American Airlines has recently launched a new flash-animated website where visitors can sample their new Business Class and First Class seats and amenities. It’s tastefully done, and similar to the effort by Cathay Pacific last year.

What’s more impressive is how American Airlines has created a highly personalized email brand campaign to get people to this website. Basically, anyone can increase their chances of winning the lucky draw by recommending the website to four friends. You may think that’s like spamming, but the thinking ends there.

What comes to the inbox is a beautifully crafted email that is highly personalized for the recipient. You’d almost want to jump ahead and click the link. The email is concise, humorous and actionable. Of the three key points they mention, only one is a “sell”, and the others are bound to make you laugh, like “You wish you’d rather win that amazing prize instead of Thomas”.

I’ve taken a screenshot of the email here and distilled the key lessons anyone can learn about email marketing. And with all the spam that we get in our inbox these days, such an email is a breath of fresh air. Well done, AA….

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Sleeping for 12 hours straight is uncommon in today’s busy world. Doing that while blasting through the skies in a pressurized metal tube over Greenland is even more rare. But that was that was the best part of my flight from New York’s Kennedy airport to Hong Kong, aboard Cathay Pacific’s new business class last weekend.

It’s the first time that I’ve recovered from my jet lag in just a day. And that’s enough to convince me that this is probably the best way to travel from New York to Hong Kong. Let me share my personal experience, and you be the judge.
Keeping the promise
Before I boarded the flight from Kennedy airport, while browsing through the Financial Times, I saw a Cathay Pacific advertisement (see picture) for their new business class, which highlighted their cozy beds, as well as the new StudioCX entertainment systems.

True enough, those were two of the key highlights of my flight – I enjoyed uninterrupted sleep and watched a good selection of movies on the 15-inch widescreen when awake. The noise-canceling headphones that were included enhanced the whole experience. Moreover, the seats were almost exactly the same as the virtual demo on Cathay Pacific’s website. Though, I had checked the movies listing on Cathay Pacific’s website before the flight, they turned out to be different on board. In reality, the selection was better (with 100 movies!), so I didn’t really mind that.
Top quality in-flight products
There are a few key items on every business traveler’s mind when traveling long haul – privacy, comfort, space, and to a certain extent, exclusivity. Cathay Pacific’s new Business Class comes up tops in privacy and comfort. The seat converts to a fully-flat bad in just the press of a button. And the bed is very comfortable indeed. The plush pillow and blanket ensure you’re put to instant sleep.

The herring-bone seat configuration ensures complete privacy, as each seat is surrounded by a shell – perfect for the overworked among us who can’t beat the urge to open up that sensitive document. There is an international power adapter and a USB port in the seat too. There is a sense of exclusivity as well, since the Business Class passengers alighted from the plane before everyone else, had bigger television screens, tables had table covers. The AgnusB amenity kit also contained a number of cosmetics, socks and eye shades. But I have to admit that the seat wasn’t as wide as I’ve seen on Singapore Airlines’ new Business Class. Nevertheless, it wasn’t something I’d get too concerned about.

Professionalism is the key word in service
Cathay Pacific is among the famed Asian carriers like Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways that are renowned for their in-flight service. And indeed, the service was very professional on board this 16 hour flight too. It’s always nice to be greeted by your name as you enter the aircraft or just as you’re being served dinner. In my case, I had cut my thumb just before boarding and asked for a band-aid as I got seated. Though I had to wait a while (since the stewardesses were busy preparing the aircraft for departure), not only was I given three strips, but a couple of stewardess stopped by to ask me how I cut myself and if I needed anything else. That was sweet.

This blog’s predictions that all-business class airlines would go extinct have come true, with British Airways making an offer of $107.3 million for the last remaining major all-business class airline – France’s L’Avion. With one less competitor operating between Paris and New York, BA’s new OpenSkies airline will be able to dominate the route. In fact, since L’Avion was also operating Boeing 757s, they may now be combined to form a fleet of three Boeing 757s for OpenSkies. According to Reuters, L’Avion started in January 2007 and has transported 65,000 passengers. But the going was certainly getting tough as the price of oil crossed $140 per barrel, evidence of which are the recent spate of bankruptcies in the airline industry.

