For Robin Shahani, there’s one consideration when he flies on business overseas that trumps everything else.
“I need to find a way in that 5½ or six hours to get some sleep,” said Shahani, a business executive from New York. “If you’re like me, it’s almost impossible to do it unless you’re on a flat surface.”
It’s frequent overseas business travelers like Shahani that United Airlines, the No. 2 U.S. carrier by traffic, is targeting with its revamped international business class cabin that it was unveiling Monday.
Cushier seats that recline flat, larger personal TVs and noise-canceling headphones are among the new amenities that United will begin rolling out this fall for the airline’s long-haul business travelers.
The upgrades come at a time when many airlines are souping up their business class cabins to compete for the roughly 10 percent of business travelers who will pay up to $10,000 for an international business class ticket that their employers then reimburse.
AMR Corp.’s American Airlines and Delta Air Lines Inc. are also upgrading their business class service with such accommodations as wider bed-like seats, expanded personal in-flight entertainment and tastier meals.
Meanwhile, smaller startup companies such as MAXjet and Eos are competing for premium customers by offering all-business-class flights between North America and Europe for deeply discounted prices.
Analysts say that with the crowded state of domestic service, international routes are becoming a more important source of revenue for carriers.
“There’s tremendous competition in these long-haul markets,” said Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalition, an advocacy group. “This is where the profits are.”
By 2009, United expects to have the new business class cabins available on its entire 97-plane international fleet of 767, 777 and 747 aircraft.
Graham Atkinson, United’s chief customer officer, said the airline is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in the new cabins.
According to a recent customer survey by the Chicago-based carrier, 36 percent of the airline industry’s revenue comes from 8 percent of its customers, Atkinson said.
“United is going to remain highly competitive for this segment of customers,” Atkinson said.
The upgraded cabins come at a time when United is working furiously to expand its international service and compete with entrenched overseas competitors such as British Airways and KLM.
United, unit of Chicago-based UAL Corp., is a relative latecomer in offering such extensive international service. Just 18 months out of bankruptcy, the company is continuing to struggle with its public image, problems with flight punctuality and poor employee morale.
Shahani said he has not flown overseas on United for five years. He described his last experience as “miserable.”
“The most noticeable thing was that the bathrooms were filthy,” he said. “Compare that to Singapore Airlines where every time you walk out of the bathroom someone goes in and cleans it down.”
He said he’d be willing to give them another chance, though.
“The only thing that matters is the ability to go to sleep,” he said.
