The proliferation of “basic” fares. Big upgrades for cabin interiors. And one airline CEO says airfares are still a “tremendous bargain” despite the recent run-up in ticket prices.
It’s been a busy start to July, so let’s take a look at some of TPG’s top stories since our last newsletter.
I’ll start with Delta Air Lines, which said it will add restrictions to its first- and business-class seats that it sells as part of its portfolio of “basic” fares. With the move, Delta joins United Airlines in selling premium seats with a basic fare option.
“Basic” fares are nothing new, of course. They began nearly a decade ago, as the big full-service carriers rolled out “basic economy” fares to compete with budget airlines. Those basic fares stripped out perks like seat assignments, change options and mileage earning.
Now the big airlines are expanding the concept to premium seats, where even seats that cost $3,000 and up could come with similar restrictions unless flyers buy up to a standard fare.
Elsewhere, several airlines detailed big upgrades to their cabins in the coming years.
United confirmed it will add a row with blocked middle seats to its new Airbus A321XLRs. The middle seats in that row won’t be sold and they’ll be blocked for seating by a “blocked” by an affixed tray table.
Delta dropped hints about the layout it’s planning for its new Boeing 787s – it’s heavy on premium seating. And Frontier said it will install fast, free Starlink Wi-Fi on its planes – and it gave an update on its plan to add first-class seating.
I’ll close this week with airfare, which has spiked this year since the beginning of the conflict in the Persian Gulf.
Despite that run-up, Delta CEO Ed Bastian said he believes airfares “continue to be a tremendous bargain.” And, on the carrier’s quarterly earnings call last week, executives expressed confidence that demand for tickets would remain steady even as fares have increased.
I’ll leave it there for this week. Until next time.
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