Lufthansa New Premium Economy: Booking opens in May for November departures on B747-8s. Roll-out should be completed by summer 2015. Separate cabin, seats recline 130-degrees, are 18 inches wide, have 38 inches of pitch, and power outlets. See Lufthansa for more information.
My Take: Lufthansa, long the Premium Economy (PE) holdout, finally gives in and comes up with a PE Elite product. An Elite PE seat because it can, at times, be a decent stand-in when Business Class is too expensive—time will tell, because we won’t know what the fares will be until May—Amenities: two bags, upgraded meal service, and lounge access.
British Airways B787-9 First Class: Debuts next year, making BA the first European carrier to offer a B787 with a First Class cabin. BA currently offers Business, Premium Economy, and Economy on its B787-8s.
My Take: BA is a first-class rebel, offering First Class when many carriers, such as Lufthansa and Qantas, are pulling the cabin on some routes. This is proof that the First Class business is there for the taking.
Air France New Business Class: Roll-out starts this June on the carrier’s 44 B777-200s. First route to get the new flat-bed is JFK–Paris. Completion in Summer 2016. Also this fall, the carrier debuted B777-300, with four new cabins. See Air France for more information.
My Take: About time, Air France! Even your SkyTeam partner Delta has flat-beds.
American’s New B767-300 Business Class: Offers the carrier’s new Business Class flatbed. Debuts April 1 on JFK-Zurich.
My Take: My first thought was: Great, let’s see if AA has any free mileage Business Class award seats over the next 11 months on this route. But there’s none. Some good upgrade availabilityavailability though.
Delta Transcon Seat Update: The airline currently has seven flights on JFK-LAX and adds one more on April 1. Four to five B767 flights a day now have flat-beds in a 1-2-1 configuration. Delta will debut three updated—which will offer full flat-bed seats—Boeing 757 aircraft on this route in July.