Airlines are stepping up competition for full-fare passengers between New York and Los Angeles, with lie-flat seats, pricey French wines and personal valets to whisk travelers from curb to gate without wasting time in lines.
The latest dogfight over first- and business-class fliers involves five carriers on the most lucrative U.S. route. Delta Air Lines Inc., American Airlines and United Airlines are expanding space for high-end customers and offering goodies once reserved for international trips, such as mini-suites.
Joined by JetBlue Airways Corp. and Virgin America Inc., they’re chasing bankers, celebrities and others who buy tickets that can top $6,500. That market, a minority of passengers on any given trip, produces an estimated 75 percent of the revenue on cross-country flights -- a payoff for airlines’ investment in plusher cabins and four-course meals.
“I like my space, my privacy, so the comfort level of the seat is really important,” said Hal Biagas, general counsel at Excel Sports Management, which represents golfer Tiger Woods and the New York Yankees’ star Derek Jeter. “What I do tends to draw interest, and I can’t have someone looking over my shoulder and seeing a name on a presentation or contract.”
For those able to afford the fare, the pampering is worthwhile on a trip that spans 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) and lasts six hours going westbound because of headwinds. That’s only about 90 minutes less than flying to New York from London’s Heathrow airport.
‘Significant Demand’
“Unlike other domestic U.S. routes, there is significant demand from customers who are willing to pay full price to sit in the first-class cabin,” American Chief Commercial Officer Virasb Vahidi said.
At AMR Corp.’s American, the transcontinental-only perks include concierge employees who greet elite passengers at curbside and whisk them to a dedicated check-in room and a private elevator that skips to the front of security lines. Those fliers then go to the Flagship Lounge, a private facility within American’s Admirals Club lounges.
New York-Los Angeles is both the busiest long-haul U.S. route, at about 3.2 million passengers a year, and the richest, at $1.43 billion in annual sales, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. First-class fares on that trip may be 10 times as much as in coach, based on prices on airline websites.
“Pandering to business traffic is a lot more important than getting volume,” said Michael Boyd, president of consultant Boyd Group International Inc. in Evergreen, Colorado. He estimates that premium seats typically generate three-fourths of the revenue on a cross-country flight.