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Subscribe to RSS FeedTake it lying-down: OpenSkies Biz.
When I sat down to write this post about our plans for the Business Class cabin with 180° fully flat bed seats, I thought, “Great! This would be a perfect opportunity to shout about how fantastic and well thought-out our cabins are.” But then I realized that I don’t need to shout—our amenities will speak volumes on their own.
I’ve said it so often that it’s become my mantra: We’re out to do things differently. How? Well, for starters, we have a new name for our Business Class—we’re calling it Biz. Now you might be saying, “Big deal, Dale. You changed the name!” It’s a small thing, I know. But if I’ve learned anything over the years, it’s that the small things matter. They add up to something big.
So what else? Well, we’ll have 180° flat bed seats, not the “sliders” you find on most flights between continental Europe and New York. That means that you’ll arrive at your destination rested, refreshed, and ready to tackle the day.
Plush, comfortable, fully flat bed seats are vital, but a great flight is more than just that—it’s about the overall experience. We’re different there, too. The Biz cabin will have only 24 seats, meaning the high attendant-to-guest ratio will ensure personalized service. And you’ll also get an IFE AVOD—which is just a tech-y way for saying you’ll have your own entertainment system with over fifty hours of on-demand programming.
We’re also out to change the meaning of “airline food.” First off, we’re expanding beyond the standard “chicken or beef” option to bring more fresh, healthy, a la carte selections. Add to that a great choice of wines and a service style that is modeled from a fine dining restaurant.
The personalized attention isn’t just found on the planes—it’s at the terminals, too. Dedicated Biz check-in will speed you on your way and private lounges will round out the exceptional OpenSkies experience.
What makes an exceptional business class experience for you? I’d love to know.
Dale
March 1st, 2008 at 5:11 am
i do like the idea of flying to paris on the business kind of airline.
how ever, i’m not a big fan of the British Ariways’s business class. i hate it when the window seat is facing backwards, also it make accessing the aisles even harder then it already is, due to the high rising foot rest.
so please have something like the Eos airline, there business class is the best one i have ever been on
March 1st, 2008 at 6:59 am
Talk about change this is great, I’ve hear how airlines want to serve better meals, but get this at OS you have a Biz Check-in lounge this is the real deal, very cool, I’m stoked to hear Dale you make the small things count they add up..
Cheers
Sara
March 1st, 2008 at 7:50 pm
Dale,
I love both the new and old Club World seats – this looks like the old Club World seat. I don’t mind sitting backwards either. The one thing I think you should sort out though is access – Please don’t make me have to get over someone else to get out from the Window seat.
Colm
March 1st, 2008 at 9:45 pm
When a high price is paid for a ticket, I expect to be able to access a seat without knocking or waking up another passenger – I don’t want to feel trapped in a seat.
Like what EK offers in F, I like to have a roll-up ‘matress’ which I can place on the bed underneath me.
Good luck with the venture – will try it when I get the chance but I do think you could at least come up with a better name and logo. A bit cheap sounding (and looking) to associate it with a name like British Airways.
March 2nd, 2008 at 12:50 am
I must say, this Biz Class looks amazing for an airline. OpenSkies will truly set the precedent for airline seats. Great Job!
March 2nd, 2008 at 11:29 am
I am pleased you are refurbishing the excellent Club World seats from mainline British Airways; I like the new colour pallette, which I think is better than the rather austere, clinical white BA have used in their newly introduced “next generation” Club World bed aboard their 747 fleet.
Facing rearwards is hardly noticeable on nightflights, is safer on landing, and affords a great view of the engine and wing.
EOS from Stansted to New York and soon Dubai has a great product, but does charge more of a First rather than Business Class fare.
It is no more difficult to step over the neighbouring seat than is the case in standard side by side seating,but at least the ying yang effect means you have no-one breathing on you while asleep…
These Biz 180 degree flat beds are so much better for sleeping than the wedgy/slidey seats in use on American Airlines.
Biz is a succinct name, but does sound rather more casual than the Club World brand; while some feel BA is a quite a stuffy airline, I personally enjoy the mix of professonalism and banter found on board and I hope the balance will be found in Biz, so crew do not go to the overly familiar Virgin end of the spectrum.
