【朝花夕拾】-【经济学人】每日打卡 - 头等舱乘客

The people in front

头等舱乘客

节选自【经济学人】 April, 2019

  翻译练习：青澄青果

【朝花夕拾】-【经济学人】每日打卡 - 头等舱乘客

At Dubai's airport the three first-class lounges of Emirates, the Untied Arab Emirates' flag carrier, do not disappoint. Each one is as big as the terminal's concourse, built to accommodate thousands of passengers. But every day only a hundred or so enter each first-class lounge. The facility is so large, its manager admits, that the most common reaction heard from new arrivals is, "Oh my God, where is the lounge?". Yet the rows of hundreds of empty arm-chairs suggest that something is not quite right. Airlines are falling out of love with first class. The decline of first-class air travel seems at first glance surprising. Facilities on-board have never been so good. On its A380 super-jumbos, Emirates first class provides in-flight shower. Moreover, the number of very rich people has risen sharply. And the rest of the luxury-travel business is booming.

在迪拜机场，阿联酋航空公司拥有三个贵宾室，的确，作为阿联酋联合航空公司的标杆，它并未让人失望。每个贵宾室都和候机厅一样大小，可以容纳上千旅客。不过每天莅临的贵宾也只不过百把人。贵宾室也太大了，连经理人都承认人们的第一反应总是在问“上帝啊，到底贵宾室在哪？”。 上百的空座暗示了事情不妙。航空公司已经开始失去了对于头等舱的激情。似乎头等舱业务的衰退有点让人摸不着头脑。因为机上的设备好到史无前例。在A380巨型喷气飞机上阿联航甚至还提供了淋浴设施。而且富人越来越多，其他奢侈游行业也在崛起。

【朝花夕拾】-【经济学人】每日打卡 - 头等舱乘客

Even so, many analysts predict that first class will soon disappear. In America it is already almost extinct. Elsewhere in the world an increasing number of airlines have already scrapped it completely. On the majority of the most-traveled long-haul routes the number of first-class seats has fallen sharply in the past decade. Even the airlines that sell the most first-class fares are curbing their enthusiasm.

即便如此，分析家预测头等舱业务即将消失。它在美国已经近乎绝迹。世界其它地方越来越多的航空公司也基本取消了这一业务。过去十年中在大多数的长途飞行热线头等舱业务也急剧下滑。即使是那些头等舱业务销量最多的航空公司也在抑制开展该业务的热情。

【朝花夕拾】-【经济学人】每日打卡 - 头等舱乘客

Airline bosses are acutely worried about the decline in demand for first class. But they have themselves partly to blame. The industry has disrupted itself. On short-haul flights, the low-cost model has won. Most first-class passengers on these routes now sit in seats with the same legroom as economy passengers, albeit with an empty middle seat, and make do with extras such as lounge access, and food and drinks.

航空公司的高层对于头等舱业务的下滑深度担忧。不过他们是造成下滑的部分原因。这个行业实际上是自己毁了自己。短途飞行线路的航班主要以低成本模式取胜。短途航班的头等舱和经济舱差别不大，拥有同样的座距，区别仅仅在于两座之间有个空位，还有差强人意的餐饮和贵宾室服务。

【朝花夕拾】-【经济学人】每日打卡 - 头等舱乘客

On longer routs, new seats that turned into fully flat beds were a game-changer. If travelers can sleep comfortably in the sky, they can save the cost of a hotel or, more importantly for time-pressed corporate warriors, a days's working time. However, in 2000 BA launched a similar seat in business, and most carriers have followed suit. That has weakened the case for flying first class. Most companies think a flat bed in business class is good enough for their employees. Only a few honchos are allowed to enjoy first class on the company dime.

长途航班上的新座位是改编游戏规则的关键。对于乘客而言，舒舒服服地在飞机上睡一觉可以帮助他们节省旅店的费用和腾出一天来好好工作，这对于这些时间紧张的公司白领的确至关重要。不过，英航于2000年在商务舱也采用了和头等舱同样的座位，其它航空公司争相效仿。这些削弱了头等舱的吸引力。公司都认为商务舱的放平座椅对于员工就够了， 也只肯给负责人之流的报销头等舱费用。

【朝花夕拾】-【经济学人】每日打卡 - 头等舱乘客

Changing attitudes among the very rich are also sapping demand. But many self-made tycoons want their children to have the normal middle class upbringings they themselves had. So they book themselves and their families into business, or sometimes economy, rather than first. Airlines that offer first class say they still do so for two reasons. The first is to use upgrades from business class as an incentive for loyalty from both corporate and individual customers. But as the gap between business and first has narrowed, frequent flyers have begun to respond better to other incentives, such as access to lounges or to special hotlines.

富豪们态度的转变也削弱了头等舱业务需求。那些白手起家的巨头希望子女接受和自己同样的中产阶级家庭教养。所以经常使用商务舱或者有时预订经济舱而非头等舱。从航空公司方面来讲，其仍然开展头等舱业务主要基于两个主要原因，一是作为激励手段，需要给予商务舱常旅客（不论公司客户还是个人客户）升级头等舱作为回报。不过随着头等舱和商务舱之间差距的减小，常旅客似乎更加注重其它的诸如贵宾室使用和特殊热线等的激励方式。

【朝花夕拾】-【经济学人】每日打卡 - 头等舱乘客

The second reason for maintaining first class is also weakening. Flyers begin to think economy on Emirates, say, is fancier than on other airlines by association with features in its first class, such as in-flight showers. This can be an effective marketing tool. Many airlines, however, are no longer convinced by this argument and have slimmed down their first-class offerings. One such is Air France-KLM, whose chief executive claimed that first class was little more than a costly marketing gimmick and that no one makes money out of it.

航空公司保留头等舱业务的第二个理由也弱化了。之前，旅客基于对阿联航头等舱的印象（比如淋浴设施）可能会联想到其经济舱一定比其它航空公司的漂亮。所以可以说是个不错的推销手段。不过现在很多航空公司不再相信这一套，开始逐步削减头等舱业务。比如法航的首席执行官就认为头等舱是个昂贵的市场噱头，这块业务谁家也没盈利。

【朝花夕拾】-【经济学人】每日打卡 - 头等舱乘客

But even Emirates' first-and-business-class sales are threatened by private jets. These let executives avoid the wait for a scheduled flight. It is also much quicker to pass through security in a private-jet terminal than an airport. Moreover, executive jets are becoming cheaper in relative terms. New shared-ownership and ride-hailing services allow the cost of a private jet to be spread over many users. Another trend that could hasten the end of the arms race in first-class facilities is the shift towards smaller passenger jets. The smaller and more efficient jets that have consigned the A380 to an early grave lack this extra space. It would be hard to fit showers, for instance, in the new long-haul narrow-body jets now available. So Emirates will need another way to get its passengers to pay extra.

现在甚至连阿联航的头等舱和商务舱业务也受到了来自私人飞机的挑战。乘坐私人飞机，高管们不必等待按照时刻表起飞的航班，同时通过安检的速度比起通常的安检程序快得多。与此同时，由于新的共享模式和召机服务，众多使用者得以分担出行成本，使用私人飞机的费用更加廉价。另外客机小型化也在加剧头等舱业务的消亡。那些取代了A380的小型机更加高效，但是空间狭小，也就不可能在长途航班上加装淋浴设备之类的。看来阿联航得用其他手段吸引乘客为头等舱买单了。

【朝花夕拾】-【经济学人】每日打卡 - 头等舱乘客