Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) complains that more passengers are flying premium than ever before. She wants people stuck in coach, because she thinks that means the least-advantaged would be better off. She sees airline results, with customers preferring premium products, as a symbol of ‘the rich getting richer and the poor poorer’ but it also misunderstands the airline industry.
It’s the same misunderstanding that led her to fight JetBlue’s acquisition of Spirit Airlines. Now JetBlue is struggling, Spirit is in bankruptcy – and JetBlue is being pressed to add things like first class and lounges, the very things Warren abhors.
She also pushes for caps on credit card interchange, which would undermine rewards and make first class a place only for those able to pay cash – exacerbating inequality.
More people are buying first and business class airline tickets than ever before.
What about main cabin tickets? They're down.
That's our economy. The rich are doing better than ever, while working people can't afford to book a flight. pic.twitter.com/65oIhnFeJs
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) November 14, 2025
To be sure, airlines are offering more premium seats than ever before, and making those seats more accessible. Both business and first class travel and economy travel have grown rapidly (over 10% last year). Meanwhile, Delta especially and also United and even American have reported better revenue performance from premium products than standard coach.
However there is much that Warren gets wrong. The actual claim that “tickets” are down in main cabin is not correct. Passenger volumes are near records. She’s actually referring to revenue or unit‑revenue improvements at specific airlines in specific quarters, not reduction in tickets sold. And there’s more premium passengers as airlines reconfigure cabins to offer more premium seats, that passengers prefer.
It’s not just a ‘rich doing better’ story, it’s a shift in airline marketing strategy that includes selling slightly more comfortable travel for less than they used to. Here, by the way, is Elizabeth Warren stepping off a private jet.
This is Elizabeth Warren exiting a private jet, and hiding behind her aide once she realizes she's being filmed
Remember:
Elizabeth Warren is a climate activist
Elizabeth Warren wants to kill crypto because crypto is killing the environment
But Elizabeth Warren spent $721k… pic.twitter.com/CCR9BueBmr
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) February 25, 2024
She spent $871,000 on private jets in 2019.
There are several trends that Elizabeth Warren does not understand.
- “Premium” includes extra legroom coach. It’s not just first class. People are buying more tailored products, even in economy. That’s why United and Alaska have invested heavily also in food for sale in coach. United and Delta have invested in seat back entertainment. High speed wifi matters – both as a tool for loyalty program signups, but because even the economy experience now matters on board. Future premium cabin customers start off flying coach and building brand loyalty.
- Airlines sell first class for less than ever before. A huge driver of ‘more people flying up front’ is that those seats aren’t nearly as expensive as they used to be. First class used to be several times the cost of coach, and most seats went to upgrades, awards and employees. Now airlines monetize those seats – at booking for a fixed premium often a couple hundred dollars more than economy, after booking with discounted upsell offers, and all the way through check-in. Unsold seats often get monetized for tens of dollars and people buy those upgrades (which means fewer upgrades for frequent flyers).
- Consumers buy on more than schedule and price now. This has been a 10-year trend, prevalent during the late Obama and throughout the Biden administrations. It isn’t the political point Senator Warren wants it to be. Airline distribution technology has changed to make differentiating and understanding and selling premium products easier, as consumer preferences have shifted to spend more for better experiences.
- Ultra-low cost carriers are no longer as low cost. Wages are up. Airport costs are up. That erodes the advantage Spirit and Frontier had. That’s part of the overall ‘trading up’ from the Spirit experience. But that’s also a good thing for people (you shouldn’t wish Spirit on anyone!).
There’s a broad trend that economic weakness often hits more vulnerable people first. And we may be seeing economic weakness, driven by an economy still struggling to clamp down on pandemic-era inflation coupled with tariffs that shrink economic activity. Both parties were responsible for pandemic spending. Both parties have turned away from open trade. Elizabeth Warren has!
And Warren urged the Biden administration to block JetBlue’s acquisition of Spirit Airlines. She celebrated the district court decision blocking the merger, and JetBlue’s termination of the deal. That led to Spirit’s bankruptcy and fewer planes and seats flying under a low cost model.
It seems to me that the goal is economic growth that benefits everyone. And that’s the opposite of Warren’s approach to limiting credit (by capping the value of offering credit), limiting trade, and demonizing corporations and success.
We should want more people to be able to buy premium products. Spirit Airlines is great for democratizing access to air travel, though the long-run airfare trend is down even without them. But when people are in a position to buy a better experience, that’s actually a good thing.
I am shocked, Chief Squaw Lizzy Warren is a hypocrite. I mean Democrats are such pillars of society. Housing illegals and fighting for better pay for everyone (except those they have to pay) just to name 2. Is she a secret plant from the Republican Party (snark). Enjoy your Saturday all and hope you have a great final 2 months of 2025.
Inequality is NOT a bad thing. Without inequality we have nothing to strive for and lack of choice.
There was (supposedly) no inequality in the Soviet Union. Look how well that worked.
Gary, inevitably, your post will lead some to attack the person, not her arguments. It’s called the ‘tu quoque’ fallacy.
Her proposal is not to force every politician to personally adhere to a perfect carbon-neutral lifestyle, but to enact systemic changes (like a private jet fuel tax or carbon limits) that address inequality and climate change for everyone. I get it, some of you are gonna reject that, be cynical, deny, etc.
While you may think premium seats are ‘cheaper than ever,’ the main cabin, standard economy seating has worsened over the last decade (smaller seats, fewer amenities, rising baggage/seat assignment fees, and yes, @Peter, less MCE!)
As to the jetBlue-Spirit merger, yeah, she (and others) were trying to prevent monopolistic practices that lead to higher fares; but, obviously, that point is now moot (they didn’t merge). If Spirit closes shop now, it’s not because of policy; it’s evidence of market instability, which is more of a reason to have more regulatory oversight, not less.
Regardless, we still need common sense, reasonable regulations that ensure a baseline of quality and fairness for all passengers, not just those who can afford to sit up-front or fly private.
@Michael Mainello — Your sad attempt to keep scapegoating immigrants or brown people or trans people or poor people or whatever boogeyman you can concoct is not going to effectively address ‘affordability’ which is what #47 promised in 2024.
He is a lame duck who would rather grift for himself via crypto scams, while he spitefully starves his own constituents, gives away $20-40 billion to bail out his Wall Street friends via Argentina, and is building a literal Versailles ballroom at the White House… feels very… “Let them eat cake.” Or, as I’ve been saying, since this is an airline, travel blog: Let them eat Biscoff!
@MGHOW — That’s a strawman. No one is seeking literal ‘equality’ in all things. Nor was the USSR about that either. The Soviet Union was a totalitarian authoritarian dictatorship. Nobody wants that. Capitalism won the Cold War, and is now the global economic system.
Progressives like Senator Warren seek a robust social safety net, strong worker and consumer protections, and attempt to do so with reasonable regulations that do not inhibit our productivity, efficiency, or creativity as a people.
You’re welcome to call her or me or anyone a hypocrite on such silly things (and to use nicknames, how fun!), but let’s be clear on the policy goals, ideologies, and human history.
Politicians are hypocrites. News at 11.
Meanwhile here are two headlines from the NY Post over the past 24 hours:
Rising costs make this year’s Thanksgiving the priciest in history: survey
What affordability crisis? New Yorkers line up for hours to pay $12 for grapes and $65 for olive oil at trendy new gourmet grocer Meadow Lane
As the second article said, “ Call it a tale of two cities.”
Pocahontas again? I thought she traveled by horse…