Air France passengers, whether sprawled-out in first-class or cheek-by-jowl in economy, get a free glass of champagne. It’s important tradition and for now, profitable.
Profit has often been elusive for Air France. As recently as 2015 it was in financial crisis and, as with all air carriers, the global pandemic cut deeply into its revenues. But as the largely privatized airline celebrates its 90th anniversary this year, its emblematic “winged seahorse” appears to be solidly aloft (or afloat) from a business standpoint.
The Air France side of the larger Air France-KLM corporate entity has recovered to 95 percent of its pre-Covid-19 pandemic activity. In the second quarter of this year, it posted a positive operating income of €482 million ($507 million). Air France CEO, Anne Rigail, recently told Le Monde that the carrier will finish “in the green. 2023 is a good year,” she said.
As Le Monde pointed out, even Air France’s union agrees. “Economically, the company is doing much better than in the last two or three years,” Laurent Dahyot, general secretary of the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) Air France, said.
In the red or in the black, Air France has largely held to its own conception of style and elegance over nine decades. For a fortnight in late September and early October the airline celebrated its tenacity with an exhibition of an original dress collection in Paris’ Galeries Lafayette Haussmann, a renowned fashion-centric department store in the heart of the City.
The dresses, created by French designer Xavier Ronze (head of the costume design workshops at the Paris Opera Ballet) were displayed along with a selection of Air France heritage items including in-flight dining ware, uniforms, travel posters and other design objects.
To American eyes it may all seem a little “camp” in the present age of least-common-denominator commercial air travel. But it represents something core to Air France’s identity and its current marketing says Eric Caron, senior vice president of North America for Air France-KLM.
“Flight is not just a commodity,” Caron told me in an interview last week. “We want to bring something more, a flavor of France. To me, there is a difference between the image to the market – this image of excellence, elegance and prestige – and the reality of the customer. We respect all customers, whatever their look and their style.”
Caron’s nicely worded acknowledgement of “reality” is a nod to the hoodie and flip-flop-wearing crowd that seems to pervade airline cabins (first class, business and economy) these days. The dresses, the imagery, the objet of Air France’s exhibition and its overall marketing might seem more disconnected from the nitty gritty of air transport than ever, but they seem to be working Caron says.
“If you have brand positioning that is a bit more premium, your ability to get a bit more money on average for each ticket is [enhanced]. On average, I think we do the benchmarks on available revenue per seat-kilometer better [than competitors]. The flip side is that you raise expectations. People are then more demanding. When you buy an Air France ticket, you expect something higher and nicer than other airlines.”
You may expect that, Caron adds, whether you’re seated with the movers-and-shakers in business class or the regular François and Françoise in economy class. The elegant, designer uniforms worn by Air France flight attendants are there for your enjoyment (and possibly inspiration) wherever you sit on a flight.
The same holds true for the decor and architecture of Air France’s recently updated lounges. If you’re a frequent economy-class flier, you’ll have some access to them, something to anticipate.
“If we’re talking gastronomy, we’re indeed going to have more sophisticated meals in the business cabin than in economy for sure, but we want to carry a French touch through all cabins. For example, we want to continue to serve a glass of champagne for free in the economy cabin. That’s a symbol. We can’t replicate everything we do in Premier [first class] or business class in the economy cabin but still, you’re traveling [there] with elegance, with some French flavor.”
If forced to pick one aspect from the Galleries Lafayette exhibition as a favorite, Caron cites the references to in-flight dining. Food is intertwined with French culture he reminds. Air France “continues to invest” with new chefs including one familiar to Americans who will be announced before year’s end.
Platitudes about the style and elegance that have been hallmarks of Air France since its founding with the merger of five struggling French carriers in the Depression year of 1933 might be poo-poohed by the airline industry writ large. But maybe it’s missing something.
The notion of offering an experience and imagery to aspire to isn’t dead, nor is people’s desire to see it. A rarity it may be, but 90 years old, it’s working for Air France.
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