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Home » Travel » Business Class Doors Aren’t Where US Airlines Need To Improve
Travel

Business Class Doors Aren’t Where US Airlines Need To Improve

Kyle Stewart Posted onSeptember 25, 2022September 26, 2022 37 Comments
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Soon nearly all US airlines will likely offer doors on business class seats, a nice privacy improvement, but this is not where they need to improve. 


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JetBlue, Delta, American… United? Oh My

JetBlue has offered its Mint business class seats with privacy doors for long-haul flights for some time. Delta has offered this in Delta One, and American joined the ranks with an official announcement this week. United Airlines has purportedly offered some Global Services members (most frequent flyers) a trip to Chicago where they will explore business class doors before settling on a design.

business class doors

The recent obsessions with doors in business class cabins may be new in the US, but seats with doors is hardly a novel concept. Business class suites on many aircraft in the Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, and Etihad fleet have featured this (and more) for some time. Even Air France and British Airways are getting in on the “club suite” approach.

Note: Singapore only features doors on its first-class prouct.

Make no mistake – these changes are good. I am shocked that United still operates recently acquired 787s with 2-2-2 layouts as direct aisle access should be standard by now. That ignores entirely its 777 sub-fleet that still offers 2-4-2 (yes, two middle seats in business class) – woof. That said, this strategy of “anything you can do, I can do the exact same” is so much more expensive, difficult, and yields so much less for passengers than other lower-hanging fruit.

They are still selling this, seriously.
They are still selling this, seriously.

Hard Product vs Soft Product

Airfare is sold on “hard product” and “soft product” throughout the sales process. Hard product is the physical seat on the aircraft, and the equipment around it. Soft product is services like catering, service level, and amenity kits.

Delta once said, “when everyone is elite, no one is” which is to say that if everyone boards priority, no one is really a priority. Fair enough. Applying that here, when every product has a lie flat, closed-door suite, it no longer presents an advantage but not having it would be a deficiency.

The soft product is so much easier, and cheaper to fix. Boarding a flight on Singapore, Emirates, or Etihad from the United States still means the same great food and award-winning service one expects when choosing those carriers and flying from abroad. Better catering is not only possible but other carriers execute it from the US, and other airlines can too. United launched Polaris with a wine flight, a selection of wines served prior to the primary meal. That’s gone away.

American Airlines has annoyed premium passengers for decades by collecting its noise-canceling headphones more than an hour prior to landing, often hassling customers in the process. The added value of these headphones is quickly diminished when guests are awoken to collect them, especially during shorter long-haul flights from the east coast to Europe.

American and United used to offer pajamas and slippers on all long-haul flights, but now American and United have reduced that to just ultra long-haul. United purportedly continues to offer pajamas on 12+ hour flights but that’s limited to Hong Kong, India, Singapore, South Africa, and the remaining flights to China that qualify.

These are all far easier and cheaper ways to enhance the service offering before taking aircraft out of the fleet to add a door.

Qatar Airways A350-1000 Business Class - catering courtesy of Matthew Klint
Qatar Airways A350-1000 Business Class – catering courtesy of Matthew Klint
United Polaris Washington Dulles Paris potatoes and vegetables
United Polaris Washington Dulles Paris potatoes and vegetables

Is it that hard to have mixed olives, hummus, and diced tomatoes that look edible over what United Polaris is currently serving onboard?

Ground Game

United’s Polaris lounges are the standard in the US and I’d argue the product is on par with lounges anywhere in the world. It adds to the experience rather than simply offering cheese cubes and soup (I’m looking at you, American) with plated dinners, full service bars, and plenty of space.

United Polaris lounge dining pork belly lettuce wrap
United Polaris lounge dining pork belly lettuce wrap

All summer and even now into fall we have seen images from airports with lines for Delta Sky Clubs extending well into the terminal. Building new lounges exclusively for long-haul ticketed passengers as Polaris does might not be the affordable answer US airlines are looking for, but that doesn’t mean adjustments can’t be made to existing lounges. Most airline co-branded premium credit cards offer lounge access leading to excessive crowding. Designating some lounges for long-haul ticketed passengers and renovating them might be a good solution to adding to the experience without overhauling all lounges in every market.

