Just curious--An All First Class 757
 

The 757 aircraft has been reported as a poor aircraft to cross the Atlantic Ocean in.

However, if the U.S. airlines reconfigured the aircraft to all First Class lie flat seats, it could be quite acceptable.

So why not use a redesigned 757 to cross the Atlantic in the summertime during high season, and fly down to South America during our winter, which is high season?

A poor aircraft for crossing the Atlantic? It depends who you talk to. CO seems to love them. NW and Delta are following suit. L'Avion and EOS use them in an all-premium configuration, I think. And BA is launching OpenSkies, which will use them in a 3-class configuration. Don't forget about Icelandair, either.

And it is easy to see why the airlines like them. They are the right size for a lot of markets. And they enable airlines to serve some small markets where they see no competition, as CO does with routes like EWR-BRS and NW does with BDL-AMS.

Of course, this doesn't mean passengers like them. I, for one, hate the 757 and think it is the most uncomfortable airplane out there. It is too long and narrow, enhancing the trapped feeling. And 3-abreast in coach stinks. Even the A321 seems more comfortable - thanks to what seems like a wider fuselage. Icelandair and CO add to the torture chamber feel, by giving a meager 31" of pitch.

Unfortunately, the front suffers too. The CO seats on the 757 are nothing special, and lack the extra width that is the main selling point of the product on bigger planes. DL will be rolling out a cradle seat on their 757s, even as the rest of their long-haul fleet goes flat-bed. And the NW 757 seat in biz doesn't get the strongest praise. There is hope, though, with OpenSkies rolling out flat beds up front. And EOS seems to be well-received.

All that being said, I figure they are the wave of the future, particularly for East Coast to near-Europe routes.

eos already flies all flat-bed 757s across the Atlantic, from JFK to Luton, and is adding EWR-LTN.

BTW, summertime is <b>not</b> high season for high-paying business travelers. It's the reverse between the premium cabin and coach.

Interesting comments. But if they reconfigured the plane with lie flat seats, don't you think it could work?

Who are &quot;they&quot;, and what you mean by &quot;would work&quot;?

US Airlines in general are not interested running all-business or all-first flights. Their business model is to cater to both business and leisure travelers in multiple classes.

Even Lufthansa, Swiss and KLM contract out their all business flights to Privatair, and don't operate those flight themselves.

ANA is starting all business 737 flights between Japan and India, but that's a very limited experiment, in my opinion.

Singapore only configure their A345 to all business because their current 2-class configuration isn't working.

Oh, and those new all business or all first airlines are bleeding money. Maxjet has already shut down, and investors aren't that crazy about Silverjet either.