Lufthansa Airlines made headlines for a couple of reasons this week. First off, the airline announced a ban on Apple Air Tag claiming some soft of inference with equipment. More likely than not, the airline was also hoping to restrict passengers from geolocating their bags. Lufthansa is not a very consumer friendly airline and that shows in their inconsiderate policy making. Fast forward to the end of the week, and the airline announces new seats. The airline will now have first class suites, improved business class, and revamped premium economy.
What’s the big deal?
Lot’s of writers or self-proclaimed frequent flyers are salivating over this new announcement, but let’s be real: There is nothing groundbreaking about this new seat and it looks like they copied the first class suite idea from Emirates or ANA. This new seat does not strike me innovative or Earth shattering, rather it seems to be a good revamp and upgrade to keep the airline’s offerings competitive with rival airlines.
Business and first class seats have continued to improve as we come out of the pandemic. In the last decade alone, a number of airlines have released innovative business and first class seats with Qatar’s industry revolutionizing Q-Suites (Jen and I are planning to fly Q-Suites sometime in the next 2 years), ANA’s amazing suites in both business and first class (on my bucket list), Emirates/Singapore Suites. Overall, airlines have made drastic improvement with their premium product.
Although premium configurations have continued to improve, premium economy has also begun to reinvent itself with seats similar to domestic first class and premium service. While I think Lufthansa’s announcement shows an improvement in premium economy, it remains to be seen what the final product will look like.
My Final Thoughts!
Neither innovative or game changing, the Lufthansa announcement comes after their failed ban on Apple Air Tags. It’s a bit interesting to see both announcements in the same week-ish span. I think while this is a nice gesture by the airline, we will have to wait for the final product to truly understand the new seats. While I think this is a huge upgrade to their current business class offerings, it would also be nice to see Lufthansa improve on other crucial factors such as limiting delays, lost bags, and having a more customer friendly approach to their business. The airline has certainly come under fire for numerous controversial issues so I think there’s plenty of room for reflection and cultural improvement. (See here for the New York Times article of Lufthansa’s Jewish Controversy in May). I think while airlines are constantly looking for ways to improve their premium offerings, it would be nice to see some drastic makeovers for economy. Maybe more leg space or other interesting concepts for the everyday lower end traveler.