Delta JFK Lounge Crowding
Delta JFK Lounge Crowding courtesy Matthew Klint

JetBlue does not yet offer its own lounges despite adding international destinations and many trans-continental routes from both Boston and New York JFK.

Premium check-in is something most carriers offer, but at fortress hubs like Miami for American Airlines, the experience is just a shorter line than economy with hundreds of passengers being corralled into a different section of check-in desks but otherwise no true premium experience.

Conclusion

I am certainly looking forward to doors in business class, even if they do not offer true total privacy but rather than chase this niche upgrade, there is lower hanging-fruit. Improving service levels, airport lounges, and the check-in experience are easy ways to attract and retain premium customers. Serving better food would take very little time and effort, as would adding back pajamas, slippers, or improving amenity kits. I’m happy that doors are coming to business class, but would choose an airline that offers a fresh espresso before landing over a door seven days a week.

What do you think? Do doors matter to you? Should airlines focus on other aspects of their product first? 

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About Author

Kyle Stewart

Kyle is a freelance travel writer with contributions to Time, the Washington Post, MSNBC, Yahoo!, Reuters, Huffington Post, MapHappy, Live And Lets Fly and many other media outlets. He is also co-founder of Scottandthomas.com, a travel agency that delivers "Travel Personalized." He focuses on using miles and points to provide a premium experience for his wife and daughter. Email: sherpa@thetripsherpa.com

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37 Comments

  1. Miamiorbust Reply
    September 25, 2022 at 2:02 pm

    Rarely say this. Agree, 100%. Business class is not all about the seat. No airline can win long term on promise of a better seat. Treating people well goes a long way. American businesses – not just airlines – simply don’t believe or buy into this idea. Treating their customers as lemmings and employees as an annoyance is ingrained in their failing cultures.

    • Capt Tom Reply
      September 26, 2022 at 12:51 am

      My wife and I are both 1K on United and I’m a million miler. I fly with my wife as we are retired and travel to Hawaii Tahiti Europe Etc in first class or business class depending on what the particular Airline calls their product. And we like to sit together and I like to have a window it makes it very hard to even sit with my wife now and once they close up seats with the door it’ll be virtually impossible. We always prefer two seats together on a window it’s not a big deal for one of us to have to climb over the other to get out to the aisle once or twice on a long flight.

  2. Greg Reply
    September 25, 2022 at 2:27 pm

    100% get the food and beverage onboard improved, get the staffing level onboard right before taking planes out of service for doors

  3. Aaron Reply
    September 25, 2022 at 2:32 pm

    “Business class suites on many aircraft in the Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, and Etihad fleet have featured this (and more) for some time”

    Emirates and Singapore don’t have doors on their seats. And Etihad only announced seats with doors on select planes this year.

    • Aaron Reply
      September 25, 2022 at 2:33 pm

      Sorry, should say Emirates and Singapore don’t have doors on their seats on their business class seats.

  4. ed lewis Reply
    September 25, 2022 at 2:36 pm

    Exactly!!!

  5. O'Hare Is My Second Home Reply
    September 25, 2022 at 2:38 pm

    I once got upgraded at the gate to Business on a United flight DEN – ORD on one of those 777s, and of course I got trapped in a middle seat in that 2-4-2 arrangement. I appreciated the footstool and the recline, but otherwise it was a horrible experience. Throwing Business class into a seating arrangement more appropriate for Economy is not a good way to satisfy customers. And as for the soft product…honestly, if this is the slop they feed us in Domestic First, I’ll raid the cheese cubes at the United Club and take a pass on the meal.

