P&C Global Practices: Corporate Performance, Organization & Human Capital, Strategy & Innovation
Crafting the World’s Most Elegant Airline Experience
A national flag carrier known for its rich heritage and refined service set out to reimagine its position in global aviation. In preparation for major world events in its home country and facing increasing competitive pressure from Middle Eastern and Asian rivals, the airline committed to a sweeping transformation of its premium products and overall passenger experience. The goal: to deliver a level of service, design, and comfort that would cement its reputation as one of the world’s most elegant and customer-centric airlines.
Meeting the Moment: Seizing Leadership in Luxury Travel
The airline faced a pivotal inflection point. Its leadership sought not only to modernize its legacy suite products and services, but to do so in a way that would preserve and elevate its French identity. The challenge was to craft an experience that honored the brand’s cultural heritage while achieving a new standard of luxury, consistency, and global competitiveness.
The goal was not simply to win accolades, but to deliver an authentically elevated experience that would resonate with discerning travelers and earn the admiration of industry experts worldwide. The airline needed to achieve a delicate balance: innovate boldly while preserving the hallmarks of its national identity and luxury ethos. At stake was not just customer loyalty, but the airline’s global ranking and revenue share in premium and economy segments.
From Vision to Voyage: The Multi-Pillar Transformation Strategy
P&C Global collaborated closely with the airline’s executive team from vision through execution, shaping a comprehensive roadmap to elevate every phase of the passenger journey—from curbside arrival and lounge access to in-flight comfort and post-arrival impressions. Our role spanned customer experience strategy, luxury brand partnerships, program design, and enterprise change management. With a distinctly human-centered lens and deep expertise in organization & human capital, we ensured every innovation reinforced the brand’s identity and delivered what mattered most: heartfelt service, cultural authenticity, and a true sense of joie de voyager—the joy of travel
P&C Global partnered with the client in a multi-year transformation across three core pillars: First-Class redesign, onboard experience transformation, and lounge and ground service upgrades. Each was executed with precision, cultural fluency, and a human-centric approach rooted in strategy & innovation.
Elevating First-Class to Artform
Working closely with the airline’s product and design teams, P&C Global helped reimagine the flagship First Class suite into a fully private space featuring a lie-flat seat, chaise lounge, and separate bed configuration across five windows. Suites offered over 3.5 square meters of personal space, dual 32-inch 4K screens for both seating and sleeping positions, an ergonomic seat configuration for smooth dining-to-rest transitions, wireless touchpad controls, high-speed Wi-Fi, and design details that strike a balance between innovative design and intimate comfort. Floor-to-ceiling curtains and refined lighting created a cocoon-like ambiance. The upgrade marked the airline’s largest and most luxurious first-class offering to date.
P&C Global also facilitated partnerships with luxury skincare house Sisley and Michelin-starred chefs including Alain Ducasse. The result: curated amenity kits presented in a keepsake leather case, Limoges porcelain with Christofle silverware, and an in-flight dining program featuring seasonal haute cuisine and world-class wines. From the scent of Sisley spa treatments to the taste of cuisine crafted by Michelin-star chefs, the experience engages all senses and reinforces the brand’s leadership in global luxury travel.
Ground Experience: Seamless, Private, Exceptional
To mirror the onboard elegance, P&C Global guided the complete reinvention of the First Class ground experience at Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) airport. This included a private check-in salon adorned with iconic French designer furnishings by Pierre Paulin and Christophe Pillet, a secluded security passage, and direct access to the First Class lounge.
Within the lounge, the airline partnered with Ducasse’s team to curate a gastronomic dining experience on par with Paris’ finest restaurants. Catering operations were deeply integrated with Ducasse’s chefs and airline food and beverage teams to uphold restaurant-quality preparation and ingredient sourcing at altitude, ensuring each dish preserved its intended flavor, texture, and presentation. To add, an elegant dining room featured a Krug Grande Cuvée Champagne bar, for continuous pours of one of France’s most celebrated cuvées, reinforcing the sense of refined indulgence and elevating the pre-flight ritual for First Class guests.
The lounge also featured an on-site Sisley spa, offering complimentary spa treatments to rejuvenate travelers. Rather than a simple brand license, the partnership with Sisley was co-developed to deliver a consistently luxurious and authentic wellness experience. Spa therapists received specialized training in Paris by Sisley’s flagship team, ensuring treatment protocols reflected the same standards as the brand’s most exclusive locations.
Newly introduced private lounge suites, each 45 m² with a living area, including a bedroom with double bed, an en-suite bathroom, a private outdoor terrace, and even butler service, allow first-class guests to rest or work in seclusion. These suites, available to First Class passengers for an additional fee, provide an exclusive pre-flight retreat rivaling private residences. When it’s time to depart, the luxury continues, as a chauffeured limousine or Porsche transfers each first-class guest directly to the aircraft—creating a door-to-door experience previously only available in private aviation.
Business and Economy Class Enhancements
P&C Global helped the airline execute a comprehensive tip-to-tail retrofit of its flagship widebody aircraft. Business class was transformed with individual suites featuring lie-flat beds with a plush mattress topper, privacy doors, and elevated personalization options, including Bluetooth connectivity, noise-cancelling headsets, customizable lighting, and large 17-inch 4K entertainment screens.
Each Business Class suite was designed using a sophisticated palette of wool, brushed aluminum, and full-grain leather in the carrier’s color palette, to create an ambiance of understated luxury. A subtle backlit emblem embedded into each suite added a symbolic nod to the brand’s heritage. The result was a business class experience that balanced privacy, technology, and quiet luxury.
