It’s not your imagination: First Class is getting bigger and bigger

Does that long walk back to economy class seem to mean more and more rows of comfortable premium seats? You might be right.

Driven by an increase in leisure travelers willing to pay more for a wider seat, extra legroom and a nice meal in premium economy or first or business class, airlines are taking advantage by redesigning their cabins to include more of those more expensive comfortable seats. can accommodate, and the use of larger aircraft with more premium seats on existing routes.

The changes are significant: Major U.S. airlines are expanding premium seating by 25 to 75 percent in parts of their fleets.

Leisure travelers began to upgrade in earnest as the pandemic eased, said David Slotnick, who follows the airline industry for the travel website the Point Man. Still feeling the lingering fear of a virus in the air, some fliers felt safer with a little more space between them and the passenger next door, and were willing to pay more for it. And after months of not spending travel dollars, there was a lot of pent-up demand.

Premium seat prices fell during the pandemic because business travelers weren’t flying, Mr. Slotnick, giving vacationers the chance to experience life at the front of the plane in first, business and premium economy seats. Airlines noticed the appetite of these customers and have kept prices as high as possible while still feeling affordable, he said.

The price of airline tickets in general has that too rose inflation has risen and travelers are rushing to make up for lost time. At the same time, the previously lagging business traffic is starting to pick up again.

Airlines see this shift in demand as a financial boon, says Chris Lopinto, co-founder of Expert Flyer, a website with maps, cabin upgrade availability, and other information for frequent flyers. Aircraft are being upgraded with more premium seats to increase revenue per flight, Mr Lopinto said.

Cabin conversion projects are planned over several years and take into account factors such as the age of existing interiors and customer demand and expectations, said Mark Muren, United Airlines general manager for identity, product and loyalty. Aircraft need to be taken out of rotation to get this work done, so airlines don’t take this work lightly, said Helane Becker, an aviation analyst at Cowen, an investment bank.

For example, United has increased domestic premium seat capacity — including Economy Plus and First Class — by a total of 25 percent compared to early 2019. In North America, there will be more than 53 premium seats per flight by 2026, about 75 percent more than in 2019. On some aircraft flying internationally, United increased the number of business class seats from 30 to 46 by removing some economy seats. Passengers are most likely to experience these changes on United’s cross-country flights (between San Francisco and Newark, for example) or those to Hawaii, according to the aviation data analytics firm. cirium.

American has plans for that too more seats in premium economy and business class, 45 percent more on long-haul flights by 2026. The airline’s Boeing 777-300ER, 787-9 and Airbus A321XLR jets will all offer more premium economy and business class seats. Those aircraft are typically used on long-haul international and transcontinental routes, according to the company, but the schedule for network routes for 2024 has not yet been set, and then the changes will begin to appear.

Delta will offer an additional 15,000 premium economy or business class seats per day compared to pre-pandemic levels, according to the company. On Delta’s 767-400 aircraft, 20 economy and six business class seats were removed to make way for a 20-seat premium economy cabin. On some A330 models, 16 premium economy seats were removed to install 21 business class seats. According to Cirium’s analysis, customers will most likely see the changes on Delta’s transatlantic routes, and possibly also on domestic routes such as New York to Los Angeles and Atlanta to Honolulu.

Some of the most comfortable seats get even more luxurious. Delta One “cabins”, available on some international flights, offer full-height closing doors along with a flat bed and other amenities.

The premium cabins may be growing, but if you want to sit back and enjoy one of these new seats, it’ll still cost you: In early May, a sample round-trip flight from New York to Los Angeles with the three major airlines for the first week of June started at about $300 for economy, $900 for premium economy and $1,200 for business.

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