Qantas suspends First class product on certain routes

[Luke Chittock]

Howdy all

QF have announced that between 06JUL09 and 31OCT09 they will not be offering First class on flights SYD-SFO-SYD, SYD-EZE-SYD and the QF29/30 MEL-HKG-LHR-HKG-MEL sectors... obviously due to the current economic climate.

The good news is that Zone A (ie First class seats) will be available for J class pax to preseat in.

Regards

Luke/PER

[Rhys Xanthis]

wow...

So I assume the savings come from offering the J product instead of the F product? What are the key differences?

[Michael Morrison]

I presume they save ob catering costs for F and staffing. (ie less staff per pax for F than J)

The seat maps for the HKG-LHR seem to show F and the upper deck as the new zone for J....

The old main deck J seems to be PE and PE is now part of Y.

[NickN]

The beginning of the end..... Qantas just took the first step toward becoming a LCC.

[Andrew P]

What a stupid comment.

[D Chan]

F is a huge waste of space if you work out the amount of pitch it takes up in the cabin.

NickN if you think just because airlines take away First Class that they are scrapping their status as premium carriers you are quite wrong. This is a trend that airlines will begin to take up. Virgin Atlantic is a great example with its Upper Class.

[Andrew P]

What full services airlines don’t have First class on their Australian routes?

These
Air Caledonia
Air China
Air New Zealand
Air Pacific
Asiana
Canadian
Cathay Pacific
China Airlines
China Eastern
China Southern
Delta
Garuda
Hawaiian
Japan Airlines
LAN
Philippine Airlines
South African
Thai
Vietnam Airlines
Virgin Atlantic

with First Class
Qantas
British Airways
Emirates
Etihad
Malaysian
Singapore
United

So all the 1st list are heading in the LCC direction!!! – no wonder your comment is misplaced

Who's missing??

Banjo

[Ash W]

Originally Posted by NickN

The beginning of the end..... Qantas just took the first step toward becoming a LCC.

Nick sometimes stop and think before you write.

Qantas are clearly adjusting their product to suit the market. Simple as that.

It does not spell the end of their business model, if anything it shows they have the flexibility to adjust to changing market conditions within the existing model.

Now if the news was Qantas replacing those routes with Jetstar you MIGHT, repeat MIGHT have a valid point. But the point above is pure un-informed and ill thought rot.

[Mike W]

In this week's Fleetbuzz Editorial, he talks about Air New Zealand (specifically) and others who've moved away from the first class product whle still maintaining three classes with the introduction of Premium Economy. This is also alongside discussion about Air NZ's new advert campaign "Nothing to Hide"

http://www.fleetbuzzeditorial.com/

Nothing To Hide

Air New Zealand’s new advert brazenly claiming that its fares have “nothing to hide” certainly is an eye-catcher - in part down to the artwork that had been painstakingly applied to various members of its staff and also because the carrier may also have the innovative edge on its other full-service rivals.

Continues

[Daniel F]

If you argue that by removing F class means Qantas are heading towards the LCC model, does that mean when Qantas took out Y seats (and not J seats) and replaced them with premium economy, they were taking steps to become a business-only airline?