BermudAir’s Innovative Business Class Delayed

In late August 2023, we saw the launch of BermudAir, a new airline operating a couple of Embraer E175s on routes from Bermuda (BDA) to Boston (BOS), Fort Lauderdale (FLL), and White Plains (HPN). When the concept was first announced, the big selling point was that it would be an all-business class airline.

This is one of the more niche airline startups out there, relying entirely on year-round premium leisure and business demand between Bermuda and the United States. In the short time since the airline launched operations, we’ve seen the business model already evolve, and there’s now an additional update.

BermudAir’s business model has been evolving

BermudAir picked up its Embraer E175s from Flybe, an airline that ceased operations in early 2023. The planes were initially configured with a total of 80 seats in a 2-2 configuration. At the time of launch, BermudAir’s plan was to first fly these jets in their “inherited” layout, with each business class passenger getting two seats (similar to what you might find on intra-Europe flights).

However, all along, BermudAir had been marketing an innovative new Aisle Class business class, which you can see a rendering of below. This is a mighty nice product, and a snazzy-looking cabin, especially with the lack of overhead bins.

Initially the airline had been promising that this product would be introduced as of November 2023. I was always skeptical of that timeline, since this was what the airline was promising in the weeks leading up to November:

• Configuring a cabin like this requires taking a plane out of service for several weeks, but BermudAir continued to publish a schedule that required use of both plans
• This is a brand new product that requires special certification, so the process of reconfiguring a jet will take even longer than usual

Anyway, in October 2023, BermudAir announced a change to its business model. The airline decided it no longer wanted to be an all-business class airline, but rather would also introduce economy, to “make the airline more accessible for those seeking options to travel with the airline.”

I’ve been wanting to review BermudAir’s new business class product, so I’ve been monitoring the introduction of this new cabin. In recent weeks, I noticed a couple of things.

First of all, the airline completely stopped marketing its Aisle Class business class product. There are no more pictures of it on BermudAir’s website, and talk of this has been replaced with branding about “Aisle Style,” which just talks about having extra elbow room when traveling in business class.

Furthermore, when looking at flights in the future, I no longer see any flights where the seat map or pricing reflects a new product. So, what’s going on here?

What happened to BermudAir’s new business class?

I reached out to BermudAir regarding plans for the new business class product. The airline tells me that due to prolonged supply chain issues, BermudAir’s new Aisle Class product is now expected to be introduced at some point in 2024, with no timeline beyond that. The airline tells me that introducing Aisle Class is still in the carrier’s plans, though.

For the time being, BermudAir’s jets have a capacity of 66 passengers. The plane has 80 seats in a 2-2 configuration:

• The first seven rows are business class, and since each passenger gets two seats, that has a capacity of 14 people
• The remaining 13 rows are economy class, so there are four passengers per row, for a capacity of 52 people

I’m curious how BermudAir evolves…

While I always hope that innovative airlines succeed, I’ve been skeptical about BermudAir’s business model. The airline is essentially pinning its success on a single market that tends to be quite seasonal.

Obviously the airline is trying to capture some of the business demand that exists, but is that enough to fill plans year-round, especially with many companies having policies that don’t allow flying in business class? I suspect that’s part of the reason that the airline introduced economy class as well.

If BermudAir actually offered a great business class experience and rolled out its new cabins, I could at least see why people would choose to fly with the airline. However, I’d say the current iteration of the airline isn’t very innovative at all. The business class product isn’t as good as what you’d get on a major US airline in terms of comfort. Meanwhile the airline is entirely reliant on point-to-point traffic, and doesn’t have the ability to shift demand seasonally.

Also, I have a hard time not being skeptical of airlines that just make unrealistic promises. For example, the airline claimed that its new Aisle Class business class would launch on November 1, and priced tickets accordingly, to reflect the new product. That timeline just seemed completely unrealistic, so why market something like that?

Look, BermudAir actually launched operations, and that’s an accomplishment. This isn’t as much of a joke as Global Airlines claiming it’ll launch Airbus A380 flights this coming spring. But still…

Bottom line

Airline startup BermudAir launched operations in late August 2023. The airline was initially supposed to be an all-business class airline with a totally new seating concept. However, the airline didn’t initially reconfigure its jets. Then the airline decided to also introduce economy. Now the airline tells me that Aisle Class is only coming at some point in 2024, due to supply chain issues.

I’m curious to see how this all plays out…

What do you make of the evolution of BermudAir’s business class, plus the Aisle Class delay?