    I did finally discover United’s dirty little secret at ORD. They have four United Clubs and the Polaris lounge at ORD. You have no choice if you’re flying regional out of Terminal 2. But if you’re flying out of Terminal 1 and you’re not flying Polaris and want to hit the Club, go to the one in B Concourse opposite gates B16-18. I went to this one last week since it was the closest to my gate and found that their lunch spread was pretty good and markedly better than what the other United Clubs normally offered. Lemon chicken orzo soup and those mini-meatball sandwiches tided me through my three-hour flight. The reason this Club is better is simple: Lufthansa departs out of gate B16. ANA departs out of gate B17. Star Alliance Golds use this lounge. So United is showing off so that those flyers don’t think Star Alliance is a cheap outfit.

  6. PM Reply
    September 25, 2022 at 3:19 pm

    If one were in charge of defining the customer experience from scratch, I think that they would be very unlikely to create separate lounges for long-haul travellers. If anything, brand consistency would probably be the name of the game in order to give pax peace of mind through ensuring a good level of service in all lounges operated by a particular airline.

    From my perspective, the value of lounge access shoots up when I am travelling short-haul with a longish connection- when that happens, I tend to end up spending more time in the lounge than on the plane myself, and I am able to salvage most of my working day by scheduing Teams meetings etc during lounge time. On the other hand, most long-haul flights are overnight and/or a total productivity write-off.

    I appreciate that pre-flight dining can come in handy for the shorter overnight routes, but that’s about the only logical reason to have any kind of separation (and even then, you can just give long-haul flyers access to a special menu/buffet/dining room. If the main/only reason for creating a separate lounge is an intention to deny access to most people that have bought some kind of lounge access, it will only be a matter of time until they start selling access to the long-haul lounges to holders of the super-premium credit cards, thereby starting the slippery slope all over again.

    • PM Reply
      September 25, 2022 at 3:24 pm

      *the plane itself, not myself!

    • PM Reply
      September 25, 2022 at 3:45 pm

      I have just realised that the short-haul/long-haul lounge split is what happens in quite a few European hubs separating Schengen and extra-Schengen pax. Most airlines with dual lounges offer facilities that are either identical to each other (e.g. Lufthansa- of course I am not talking about F lounges here) or only have slight differences (e.g. Iberia, Aegean). If they can’t see any reason for product differentiation, I don’t think anyone else can.

  7. Cassie Reply
    September 25, 2022 at 3:44 pm

    The business class seats should have options for couples flying together. Not everyone wants to be separated by a door.

    • Brian T. Reply
      September 26, 2022 at 1:02 am

      I know a few couples who would prefer the separation!

  8. tcdtcd Reply
    September 25, 2022 at 4:10 pm

    I believe UA still provides pajamas in Polaris for flights of 12hrs plus. I had them last month to SIN and HND.

  9. Arthur Reply
    September 25, 2022 at 4:26 pm

    If BA can go from one of the worst with food and beverage to one of the best just by switching to DO& CO, others can, too. That is why I prefer BA, OS, AF, KLM and so on. To me, the seats are now pretty much the same.

    However, I also admit that not everyone cares about the soft product. I remember a commenter on another site saying they preferred UA business class food to the “fancy” food on AF. To each his own.

    • Larry B Reply
      September 25, 2022 at 5:33 pm

      Good point on DO & CO, completely agree.
      Here in DTW, we have one of the first DO & CO stations for Delta, not sure if this has also impacted Sky Club food options, but my family is in full agreement on the better tasting options available on the ground and in the air.

  10. Charles Rhodes Reply
    September 25, 2022 at 5:59 pm

    I remember when UA announced Polaris. It was to be an exceptional experience. It has been continuously downgraded. Other than the lay flat bed, it’s what domestic F was a decade ago.

    Even with cost cutting the food is often inedible and the presentation is worse than school cafeteria. Menu rotation is almost unheard of. Whomever the celebrity chef is needs to be fired. They seem to have a run on certain products. For a while it was kal, then egg whites,. Appetizers have been gone for a couple of years.

    • bug ula Reply
      September 26, 2022 at 7:45 pm

      wholeheartedly agree. Polaris has been in constant decline and the pandemic gave a great excuse to diminish parts of the food service even further. it’s a shame.

