The promise of a comfortable night’s sleep is one United Airlines hopes will lure business passengers traveling internationally.
The Chicago-based company, which has its East Coast hub at Dulles International Airport, announced Monday that it will be the first U.S. carrier to offer seats that recline a full 180 degrees in business class for long overseas flights.
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“One of the top things our business travelers tell us is thatthey need 180 degrees in order to have a good night’s rest,” United spokesman Jeff Kovick said. The seats go through extensive safety testing and turn into a 6-foot, 4-inch bed.
The seats were among a series of upgrades United announced for its business-class customers. Other perks will include an ottoman to store personal items, an ergonomically designed tray table, an iPod adapter, personal video screens, a celebrity-chef-designed menu and more than 150 hours of on-demand movie programming.
The changes will be available in the airline’s entire international fleet by 2009.
Though United is the first U.S. airline to offer the reclining seats, foreign outlets such as British Airways have been ahead of the curve in offering such amenities.
United’s tactics demonstrate an airline trying to complete with the new all-business-class airlines that have come on the scene, such as D.C.-based Maxjet Airlines, or companies such as Virgin Atlantic Airways, which promote their in-flight entertainment options, said David Beckerman, D.C.-based director of consulting services for aviation analysis firm BACK Aviation Solutions.
“Given the U.S. carriers have just realized profits again for the first time in a long time, it’s a very difficult decision to commit an entire fleet to a very particular niche,” Beckerman said, adding that it makes more financial sense for some airlines to upgrade existing facilities.
In the meantime, U.S. customers have become more demanding, particularly because they vacation less often than their European counterparts and therefore are willing to pay for better amenities, said Paula Conway, a travel writer who hosts “Paula Travels” on Sirius Satellite Radio. Other tactics the airlines are trying include frequent flyer upgrades, private lounges, and soon — technology allowing — the use of cell phones in cabins.
