In the past week or so, Air France has operated its first flight featuring its new cabins on medium-haul services.
It is a €50 million gamble. The airline group has listened to the views of some 10,000 travellers and what it calls 'travel influencers' to find out what they actually want.
What they said was leather seats, reinforced seatbacks that recline, adjustable headrests and environmentally friendly. The seats on the service that flew in the middle of last week were the first of 7,800 which will be progressively installed on 24 Airbus A319 and 25 Airbus A320s between 2015 and 2016.
On-board food is also being revamped in response to passenger feedback asking for a 'more gourmet' experience. The airline says, "On short flights, more generous croissants, savoury or sweet items, or larger sandwiches will be offered to all passengers depending on the time of day. On longer flights, passengers will be able to enjoy a hot meal".
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Frédéric Gagey, chairman and CEO of Air France, said, "It's now time to make sure we win the battle on medium-haul. With these new cabins, we aim to once again be among the best in the world. Win the preference of each customer on departure from Europe is now a strategic priority of the 2020 Perform plan."
It has also introduced a new class of fare aimed at value-minded business travellers called Economy Flex. Tickets can be change free of charge and can also take an earlier flight if there is a seat free. One piece of hold luggage and one piece of cabin baggage are included in the fare. Passengers on these fares ge to sit at the front of the economy cabin. The airline says that such fares are expected to be a good fit for 30% of passengers on the medium-haul network.
We saw a couple of weeks ago here on Business Travel iQ how the various airlines are doing in Europe. These latest statistics showed how Air France's passenger numbers are pretty static while low-cost carriers such as Ryanair have surged ahead.
The reason for the gamble is simple. The medium-haul business, which feeds into the group's French and Dutch hubs, has been making substantial losses. Its Transform 2015 and Perform 2020 business plans have aimed at restructuring this business.
The question is how to do that transformation successfully. Transferring routes to its low-cost Transavia subsidiary has been one part of the strategy but this has been beset by industrial action. At the same time, the airline group has cut its capacity on the medium-haul network.
The other necessary change has been the revamp of the cabin. This was necessary to put some clear blue water between it and the low-cost rivals which have been taking the group's business. There has been some backlash against the no-frills revolution so the strategy could work. The question will be whether there is an appetite to pay more now that the lowcost genie is out of the bottle.