Aviation: Class Warfare

The most debated experiment in U.S. plane fares in many years is something called one-class service. Started only five months ago by United Air Lines’ peppery President W. A. (“Pat”) Patterson, it is an effort to take the cramp out of coach travel and the expense out of first class with a single service that provides some of the first-class amenities at fares somewhat (10%) above coach rates. United, the nation’s largest domestic airline, already uses one-class service on 30 daily flights across the U.S. Next week it will more than double the number of its one-class flights to 71 daily, expanding the service to 15 new U.S. cities.

Pat Patterson’s experiment—which only United has so far tried—has set off an argument among the nine other major U.S. airlines over whether they should follow suit. National’s Bud Maytag is an advocate of the single class—but would adopt it only if all other airlines did; Eastern and Delta indicate that they might follow if United succeeds. But United’s chief competitors—American, Continental and TWA—are convinced that one-class service will not spread. Last week Patterson’s archcompetitor, crusty C. R. Smith, 63, president of second-place American Airlines, made clear how he feels. Said Smith: “A single class of service must be a compromise; it can offer neither maximum economy nor maximum comfort and convenience.”

Less Crowding. What is the argument all about? Aboard the 14 Boeing 720s that United has already converted into one-class service, five passengers are seated abreast instead of the uncomfortably crowded six in jet coach service; the cabin is free of the usual class-dividing partitions. The new seats are two inches wider than in coach, and the leg room between seat rows has been slightly increased. A one-class 720 seats 109 passengers, ten fewer than in the usual two classes. Three stewardesses serve the passengers instead of the four on mixed planes. The meals are free, but the emphasis is on substantial food (chicken, lamb chops) instead of the gourmet specialties of first class—and the meals are served on one tray instead of by courses. A 3-oz. liquor drink is served free with meals, but no further liquor is sold on board. For one-class service, the price between New York and Chicago is $48 v. $54.75 for first class and $43.70 for coach.

The new fare has greatly simplified United’s reservations operations, but more than just business considerations prompted Pat Patterson to introduce one-class service. Two years ago, when a United DC-8 ran off a runway in Denver and hit a truck, 16 passengers died not from the impact of the crash but from burns and fume inhalation after crowded conditions in the coach section prevented them from getting out. Patterson is still bothered by the tragedy. Asks he: “Do narrow aisles and sardine seating provide adequate evacuation of jet aircraft? In all good conscience, just how many passengers can you squeeze into a plane?” Significantly, Patterson’s one-class planes have a 20-in.-wide aisle v. 17 in. in ordinary coach and 16 in. on the even more cramped aisles on some economy flights, which are used mostly on international routes.

Pleased Passengers. United claims that surveys on one-class planes show that 85% of the passengers prefer the new class to either first or coach, and that load factors in one-class flights have averaged 63.5% compared with United’s 54.7% overall figure. It says that 95% of the 600 major U.S. companies requiring executives to travel by coach instead of first class have approved their use of one-class service.

Patterson is so convinced that the new service will succeed that he is converting seven more 720s into one service, has ordered single-class fittings for all of the 40 new Boeing 727s that United will begin receiving this autumn.