Eastern Airlines is cutting first-class fares by about 40 percent in an effort to attract more business travelers and is sweetening travel agent commissions for sales of the new, cut-rate tickets.
The lower fares, called "Y-Not fares," are good for domestic travel through June 30, carry no penalties, are fully refundable and can be booked up to flight time."With the Y-Not fare, you can buy them at anytime and fly at anytime," said George Brennan, vice president of marketing for the Miami-based carrier.
Some industry analysts expressed surprise at the size of the fare cuts, which put Eastern's first-class tickets about 15 percent below the industry's full coach fares. But they said they did not expect other carriers to immediately match or lower their rates.
"It's a marketing move, a promotional program," said Robert Decker, analyst with Duff & Phelps in Chicago. "We might see some selective matching by other airlines but I wouldn't expect a widespread move at this point."
Eastern is reorganizing under bankruptcy court protection from creditors.