Big bird BA picks up the last fish in the river (Image Credit: Esox Lucius)

How does this impact the British Airways and OpenSkies brands?

The effect of this acquisition on the parent airline’s brand should be generally positive, due to two key factors. Firstly, the lack of competition would surely help the OpenSkies brand since there is …

With all-business falling from the sky like flies, the discussion today explores whether all-business class travel on full-service airlines has any future.

In times of economic uncertainty, business travel decreases as organizations slash travel budgets. The International Air Transport Assn. is already reporting that business and first-class travel have experienced the biggest plunge in five years. Promising all-business class airlines like MaxJet, Eos and Silverjet have gone out of business in just a matter of months. Other airlines are cutting capacity too, as fuel costs rise. So what does this mean for the future of business travel? Is it going extinct, or is it here to stay? Let’s analyze this from two perspectives: business class-only airlines, and full service airlines with specific all-business routes.

All-business class airlines: Verdict – Going Extinct

The all-business model was always considered an experiment and at record high oil prices any new model struggles. Aviation analysts point to the premium-class graveyard where the tombstones are reminders of such short-lived U.S. airlines as Air One, Air Atlanta, McClain, Regent, MGM Grand and Legend. Most of these offered domestic US routes only, which re-affirms the point that there is little domestic market for all-business carriers.

Oil prices reached $135 per barrel last week and have just claimed the latest victim: SilverJet. The all-business airline stopped operations today (Friday, May 30) since it failed to secure a $5 million loan to carry on operations. This now makes it three-in-three for all-business airlines operating between New York and London. MaxJet and EOS have shut down operations in the last year as well. Interestingly, SilverJet helped carry EOS’ passengers when the latter ceased operations. I wonder who will come to rescue SilverJet’s stranded passengers. (Update @ 30 May, 11.49pm: Virgin Atlantic is offering special fares to stranded SilverJet passengers)

(Image courtesy http://www.airflights.to)
The irony is that even as full-business class carriers go out of business, legacy airlines have been starting up all-business class routes recently. Singapore Airlines’ route between the city-state and Newark seems to be off to a good start. British Airways’ OpenSkies looks all set for launching operations too, and L’Avion still flies between Paris and New York. May be the difference is the deep pockets of the parent airlines, who sustain an unprofitable route much longer than greenhorns like SilverJet and Maxjet could.

Airlines are dropping from the skies like dead flies these days, especially in the US. And the bankruptcies have not been limited to just one category of airlines – everyone from budget carriers to luxury airlines seem to be going bust. The latest to fold up is Eos, the all-business class airline that operated between New York and London. Oasis HongKong folded in the long-haul budget airline category, and of course there were the multiple US airlines like Aloha, Skybus and ATA that have gone out of business within weeks of each other.

Ironically, a number of them seemed to have great brands! Aloha was rated as being the best airline in the US for service. Eos was right up there in the all-business airlines category and we wrote about them in a previous post. Oasis HongKong was a well known brand in the region as well. Reasons for failure are everywhere. But what are some lessons that can be learnt from the experiences of the airlines that were? Here are five of them. …

Since the late 1990s, many airlines have discarded First Class for Business class, or a mix of the two (think Delta and Air New Zealand). Of late, full-business carriers have come and gone (like SilverJet and MaxJet respectively). Now legacy carriers like Singapore Airlines and British Airways are looking to introduce Business-only flights on their long haul routes (click here to see inside the cabins of these airlines). So, what is it that makes business class tick, and how can airlines differentiate their product, as the top tier gets crowded.

First the three functional requirements of a business traveler:

Reliability + Frequency – on time performance and lots of options for timings
Flexibility – business travelers often like to change their plans at the last minute
Comfort – if the business traveler is able to have his own private space and get a week’s worth of work done on his laptop in-flight, he’ll not be too concerned with money

Premium Carriers rule the skies

Eos Airlines seems to have got it right, with their “uncrowded, uncompromising” strategy, and four flights between New York and London everyday. The cabin setup even allows passengers to face each other during meals – simulating a meeting setup. …