Earlier this summer, Qatar Airways grabbed headlines when it announced that it was doing away with first-class seating on long-haul flights. The news was rather unexpected, given that the carrier has built its identity around an ultra-luxe product in the sky; it’s often ranked as one of the best airlines in the world. But the company’s CEO acknowledged that the massive footprint of first-class seating simply doesn’t efficiently maximize revenue.
Most US carriers, for their part, had already abandoned first-class seating over the previous decade. American Airlines is the last domestic provider offering a first class on international flights, and it plans to phase those seats out at some point in 2024. So, what gives? Is first class… dead?
The modern calculus of commercial aviation points to yes, as airline execs seem determined to cram as many passengers on each plane as possible. JetBlue recently retrofit its Airbus A320s, bumping up the total number of seats from 150 to 162. American Airlines followed similar measures shortly thereafter. Don’t even get us started on Spirit, where the combination of paper-thin seat backs and an inability to recline from an impossibly upright position makes passengers feel packed like sardines in a can. And if Ryanair had its way, you wouldn’t even have seats at all: in 2012 the airline’s chief unveiled plans for “standing berths” on its fleet of Boeing 737s.
It’s not like anyone is going to confuse these carriers with prestige airlines such as Qatar, Emirates, or Singapore Airlines. Nevertheless, it’s indicative of a prevailing trend in the industry: that, when it comes to revenue, more is more. Then again, before you consider cushy first-class seats dead and buried, take a moment to consider business class.
While first class has certainly been on the decline, business class has taken off. This particular cabin of service was revolutionized in 2000 when British Airways introduced the first convertible lie-flat seat, affording business passengers access to a bed in the sky. A spate of airlines followed suit and many began rebranding their first-class product as “business” solely because corporate travel accounts often allowed employees to purchase fares in the latter but not the former.
“In the eyes of most passengers today, the difference between first and business class is in name only,” according to Ben Mutzabaugh, senior aviation editor at The Points Guy. “Especially on long international flights, most of these cabins have seats that convert into lie-flat beds—some with sliding doors that turn the passengers’ space into a private pod. Whether you call it ‘first’ or ‘business,’ passengers on most big airlines will find these seats pretty posh.”
