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Good news. You are also a capitalist. Don't buy the ticket.
No, I'm not a capitalist. Just because I was born in this system doesn't make me a willing participant. Thanks for playing though.
Whats the alternative here? A nice fat regulation that all airline seats require 4 feet of legroom? Then we can all fly in absolute comfort! What? The cheapest ticket is $4500? &%^$% Capitalist pigs!
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People vote with their dollars, many legs have multiple options and multiple seat options. Almost everyone goes with the cheapest option. I've flow from NYC to Chicago $90 round trip. It's incredible how inexpensive flying as become.
I've been trying to vote with my dollars for a long time. The problem is that what used to be economy is now premium and it costs twice what the current economy seats cost. There is no gradient, it's cattle class or $$$$$
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I've been trying to vote with my dollars for a long time. The problem is that what used to be economy is now premium and it costs twice what the current economy seats cost. There is no gradient, it's cattle class or $$$$$
Yes but economy today is half the price of what it was 30 years ago!
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Do you even have a functioning passenger train network? I've heard terrible things.
the train network is great! if you live in DC, NYC, or Boston, you can easily get to any other of those three cities! ...
So is there, then, a market for an airline that offers substantially more legroom and larger seats (biz-class-size for the entire plane?) for a slight increase in price? Aforementioned Delta Airlines had $1.3bn in PROFITS last year, so not sure about razor-thin margins.
Flight comparison sites don't show any information about comfort, so passengers cannot pick it. Meaning all they'll see is "Ultracheap: $50" Vs. "ComfortAir: $80" and pick the $50 option because that's all the information they're given. You want to sell a nicer class of service, you need to change the entire industry to communicate it.
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You sound like an optimist. My take is that airlines are adding a worse option for the price they currently charge, which lets them charge more for the current options.
But in order for that to work, every single airline would have to do that together, holding hands. Because there are multiple airlines, a single airline could choose not to install them and keep their current prices for seats and outcompete those who do install these. I mean, that's basic economics of competition.
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Prices for “economy” and “business class” have been trending downwards, yes. But what you now get in “business class” is what you used to get in “economy” 20-30 years ago and “business class” now is not less expensive than “economy” was 20-30 years ago.
>But what you now get in “business class” is what you used to get in “economy” 20-30 years ago That's nonsense. Especially in long haul flights, business class is in fact more comfortable and has more amenities than it did 20-30 years ago with lie-flat seating, on demand entertainment, etc. Traditional domestic business class is about the same as it ever was while economy has mostly seen a decrease in seat pitch. (Ec…
It was physically far more comfortable to fly, in a way that’s now a available only in business class. All those characteristics would now be considered business class amenities, and aside from a little more legroom (not even approaching what used to be standard in economy unless you’re on an exit row) are unavailable in premium economy on any flight I’ve taken recently.
You got warmer blankets and larger pillows. They would hand out amenities like headphones and playing cards for free. And you could put about twice as much into the overhead.
Ok, on demand entertainment is new in business class, but that’s about technology rather than cost savings, and it’s available in economy everywhere these days too. And for me at least, not much of an upgrade. I’d far rather watch the specific things I’ve brought on my own electronics, read a book, or do work.
Rubbish. This type of "news" is cheap brand name advertising by low cost airlines. The 5-pound toilet from European Ryanair was a similar campaign. Though news coverage may appear negative, it is aligned with the impression of the brand as "low cost" and therefore strengthens the brand.
The bicycle like standing seat does look awful. Reclining, though, is a silly feature on coach airline seats. At best, you temporarily get more room at the expense of the person behind you. Until the person in front of you reclines. Reclining seats when the seat pitch is so tight is just dumb. Oh, and if you get the paywall: http://archive.is/vqTNf
WRT reclining, I disagree. The seats need to be upright enough so that emergency egress is easy, but that runs contrary to what is comfortable for many people. I don't need much recline, but allowing the seat to move back an inch or two (as measured at the top) makes a huge difference in posture.
I would want to try sitting in one sometime. Airlines might have a better time trying to push the idea if they can get mockups built that can be installed in terminals at major airlines. If it's actually not that bad, let people test it out. It looks terrible but so is sitting in a cramped airline chair with your knees jammed into the seatback. If the vertical seat at least gave the illusion of more room in the sense…
You are talking about the "hidden comfort" of such a system. Ask yourself this, where else do you see such a configuration where there isn't a profit motive? Do people eat dinner in such a configuration? Do their living rooms have vertical seats? What about movie theaters, stadiums and classrooms? Of course you don't.