  11. Jerry Reply
    September 25, 2022 at 6:25 pm

    Flagship Lounges certainly have more than cheese cubes and soup, and are a fair competitor to Polaris lounges. The Flagship First dining experience is fantastic, and superior to anything in North America, except maybe the AC signature suite. Delta is the carrier that is coming up short on premium long-haul lounges… Not AA.

  12. John Reply
    September 25, 2022 at 6:31 pm

    Whatever you think about doors in Business Class, this post should be corrected to reflect some significant inaccuracies that seem to form the premise of the author’s argument, a few of which have already been pointed out in previous comments.

    * Aside from B6, the author says that QR, SQ, EK and EY have all had doors for “some time.” Here he is only correct about one of the four: QR. SQ and EK have never had doors on any of their Business Class products, and the fourth, EY, only very recently.
    * There are three additional airlines with doors in J that the author simply fails to mention: SU, NH and MU. This would have actually strengthened his thin argument.
    * UA still offers PJs on longer flights. To my knowledge, AA has never offered PJs in J.

  13. Dave Edwards Reply
    September 25, 2022 at 6:50 pm

    Why does anyone need a door? Are they pulling their junk out?

    I agree spend the money on food and drink upgrades.

    Go to the bathroom if you really can’t wait to get to your hotel room to finish yourself.

  14. DesertGhost Reply
    September 25, 2022 at 7:07 pm

    Singapore, Emirates, and Etihad don’t have extensive domestic networks that also warrant an airline’s attention. They also have massive government subsidies that U.S. carriers don’t enjoy. Using these comparables is like saying that apples and avocados are the same.

    • PM Reply
      September 25, 2022 at 7:34 pm

      This comment is frankly bizarre.

      Do you really think that EY fly A380s to the likes of Salalah and Bahrain, or SQ do so on the Penang route, or perhaps that they have access to huge reservoirs of pax willing to pay thousands of dollars for those short flights? It’s no secret that US carriers have been enjoying massive government subsidies, so I can’t see what issue they may have with other airlines enjoying a similar business environment.

      You could have just said that the difference is that they operate in different markets and have to manage different customer/stakeholder expectations. That’s true, but it doesn’t really prevent anyone from pointing out that certain airlines have been actively degrading the customer experience for a number of years now.

  15. Ryan Napolitano Reply
    September 25, 2022 at 8:13 pm

    As I sit here, reading this in my Qatar PJs, I have to agree with this 100%. Staff interaction, customer service, and food quality are head and shoulders above US carriers.

    I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but no US carrier made it into the top 20 on Skytrax 2022

  16. ptahcha Reply
    September 25, 2022 at 9:04 pm

    Typical click-bait article by Kyle that require fact-checking and nothing but complaints, yet there are no realistic solutions.

    UA still offers pajamas, but only on flights over 12 hours, which is how it was before the pandemic. Similarly slippers are available, and you may need to request it from the FA. [Fact Check #1]

    “Recent delivered 787” that has the 2-2-2 seating was delivered in 2014. Out of total 63 787 aircrafts, only 4 still has the old layout. [Fact Check #2]

    The domestic 2-4-2 layout 777 generally are not scheduled for international flights. [Fact Check #3]

    Polaris Lounge is not “on-bar with the lounges around the world”. Outside of first class lounges, it’s rare to have a sit down menu available in a business-class lounge. I guess Kyle has never been to the business class lounge in Nairobi. [Fact Check #4]

    Kyle rather have chopped tomatoes, hummus, and olives for entree. [That may be a fact]

    If the blog owner has any journalistic decency, this article should be pulled down and re-written. Or hire a fact checker.

    • Kyle Stewart Reply
      September 26, 2022 at 11:43 am

      @Ptacha – Fact checking the fact check.

