You know the financial crisis has gotten bad when investment bankers are forced to give up their paid business and first class seats.
Merrill Lynch & Co., UBS AG and JPMorgan & Chase Co. are telling senior bankers in Asia to fly coach on short-haul flights and reduce non-essential travel as they step up cost cuts, officials at the firms said.
UBS advised bankers this month to travel economy class for flights of up to five hours, two officials at the biggest Swiss bank said, asking not to be identified because it’s an internal policy. Merrill employees have been told to travel economy for flights of as much as three hours since mid-September, two executives at the firm said.
…
JPMorgan, the biggest U.S. bank, has requested senior bankers fly economy on flights of less than three hours since late August, said an official who declined to be identified.
But before you throw that pity party, remember that business class is still fair game on long haul flights. Plus, they can always use their upgrades…
More seriously, you have to wonder what this will do for the airlines who have relied on paid business and first class to make real money. With all the real estate the premium offerings take up on board, and with a shrinking customer base, what’s the future of the front of the plane?…
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October 23rd, 2008 at 4:26 pm
>what this will do for the airlines who have relied on paid business and first class to make real money
About a week ago I read (somewhere? here?) that the front of the plane accounts for 5% of the seats yet provides 25% of the revenue for the major US airlines. I also believe the article said that front seat bookings had taken a substantial hit in recent months. If the 25% figure is even close to being correct, then this is going to force the airlines to look to the cheap seats for revenue.
October 24th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
I these high-flying fliers had been in the back of the plane all along, if the companies hadn’t gone wild with incentives and perks, and if the top execs hadn’t been grossly overpaid, these companies (and the country and the world) might not be in the pickle we’re all in — and that the US public will be paying for and paying for and paying for.
Claire @ http://travel-babel.blogspot.com
March 11th, 2009 at 10:28 am
[...] planes that had previously been full of premium-cabin travelers are now flying empty up front. With i-bankers relegated to coach, the flights aren’t profitable any longer. Categorized in: Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, [...]