I hate to fly. It is crowded, uncomfortable, stressful and
inhuman. But having just returned from a
wonderful vacation in France, I am rethinking my views thanks to my roundtrip flight
on La Compagnie, an all business-class “boutique” airline.
Founded as “Dreamjet” in
2013, this French-owned airline has only two planes and flies twice a day from
Newark to Paris. But their 757’s are
unlike any you’ve ever flown, carrying only 74 passengers on planes usually
crammed with 200+ coach seats.
As an all business-class
operation, each seat on La Compagnie is 26 inches wide with five feet (60”) of
legroom. That compares to a typical
coach seat’s 17 inch width and 31 inches of “pitch”. Even seats in BusinessFirst on United are
only 21 inches wide with 55 inches of legroom.
Because the planes are so
uncrowded, check-in is a breeze and you can enjoy food and drink in a real
lounge before going through priority TSA security lines and onto the plane. Checked bags are free and there is plenty of
overhead space for your carry-ons.
In-flight service is amazing
and the food is great: multi-course meals catered by a French chef with plenty
of wine to wash it down. In-flight
entertainment (movies, books, music) is provided on flat-tablets, one per
seat. There’s no in-flight Wi-Fi, but power
plugs can keep your personal device well charged.
Flying time is the same as
other airlines, but on arrival, again no stress as you don’t have to
This is what flying should
be. And most amazing of all, it’s
affordable.
Looking at a typical one-way
to Paris in August booking a month in advance, business class on Air France,
Delta or United is over $7000. One the
same date, La Compagnie is $1657. On
slower dates, booked in advance, La Compagnie offers roundtrips as low as $1300.
Now, certainly even those
fares are higher than flying coach.
Newcomer Norwegian Airlines offers a one way to Paris in coach for $265
while US carriers will get you there starting at $2600. But you don’t get what you don’t pay
for.
I find over-night flights in
coach are unbearable. You can’t sleep
and given the time change you’re a zombie for the first day in Europe. But on my “Dreamjet” I actually got some
shut-eye on my almost-flat sleeper seat.
La Compagnie has succeeded
where other all-business competitors like MaxJet, Eos and Silverjet have
failed. They’re cautious in not over-expanding.
In fact, they cancelled their London flight after the Brexit vote last
year. But their management may
be looking at other European destinations as
they modernize their fleet with new Airbus 321neo jets coming in 2019.
The airline tells me that 55% of their
passengers are from the US, 45% from France.
They’ve even added a frequent flyer program after testing an unlimited-flights-for-a-year
pass for $35,000, a deal that got fewer than 10 takers.
I don’t go to Europe that often. But next time I will only fly La
Compagnie. I hope that some of our
domestic airlines follow their lead and make flying comfortable again. People
will pay for comfort if the product is offered.
Posted with permission of Hearst CT Media
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