(Y) Economy: the good, the bad and the middle

For many years I have seen and heard many different opinions, lived many different experiences and tried many different airline products. I was recently asked what did I think about Economy Class, which is the best one to travel?

An excellent economy is not only made and constructed by “investing” millions of dollar in the seats and in the entertainment system; or just by making the aircraft interior mood a more pleasant one; or by having a good gourmet choice; or by offering a 5 star service concerning Crew. Is not a matter of “or” is really a choice of providing the very best in details in the overall product. Not only an excellent economy is chosen by its in-flight service and general performance, but it is also by what the client may experience and that includes the interaction of the passengers with others, the ground area of human resources: ground staff.

Many airports around the world are enhancing there structures due to the large volume of passengers that they are receiving each year but also a bigger gap is being induced between economy and premium classes.

In big international airports such as: Charles De Gaulle in Paris – Frankfurt Main in Germany– JFK in New York – Guarulhos in Sao Paulo Brasil  each time a Y (economy) passenger checks´ in he may lose between thirty minutes to even an hour doing the queue (this may happen for big aircrafts such as 777, 747 or A380). Then security and immigration: another hour to hour and a half. In addition to all of that passengers deal with the ground staff mood and treatment, that sometimes it may not be the best.

Also, you may have an excellent product on board but if you travel to a specific destination you may enhance the chances of not having a pleasant trip as certain passengers from certain Nationalities may not behave properly and annoy you during the entire journey. For example if you travel to India you may encounter very unpleasant passengers: people who may spit on the floor and barf while eating or they may leave the bathroom very dirty. Even so you choose an excellent product you may not enjoy it due to certain unpleasant circumstances, that tend to be more often that you think.

Furthermore as the commercial airline industry is growing in an unprecedented speed many airlines need to buy or rent bigger aircrafts, increase the frequency between destinations and put more seats in economy. The last decision affects directly in the customer satisfaction.

The very well renowned “ergo economic seat” is a product that has been chosen worldwide by many airlines. The real objective of the seat is to create a false sense of space, that´s it. 

Due to the design the real seat volume and pitch has been reduced for the past years creating a false sense of room. This is when airlines advertise that: “there is more space between your knee and the seat in front of you” when actually your back length barely fits and the armrest each time is narrower. Now days the adjustable foot rest has been placed in many aircrafts but it doesn´t provide comfort, it´s just marketing. An average 1.80 meters / 5 feet 10 travelling in an extra long haul destinations (more than six and a half hours of journey) usually don´t have a pleasant rest. The real objective of the “ergo economic seat” is to try to make the skinniest seat possible so in that way they may enhance the volume of passengers in each flight by introducing more seats to the cabin. The best marketing strategy to downsize the negative effect is to provide a state-of-the-art entertainment system so customers may numb themselves with their personal screen. It works but then when they reach their destination they are usually with body pain and disorientation even so they already jet lag.

Usually the main strategy of the commercial airline industry is to numb as much as possible the economy class passenger while Business and First is to provide pleasure during the whole journey. Not only they try to achieve that by providing a state-of-the-art entertainment system but also by giving “free” amenity kits: a pair of socks, toothbrush and toothpaste and eye shades. Also they may include body splash and hand cream from a well renowned company in their bathrooms but that is it, real comfort is not offered just numbness.

To give you an idea in the 1970´s and even in the 1980´s 747-400 seat configuration in Y class was usually 2-4-2 nowadays it´s 3-4-3 and even 3-5-3 in some airlines. The A380 its usual configuration is 3-4-3 and also in the 777. So a new problem has been created, the plague of the middle seat.

So if I have to give my personal top 5 in Economy Class in which I evaluated them by overall service, even so they may numb the passenger, I would say (from 1 being the best):

5) Qantas: ground staff are usually friendly and polite, check in procedures in Sydney International Airport – Kingsford Smith tend to be fast and overall in-flight products are good.

4) Cathay Pacific: ground staff are extremely polite and tries to help passengers even so they don´t understand the language that the client is speaking. Very well distributed and efficient terminal in Hong Kong. In-flight product may numb very well Y passengers.

3) Air Japan: ground staff are from another dimension regarding organization and precision. Very accurate in how-to treat passengers and direct them inside the Tokyo International Airport (Narita) extremely well. Crew are excellent trained concerning in-flight service and not only aircrafts are very well cleaned but also the seat may be comfortable for some passengers.

2) Malaysia Airlines: is exactly the same as Air Japan, the only difference is the Malaysian Hospitality (MH) may be a little bit warmer than Air Japan. Also the KUL – The Kuala Lumpur International Airport has been designed to speed up all of check in procedures.

1) Singapore Airlines: the Changi Airport in Singapore has been design perfectly to prevent wasting your time. All the check in procedure is perfectly orchestrated by the staff. From my point of view they offer an exact mixture of warmth but distance from the passenger. Not only they naturally reflect how polite and respectful they are but also they tend to provide a natural safe sensation of security to first travels, something that is not that common to find now-a-days. The product presentation is flawless from the seat design and in-flight service, literally you may feel comfortably numbed until you reach destination.

(I don´t own the above picture)