Looking forward to seeing the brand new Premium Economy cabin.
Given there will be an increasing number of non-English speaking passengers, is Open Skies planning on having some movies and news programming in French/German/Spanish?
Subtitles can be hard to read on those small screens.
bmi british midland have on board chefs in flight – and produce quite the best food I have had on board an aircraft. Their business class menu speaks for itself, particularly the poached egg and kedgeree risotto:
It’s great to hear you will be emulating SilverJet with in lounge check in; three other good things I enjoyed when flying with them was a dedicated loo on board for the ladies (they must hate our poor aim…), a great shower facility on landing so you can go straight into the office and the take away breakfast option (yogurt, muffin and a piece of fruit) so you could sleep right up until the descent.
One other thought; why not feature some English wines on the menu – the Chapel Down Bacchus is excellent and would be something different to try on board.
Finally, is the rather strange window casing a sign that you will be retrofitting electronically opacity, as is found in the BA FIRST loos, rather than the usual blinds – or is this an artists impression of the interior of the 787 Dreamliner cabin?
March 2nd, 2008 at 2:50 pm
My corporate travel office tells me we won’t be able to book OS flights because OS is not using the same booking system as BA – why on earth not ? If I want to take a mixed BA and OS trip (which I would do quite often), does that mean I have to have seperate tickets ? Will I be able to swap tickets last minute like I can between BA and AA ? OS shouldn’t go down the same dodgy road as Ryanair and the like with their garden-shed home-made booking systems. BA’s is great, I love BA.com – OS should use the same.
March 2nd, 2008 at 9:52 pm
That picture sure looks impressive. I love the idea of Biz Check-in lounges, reduce the hassle of checking-in.
Flying to Paris, what about wine and cheese in the business-class lounge?
Great blog, great idea. Keep up the good work!
March 3rd, 2008 at 8:31 am
First, congrats. I think the new Club World seems too industrial and not well designed enough. The new seats actually look comfortable! I have a little concern over the privacy while completely reclined to 180, but that’s minor details.
I would have gone for a slightly darker color for a more claming and sleep inducing effect on the cabin, but once again, minor stuff
One thing I would have changed was the fan. I looks great in this picture, but (at least in the old CW cabins), they were REALLY ugly. Couldn’t you find a way to use Lumisty again to make an opaque privacy screen?
Glad you decided on a new name for buisness class. It IS a big deal since it diffrentiates Biz (OS) from the generic Buisness class (any other airline). You have to love an airline with a hold on tradition but open to the new.
I find SIA too stuffy (ok, I understand that the singapore girl is internationally recognized, but putting it EVERYWHERE is overdoing it)
I’d like to know if you will be going for a no-cart policy when serving food. This increases crew and passenger interaction and keeps the cabin from getting any louder than it already is.
Is the AVOD a rebranded version of high Life Entertainment? I haven’t tried that one out yet, but Omnia was…to put it gently, not the greatest AVOD system in the world.
As for the check in and lounge, big deal. Every airline has one for their customers paying 4X the price of an economy ticket. I’m just waiting to see what makes the OpenSkies lounge different from the others.
March 3rd, 2008 at 11:14 am
I like the colours and the ambience it creates. I have to admit though that I dont like the name, it sounds a bit like bmi’s “The Business” which is also awful! However I realise that you are appealing to a different market segment than BA mainline so it may work.
March 3rd, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Hi Dale – love the blog idea. Sets the right tone for OpenSkies right from the start, as an airline taking its cues from the traveler community.
Biz class looks fantastic – nice colors, comfy looking seat. Is there enough privacy provided by that fan-like screen? I’ve flown business-class to Paris on Air France and American and this cabin would appear to be better-designed and more exclusive feeling than either of those.
As far as what I like when flying business – information. I like to sit down and know what to expect for meals, meal times, entertainment, etc. Takes away any travel stress or worry about how to pass a long flight by planning it out. Qantas does a great job with this; providing the full menu and letting you select options before take-off (full breakfast vs. speed breakfast, etc).
I look forward to reading more!