      0. Click-bait by definition is writing a title that doesn’t match the story. This story is titled as the things outside of Business Class doors that need to be fixed and that’s exactly what it is. (Fail)

      1. United no longer offers pajamas on the vast majority of its long-haul flights with a carve-out for ultra-long haul. I’ve corrected it in my post to allow for this caveat but it’s a tiny fraction of the original rollout. Technically, you’re right, but it’s such a small percentage of their product that it might as well be excluded altogether. If United stopped offering PDBs on all but 7 flights, would it be fair to say they have cancelled the service? No. But it would be fair to say that it’s made so rare that it might as well be non-existent. (Pass)

      2) 2014 787 deliveries are still recent when looking at the rest of the fleet. United is still flying 767-400s, 757s, and problematic early 777-200s. You might not consider them recent, but with respect to the age of the wide-body fleet, these are relatively new. However, if we agree you’re right in an absolute sense on point 1 because there are aspects of the operation that still allow pajamas though rare and fleeting, certainly the presence on ANY 787s in late 2022 of 2-2-2 configuration in business class would qualify. (Fail)

      3. The 777-200s with an appalling 2-4-2 business class layout operate between Hawaii and points abroad, I flew it to Tokyo but let’s lay that aside for a moment and just look at Chicago-Honolulu. They continue to market the product as “Polaris” and sell it for a premium and it’s just unconscionable. (Fail)

      4. Are Polaris lounges on par with Cathay Pacific’s The Wing? Yes. Qatar, Etihad, Emirates? Yes. I talk about how they set the standard in the US and would be remarkable anywhere. Do I cherry-pick the best of the best to compliment United’s ground game? I do. But are you cherry-picking lounges that fail to meet the mark? you are. (Fail)

      That fact check didn’t seem to go so well, but maybe you’re just doing it for the clicks, right?

      • Jerry Reply
        September 26, 2022 at 6:19 pm

        Last week that Polaris lounge in IAH was serving cheeseburgers and tacos, and there was a wait to get a table. I get that people in Houston like eating junk food, but it’s hardly a high end dining experience. I’d take the Wing, the Al Mourjain, or even the Etihad lounge in AUH (outside of the late night bank) over that any day..

  17. MT Reply
    September 25, 2022 at 9:28 pm

    I havent had a pre departure beverage in god knows how long. I used to count on knowing I’d get a water seltzer or if the day deemed it alcoholic beverage when sitting up front.

    It’s just a silly thing to eliminate. FAs board and go sit down and scroll their phones.

    Also this is on UA out of Newark.

    • bug ula Reply
      September 26, 2022 at 7:51 pm

      flew UA out of newark yesterday and did receive pre-flight beverages. i feel the service is whatever the crew feels up to doing, unfortunately.

  18. Mateo Reply
    September 26, 2022 at 1:06 am

    AA still has pajamas. I flew JFK-DEL in First Class last week and got pajamas in both directions. I can send a picture of them if you want.
    Delta eliminated pajamas.
    AA still has pajamas in First Class and on some int’l Business Class routes.

    • Kyle Stewart Reply
      September 26, 2022 at 11:50 am

      *some business class routes would be operative. Which ones? I haven’t found any (not first class.)

  19. Anne Reply
    September 26, 2022 at 3:18 am

    The door is meaningless to me. Feed me.

  20. Cindy SZADOKIERSKI Reply
    September 26, 2022 at 5:48 am

    Just an FYI , United gave out pajamas on it’s flight from Dulles to Amman on September 19!

    • Kyle Stewart Reply
      September 26, 2022 at 11:49 am

      Updated to reflect that ultra-long haul United flights still get pajamas and that this reflects a limited sliver of their long haul product.

  21. Arthur Reply
    September 26, 2022 at 10:18 am

    Don’t forget, if you fly LH, OS or another *A carrier out of an airport with a Polaris lounge (like IAD), you get both the Polaris lounge experience on the ground, and better soft product in the air. Best of both worlds!

  22. Darkstar Reply
    September 26, 2022 at 10:42 am

    I wonder how many posters to this and smilar articles would have fared traveling by stagecoach

    • Arthur Reply
      September 26, 2022 at 12:54 pm

      A better comparison would be to first class on a Cunard steamship in the 1800s. Business class on a modern airline is not supposed to be the same as economy.

  23. Frank Reply
    September 26, 2022 at 12:52 pm

    Lipstick on a pig.

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