowed for first or business class travel on long flights, while others had policies in place that allowed premium cabin travel for high level executives.
To save money (and public humiliation), coach became the new standard cabin for most business travelers, while everyone waited for the economy to recover.
Now there are small specks of light at the end of the tunnel, there is some bad news for business travelers expecting to get back to the front of the plane – companies are enjoying the savings, and may keep the current policies in place. This is good news for some, and bad news for others.
- Travelers paying their own way for Business or First will see emptier cabins, and (hopefully) lower prices as airlines scramble to fill their premium cabins.
- The business travelers are going to have to get used to traveling with the commoners, and eventually become commoners themselves (boo hoo!).
- Airlines are going to have to make some tough decisions – on some routes, they’ll probably remove premium seats, or in some cases they’ll move from three class planes to two class planes. Others may remove premium travel altogether.
The numbers are not looking too bad for the airlines – coach bookings are up 5%, but premium travel is only up 1.8% – given how dismal the past couple of years have been, I’d say any gain is a good gain, even if it does mean fewer people up front.