Jason
New York
March 4th, 2008 at 4:32 am
OS needs to be a part of the BA Exec Club and code share with BA otherwise it will not get the business market. One reason why Silverjet and Eos are in trouble is that they cannot capitalise on those regular J travellers.
A J lounge is nothing new and neither is much here.
Good luck to OS but please just be a better part of mainline BA and oneworld.
March 6th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Hey Dale.
Just one comment: please do not make us choose between cheese or desert: we want both! This is the thing I hate when flying Club World! If you could fix that, that’d be awesome! Merci!
March 7th, 2008 at 3:30 am
Well done on the a la carte menus and the flatbeds. Pleeeeeeease, include power outlets for laptops.
March 8th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Why not considering Milan-Malpensa as the next OpenSkies destination? Alitalia is moving it’s crappy business to Rome, leaving Milan without proper longhaul flights. The area around the airport(Lombardia and Piemonte) is extremely rich in factories and trading companies (es. there’s a big Agusta-Westland factory a few km from MXP or the new Fiera di Milano, not saying anything about the fashion district or the Langa wine county). BA should strongly think about opening a new and bigger Milan station at Malpensa.
March 9th, 2008 at 1:22 am
please allow me to share my concerns about your selection of business seats for your airline. Although, business-wise, I do understand that BA wants to recycle its old “Club World” seats (from 747), but my experience today with the “old CW” (still used on 767) is poor as the seats are worn out and extermely dirty. business class (with most likely the same price or even more expensive due to the limited number of seats).
Finally, you should also present your Premium Economy and Economy class.
Regards,
Frederic
March 9th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Louis,
If you’re nice to Cabin Crew, you can have cheese and desert… just take desert first, and ask them to bring cheese if they can spare it
Colm
March 11th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
AVOD is great, when it works!
As the very mixed performance of the new IFE on BA’s 747s and 767s shows, you really cannot afford to get this wrong!
March 24th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
I recently flew on SIA’s Raffles Class on the upper geck of the A380. The seats were wider than needed, with a 1-2-1 arrangement, but the hole for putting feet in when lying down was not large enough. The video screen was enormous, but could not be adjusted in angle, resulting in annoying reflections. As well as a power socket fpr laptop or battery charger, there were USB connections for a flash-drive or camera, so photos could be checked. Something like this, and the necessary software, would be very desirable. SIA had spreadsheet word processing and presentation software installed, but the interface via the handset was deplorable. You might get someone to have a look at this for Openskies!
March 26th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Greetings from India. While I may not get to fly open skies for a while, I wanted to add my opinion, primarly is a long term BA Gold card holder and huge fan/supporter of BA.
Your seat looks a lot like the Old BA Club. If this is so then please look into the following
1) Do something about that flimsy partitions – anything to make it more solid
2) The tray table is tiny, please don’t copy that.
3) Have some form of floor storage.
Having said that, the flat bed is genius and I am so glad that it will be operating on more routes that don’t just involve heathrow.
Also to answer your question on what matters to the business travel experience, from my perspective the most important things are (in order of priority)
1) Ability to sleep (which you seem to have covered)
2) Entertainment – it gets boring spending so many hours on flight (and please, make sure it works from the get-go, not the way the new BA AVOD was introduced)
3) Efficienct ground experience (CDG and JFK aren’t the best airports, but BA termianl 7 at JFK is great – I assume you will be landing there?). Please keep your eyes on baggage efficiency, learn from BA’s horrendous track record. With the number of PAX you have on an aircraft, you should be able to provide a truly top notch experience in all cabins, especially from your 28 biz passengers
4) Frequent Flier Miles and Tier benefits. I hope that not only will Openskies flights earn you miles on the BA EC but most importantly earn you Tier points. That Gold card is precious and I know if flying from CDG to JFK, I would take the trouble of an LHR transit for tier points and Gold Card Retention.
All the best – look forward to the opening of the skies!
April 8th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
The one thing that really concerns me is the waiting time for Immigration if you end up using the BA Terminal at JFK… on my last 2 visits the waiting times were 2 HOURS each time!!!
Difficult to control I know, as it is Immigration and not BA… but there has to be some way round this in the setup plans. It will be a dire experience otherwise, and it will completely wipe out all the rest of your innovative ideas and little touches.