The ink barely dried on the demise of Maxjet, when this report in the New York Times hints at the next premium class carrier to try its hand at the cross-Atlantic luxury market. But it’s no venture-capital-backed startup. As mentioned last summer, it’s British Airways.
Much of the attention will be focused on British Airways, which is expected to introduce a “mini-airline” on Jan. 9. The discount start-up, developed under the code name Project Lauren, plans to begin service in May, flying a Boeing 757 configured mostly with premium-class seats between a European city (Paris and Brussels are the leading candidates) and New York (either Kennedy International Airport or Newark Liberty International Airport).
People involved with Project Lauren said the name of the new airline is likely to be Open Skies, a nod to a new agreement that takes effect in late March and greatly expands the ability of international airlines to choose new routes between Europe and the United States.
Historically, sub-airlines are a problematic proposition, because they end up competing against the parent company. And while many subsidiaries are on the discount end of the spectrum (Continental Lite, Delta’s Song, United’s Ted) this is a little different, as it’s aiming at premium passengers.
But what’s interesting is one word in the quote above: “mostly.” As in: “flying a Boeing 757 configured mostly with premium-class seats.” That means we’re looking at some economy seating on those flights.
Which, in turn, raises the question: Why bother? Why create a full-fledged multi-class airline, when a multi-class parent airline — BA — already exists? The answer may be labor costs. (Or, if you prefer, labour.) Pilots for the new airline would operate under a different (presumably less expensive) contract than regular British Airways pilots. A-ha.
So perhaps this is all just a way for BA to skirt existing contracts and pay their staff less money to do the same work they did before.
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January 3rd, 2008 at 12:02 am
Great to hear that British Airway expected to introduce a “mini-airline” on Jan. 9. It is becoming an attractive alternative for frequent business fliers.