As Business Travel Returns Post COVID-19

Los Angeles resident Marc David Broidy has over 20 years of experience in finance. Early in his career, Marc Broidy served on multiple for and not-for-profit Boards of Directors.

Broidy was featured commenting on commercial aviation and transatlantic comfort in the Wall Street Journal once again relevant in a post COVID-19 world.

WSJ.COM

By Scott McCartney

June 19, 2007 12:01 am ET

Can't stand the cramped conditions of coach cabins on long flights? Can't afford $8,000 for business class across the Atlantic on a major airline? There's an alternative now, and it's growing rapidly.

Call it business class "lite" -- fewer amenities, but plenty of comfort at a fraction of the price. Two new start-ups, Silverjet from England and L'Avion from France started flying in January between Europe and the U.S., joining U.S.-based Maxjet in offering all-business-class service at prices as low as $1,398 round trip. A fourth start-up, Eos Airlines, offers a first-class suite with New York-London round-trip tickets priced at between $3,800 and $7,500.

Eos and Maxjet have replaced their chief executives since they started flying in late 2005 but have shown staying power and are expanding their flying this year. Maxjet now flies to London from New York, Washington, D.C. and Las Vegas. Los Angeles service will begin Aug. 30.

Travelers are hungrier than ever for something better than coach-class confinement. But upgrades with frequent-flier miles are harder to come by. And if you need to go to London tomorrow, the cheapest business-class seats on British Airways and Virgin Atlantic from New York are priced at more than $10,000 round trip.

The new carriers, with only 48 to 100 passengers a flight, can offer individualized service and other goodies at more-affordable prices. "These guys have put some civility into overseas travel," said Marc Broidy of New York, a financial adviser who has flown Maxjet, Silverjet and L'Avion. "I just want the opportunity to be comfortable, with a decent meal -- it doesn't have to be gourmet -- and some entertainment on demand."

Big airlines are taking note. Lufthansa, Swiss and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines offer all-business-class flights on several routes between the U.S. and Europe, subcontracting the flying to a charter carrier called PrivatAir. Prices are comparable to regular business class on those carriers.

Virgin and British Airways have said recently they are working on plans for all-premium-service flights using planes smaller than the wide bodies they fly between the U.S. and London now. It's not known what fares will be for those services.

To check out the new entrants, I recently flew Silverjet and L'Avion. (I previously flew Eos and Maxjet; see The Middle Seat of April 4, 2006.) Here's a review and a report card.

Silverjet

At a private lounge, an employee takes your passport and your baggage and sends you to the bar. Before boarding, the same Silverjet attendant returns with your boarding pass and passport, and sends you on to the first-class security-screening line. It's a bit like having an airport nanny. You can show up only 30 minutes ahead of departure, Silverjet claims.

Silverjet flies between London's Luton Airport, 32 miles north of central London, and Newark Liberty International Airport with one aircraft -- a 21-year-old Boeing 767-200. Silverjet has acquired a second plane that will be used to start a second daily Newark-London trip. Three additional 767s are under contract.

A one-airplane airline has a unique problem when maintenance gremlins strike: The airline is grounded. That happened June 3 and Silverjet booked passengers on Virgin Atlantic flights -- some in coach, some in "Upper Class."

"There were quite a lot of angry passengers," said Peter Stonier of London, one of the lucky customers upgraded. He was traveling with six colleagues for meetings at a pharmaceutical company; three of the group flew Virgin's business class; four traveled in Virgin's premium economy.

Silverjet says when it has to cancel a flight, it buys as many "Upper Class" tickets and gives those to passengers who paid the most for their Silverjet tickets. Chief Executive Lawrence Hunt says Silverjet also refunds its tickets and gives customers a complimentary ticket for a future Silverjet flight. There have been two canceled round trips in 126 total.

On his return flight to London on Silverjet, Mr. Stonier was impressed. "The happy medium in travel is some sort of reasonably priced business class," he said. "People want to work. They want to be able to open a computer. They want to get off the plane ready to go."

Silverjet outfitted its 767 with brown-and-tan seats that recline into 6-foot-3-inch flat beds, though overhead bins are still small and original. The seats are 21 inches wide -- three inches wider than coach and standard for business class on most airlines. Like the other start-ups, in-flight entertainment comes in a portable viewer loaded with movies and TV shows that plugs into the seat's power outlet.

At Luton, Silverjet has its own terminal with showers, food and work areas. The facility gets crowded when arriving passengers mingle with departing travelers in the morning, and Mr. Hunt says the airline has space to double the lounge's size.

Michael Samson, who teaches economics at Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., found the service OK -- not up to typical business-class standards. But the price was great. He would have paid $2,400 to Continental Airlines for a coach ticket that was upgradeable to Continental's business-class cabin, but instead paid about $1,200 round trip to Silverjet. (Silverjet's fares currently range from $1,798 to $3,698 round trip.)

"The lounge was crowded in Newark, the WiFi wasn't working, the seats on the plane were old and the service was slow," he said. "They've got a few kinks to work out, but it was a very good value."

L'Avion

L'Avion flies between Orly Airport in Paris and Newark six days a week with a single Boeing 757 outfitted with 90 business-class seats and prices starting at $1,594. Orly is closer to downtown Paris than Charles de Gaulle Airport, where all other flights from the U.S. land.

After checking in at a counter, travelers on a recent day trudged up stairs with their bags because escalators weren't working and waited in long passport-control lines. Then it was down stairs (escalators not working again) to security screening.

A screener directed L'Avion passengers down a long corridor to a lounge, which turned out to be shared by about 20 other carriers, including Cubana and Royal Air Maroc. An hour before departure, every seat in the lounge was filled.

L'Avion doesn't have access to a gate with a jet-bridge at Orly, so passengers are bused out to the plane after security screening and another trip down stairs toting baggage.

Once on the plane, the experience vastly improves. L'Avion's jet, a 15-year-old 757 that flew charters for a German carrier (and still has signs in German in the bathrooms), has four seats in each row -- standard for domestic first class on a 757. With more legroom than domestic first class, the purple seats recline, but not to fully horizontal. The single aisle on the plane is wide enough to squeeze past a food-service cart -- a major plus for travelers.

Norman Feinberg and his wife, Arline, travel often between their home in New York and Paris on Delta Air Lines or Air France. But Mr. Feinberg gave L'Avion a try for $1,500 a person, round trip.

The couple found the L'Avion seats not as plush as other business-class seats, with buttons a bit difficult to maneuver. The airline had only one choice left for dinner on their flight from New York to Paris, and ran out of cheese by the time they were served. "You give up a little bit with this service, but not enough to matter for the difference in price," Mr. Feinberg said.

L'Avion hopes to sign a lease for its second 757 this week, Chief Executive Marc Rochet said.

L'Avion will move to a new terminal at Orly in July, Mr. Rochet said, improving its airport experience, though it may not land its own gate until the fall. The carrier doesn't have access to shower facilities in either Paris or Newark.

"We are not premium first class, but we are a new business class," said Mr. Rochet. "The value we offer is very good."