There’s a new airline startup in the United States, and it’s unlike anything we’ve seen before in the country. I actually think it’s a great concept in theory, though some of the details may need a little more ironing out. We first learned about this a couple of months ago, but more details have just…
Continue reading: Magnifica Air, Uber-Luxury US Airline Startup, Coming 2027: Is It Realistic?
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
I think you hit the nail on the head - you need frequency for anything to be successful. Even if the demand for a luxury product may exist, folks with that kind of cash are not going to rearrange their lives to accommodate this startup's limited schedules. And this is a weird product to sell to corporates. While this may appeal to the Soho House set, even AA's new XLRs are more private than most of this plane - at least onboard.
Premium airlines have been tried and failed. The biggest hurdle is that high level CEOs need to travel to a multitude of different places. Contracting private air travel does that. An airline that flys to a small number of destinations does not. The number of uber rich people just isn't that great to sustain a US commercial airline geared towards luxury personal travel.
Assuming there won’t be a financial crash by then to make 2007 look like a joke
This reminds me of MGM Grand Air from the 1980s and the failed transatlantic airlines of the 2000s (Eos, MaxJet, SilverJet). It's extremely hard to make an all-premium airline work with mainline-sized aircraft. La Compagnie is the only one I'm aware of doing it. Even BA and SQ discontinued their all-business class flights.
"Is it realistic?"
Short answer: No.
Slightly longer answer: Nope.
That said, I wish we could see more airlines like La Compagnie actually profitably operate business-class-only lie-flat routes anywhere and everywhere.
Thank god it's carbon neutral! No way it would be successful without subscribing to the made up ESG metrics that have no bearing on reality!
As is usually the case, fools and their money are soon parted. I wish them luck, but they're not going to be successful.
@Ben do you think the current appetite for so many to travel in premium cabins will continue or will the bubble burst abruptly? I ask because the post covid trend continues and I’ve barely seen an empty cabin up front, long gone have the operational upgrades and I’ve even been struggling to get upgraded with miles in the lounge.
Back in the 80's we had MGM Grand Air with a small fleet or ultra lux (for the times) of a few DC-8's and Boeing 727's. There was nothing else like it and it was popular out of LAX and latest a few years.
I happen to think that the current demand for premium travel is going to soften quite a bit in the next couple of years. I have been around long enough to have seen how cyclical travel trends can be. I can't see this carrier doing much if anything.
A serious question if you please Brad?
If you “Happen to think that the current demand for premium travel is going to soften quite a bit in the next couple of years”, will this softening occur first in the PJ market, or, with the domestic commercial schedule airlines?
It is my understanding that the U.S. PJ market is not showing significant signs of softening at the moment. Again, do you have an opinion on this too?
The ITA Airways A321 seat would be more premium/private than what they're proposing. If you're gonna try for semi-private, you can't be using seats that are being phased out on commercial airlines
La Compagnie (and before them L'Avion and Openskies by British Airways, a nonstop 18 years success) works because they have struck the right balance as far as Frequency (every day at the same time, sometimes 2xday), Premium Service, good but not extravagant, no Krug Champagne and no caviar on demand), and price, essentially "Buiness Class for the price of the others' Premium Economy". Orly and Newark are minor deterrents, while the other airlines make a klilling on P.E., essentially charging twice or more the price of Economy for almost no, or only very slightly improved experience.
It can be done, has been since 2007.
IF (big "IF") Magnifica can stick to these basics, they may succeed. The odds are that they won't because the price (and maybe the product) wil be too high.