The upgraded Business Class product is now widely regarded among the world’s best—frequently ranked alongside five-star competitors and celebrated by travelers for its privacy, bedding comfort, and thoughtful design. Built to deliver zero-compromise comfort, it has earned recognition in its own right as one of the top global business class offerings. Alongside gourmet menus by Michelin-starred chefs and an award-winning wine selection in Business class, these changes blur the line between Business and First, ensuring the carrier’s premium flyers have a truly first-class experience even when flying business.
Premium Economy and Economy also saw meaningful upgrades that extended this design ethos across all passenger classes. In Premium Economy, newly designed recliner seats offered up to 121 degrees of recline, enhanced privacy wings, and up to shoulder-height seat cushions for improved ergonomic support.
Features included 4-way adjustable headrests, expanded storage, individual reading lights and integrated power solutions including universal AC outlets, USB-A, and USB-C ports. In Economy, the airline introduced new-generation slimline seating for added comfort, featuring a wider 46 cm seat pan and reinforced lateral support.
Each seat included a personal device holder and large 13.3-inch 4K screen with Bluetooth audio pairing, enabling passengers to use their own wireless headphones or mobile devices as controllers. An ‘Economy Comfort’ section was introduced at the front of each long-haul Economy cabin, offering additional legroom and deeper recline—delivering a tiered upgrade without requiring a full class change.
These enhancements ensured that every cabin delivered elevated comfort, intuitive technology, and thoughtful amenities—redefining expectations at every tier of service.
Cultural Enablement and Brand Partnerships
Recognizing that luxury is delivered by people rather than just products, P&C Global facilitated extensive employee engagement and training for onboard and lounge staff. These workshops emphasized service rituals, cultural refinement, and empowered staff to embody the airline’s new brand promise. From flight attendants to First Class concierges, personnel were trained not only in technical product details but in delivering an elevated, anticipatory service experience.
Training included immersive role-play scenarios—such as how to discreetly prepare a passenger’s bed during an overnight flight or how to present a prestigious bottle of Bordeaux wine in the lounge. Concierge teams were empowered to personalize every journey, from arranging last-minute Sisley spa appointments during a layover to coordinating seamless Porsche transfers timed to match boarding without delay. These scenarios ensured that service delivery was intuitive, gracious, and brand-aligned.
As one senior executive overseeing customer experience noted, “these prestigious awards recognize… the commitment of all our teams, both on the ground and in the air.” His words echo the broader cultural shift P&C Global helped steward—from training modules to service rituals—ensuring that every employee embodied the values of elegant, personalized hospitality.
The transformation was amplified by exclusive partnerships with brands like Jacquemus (co-branded First-Class loungewear), Sofitel (Business Class bedding), Ducasse (cuisine), Sisley (spa and amenity kits), and Christofle (silverware). P&C Global ensured that each collaboration aligned authentically with the airline’s identity, deepening its position as a global ambassador of French elegance.
The transformation extended beyond the cabin and lounge to become a core pillar of the airline’s brand narrative. These touches gave the carrier rich material for marketing, positioned its revitalized flagship product as “the highest expression of travel,” and drawing on the strength of its design partnerships, culinary excellence, and human-centric service. The message resonated across luxury media, customer testimonials, and international campaigns—redefining the airline’s image for a global audience.
Measurable Impact at Altitude and Beyond
Skytrax Award Sweep
At the most recent Skytrax World Airline Awards, the airline was named “Best Airline in Western Europe” for the fifth consecutive year. More significantly, its reimagined First Class earned top global honors for “Best First Class Lounge Dining” and “Best First Class Comfort Amenities,” validating particular focus areas of the redesign program. The airline also climbed to 8th place in Skytrax’s global airline rankings, its highest position to date. These accolades generated global media attention and inspired internal pride, reinforcing a culture of hospitality excellence.
Enhanced Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty
Premium cabin load factors and customer satisfaction scores rose sharply post-launch. First Class experienced robust demand from loyal and new luxury travelers. In some cases, ultra-high-net-worth passengers reserved all four suites for their families or executive teams—signaling a shift in perception toward private-jet caliber exclusivity. Business Class also received widespread acclaim for its comfort, privacy, and dining. In Economy and Premium Economy, passengers provided positive feedback regarding key factors such as cabin comfort and the in-flight entertainment system. Improved NPS as well as increased frequent flyer enrollment and retention figures highlighted the broad success of the transformation.
Operational and Financial Impact
On its flagship widebody aircraft, the retrofit increased capacity from 296 to 312 seats through optimized layouts and reduced galley and lavatory footprints. The final configuration added two Business Class suites and 16 Premium Economy seats with minimal Economy reduction, driving higher-yield bookings and improved revenue per available seat kilometer (RASK). Technological upgrades like modular seating and Starlink-compatible Wi-Fi aligned with evolving expectations while maintaining flexibility.
Strategic Differentiation
- Strengthened brand perception among global travelers
- Cited as a model of luxury reinvention at aviation summits
- Inspired industry recognition for heritage-driven innovation
Partner with P&C Global to Elevate Your Passenger Experience
Award-winning transformation begins with bold vision and precise execution. From first-class suites to streamlined operations, P&C Global helps transportation leaders deliver measurable impact—earning Skytrax top honors and positioning brands among the world’s most admired carriers. Enhance your passenger experience, drive operational efficiency, and secure your place among the world’s best.
