Business class travel is one of the more noticeable victims of the downturn. We all accepted that a reduction in travel costs was necessary if it meant a few less people would have to be laid off. But I'm starting to suspect that my new way of life in economy class might be rather more permanent than I assumed.

 

Sure, a short hop to Manila in economy is over so quickly that it's hard to get upset about the soggy cheese sandwich that substitutes for a meal. But when it comes to the nearly four-hour slog to Singapore or Seoul, sitting next to the family with the new baby or the guys taking advantage of the free booze, it's a lot harder to land ready for work.

Now this wouldn't obviously be a big deal really, except for one thing: flying business class was, up until very recently, the norm. All of us who've had our travel budgets cut know what we're missing. And there's another asymmetric rule of business expenses: that it's infinitely harder to cope with worsening working conditions than to cope with improving ones.

But the world has changed. Tolerance for extravagance by men in suits at their employers' expense has largely evaporated. In its place is a general public disdain for corporate excesses of any kind. This is particularly noticeable in any industry that is, or was recently, reliant on government money to stay afloat. Most of my colleagues are trying very hard to ignore this new reality, but at least for the moment it has the effect of making any decision to increase expenditure very difficult without a good reason.

So is there a good reason to let executives switch up from economy to business class travel? Not really.

The arguments that are generally tried aren't particularly persuasive. For example: it enables me to get off the plane first, thereby ensuring that I get through immigration without delay, making me more efficient. The problem with this argument is that the facts don't really support the conclusion. The only circumstance where being at the front of the plane would make you faster is if you are on the only plane landing at the airport. This is rare. And there's a much cheaper way to get you through immigration more quickly. It's called the APEC Card.

Another popular argument is that sitting in business allows me to work on the plane. This is possibly true, but if you're working on anything confidential you probably don't want to be doing it in the business class section if it's full of bankers and lawyers. And really, when you get into that comfy seat with the big screen, the good wine, the slightly more edible meal, are you working? Really, in economy class it's much more difficult to sleep, if you eat the meal you're going to do it fast to get it over with, and you're probably not going to risk the wine. Back there you'll probably get so bored that you might actually take out your laptop.

Another popular one is "it's a status thing, it looks better for the bank". This might have made sense once upon a time, but it's hard to think now who you would be impressing by spending five to ten times more on your ticket. Not your shareholders, certainly not your clients, not anyone you have laid off in the last 18 months. It might impress the flight attendants slightly, but it's going to be tough to convince any employer that this is a good use of funds.

I have also heard "I am more likely to bump into my clients" and "it gives me more flexibility to change my ticket", neither of which are very convincing. And my absolute favourite is that it's safer. But unfortunately, if it crashes into a mountain, a building, or perhaps the ground, the only circumstance under which the back of the plane is going to make contact first is if the plane is travelling in reverse.

Now I did want to come up with some good news, about how business class is nice, but there are some advantages to economy class, too. But unfortunately I could only think of one thing. The only advantage to sitting in economy class is that even with the increase in their numbers at the back of the plane, you're still much less likely to be sitting next to a banker or lawyer.