Upselling Is Killing the Airline Industry One Bad Economy Seat at a Time

The dogma of the aviation industry has been that the corporate buyer is the steadfast and profitable customer and aircraft interiors design has always been focused on attracting and retaining this customer. Corporate customers fly out of necessity, paying whatever fare it takes to get to the next meeting. Also out of necessity, they will pay a premium to sit in a seat that keeps them productive. By comparison, the Economy flyer has traditionally been a seat filler, a booster of load factors with corresponding cost efficiencies but not a reliable boost to revenue. This price-sensitive market is variable. Economy passenger numbers can be reduced whenever the economy takes a downturn. These basic principles have long decided the product, marketing, and cabin design strategies of airlines, as they still do today. But changing passenger profiles, a changing global economy, and the hard-and-fast decisions airlines have made with their cabin product may have set in motion a dynamic w