While mainstream carriers such as US Airways are making headlines by eliminating packets of peanuts on board, Eos takes the opposite track by promising "restaurant quality, gourmet meals" with aesthetic presentation, along with a high-end wine and beverage selection. Passengers set their own eating pace by selecting either a five-course meal to be eaten at leisure or an "express" meal served at once.
Like many international carriers, Eos offers personal entertainment units, giving passengers on-demand access to dozens of movies, television shows, songs and games. Much unlike the other carriers, Eos gets personal by offering "turn-down service" featuring high-thread-count sheets, Tempur-Pedic pillows, cashmere blankets and Bose noise cancellation headphones. If nature calls in the middle of the flight, passengers are greeted with fresh flowers in every toilet.
Because there are so few passengers compared to conventional flights, board and de-plane times are considerably shorter, and personal curbside pick-up and escort through security is offered even if a passenger phones in late. The one complaint some Eos passengers have lodged via online airline boards is that the premium lounge in Stansted (shared with Dubai-based Emirates in both locations) has more an air of "under construction" than über luxury.
Eos' pricing falls nicely between its competitors at US $6,500 for an unrestricted fare. It is almost twice competitor MAXjet's charge, but well under British Airways' $9,250 price tag. (All prices via Travelocity for the same schedule, route and non-restrictions.) Interestingly, Eos CEO Dave Spurlock is British Airways' former director of strategy.
The Eos company name is borrowed from the Greek goddess of the dawn; it achieves the rare feat of being an extremely short name with actual meaning to it. The logo is simultaneously classic and modern in a sculpted, sans-serif typography with a golden wing visual. It reflects the "dawn" aspect of its name within the use of a sunny gold color as a winged accent to the aqua-blue wordmark. Airline attendants and airport agents eschew complementary corporate-color polyester for all black, Armani-esque attire.
Competition comes in the form of established commercial carriers attempting to up the ante on business- and first-class travel as well as corporate jets. In the commercial realm, MSNBC reported in 2005 that over the past five years, business class has in many respects replaced first class in popularity and push. USA Today reported the same year that corporate jet sales and leasing increased 70 percent since the early 1990s, although that is changing due to new corporate tax laws enacted and changing economic realities.
MAXjet is another fledgling business class-only carrier with the same New York City to London routes as Eos, but with the addition of Washington DC. MAXjet bills itself as "the affordable business class" and visually lives up to its middle class verbiage with its staid, traditional corporate colors of navy blue and mustard yellow. Interior-wise, MAXjet's planes play on the safe, corporate look and are outfitted with 102 leather standard business class seats arranged two by two. The company plans to expand its US base in the next two years.
Eos also faces competition from budget business class airlines (à la Southwest Airlines model) such as Ryanair, easyJet and soon-to-be launched SilverJet, all of which offer similar, but cheaper, routes. With business-class-only a new, largely experimental market, the profitability question of price over pamper has yet to be determined.
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