Skift Take
Airlines created a new standard of flying when they stripped down the experience to the bare essentials, but are now reintroducing perks like leg room and snacks for patrons willing to pay.
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Priority boarding. Extra legroom. Champagne before takeoff. It’s not just the stuff of business class dreams…
“Airlines aren’t chasing volume anymore, they’re chasing the bottom line,” explains Mike Boyd, chairman of Boyd Group International, an Aviation consulting firm in Evergreen, Colorado. “Part of this is this Premium Economy thing. Business class has become the battleground. That went up and up in terms of perks but has become too expensive, so now we’ve gone back to introducing another class—we’ve gone full circle. And internationally, Premium Economy is what business class was 20 years ago.”
Photo Credit: Fox News names Virgin American as the domestic airline with the best Premium Economy option with 6 inches extra leg-room, wi-fi, personal TVs, and free food/drink. Virgin America / VirginAmerica.com
