First Class (aviation) - First Class in North America

First Class in North America

On most flights within or between the United States (including Alaska but not Hawaii), Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean - what is normally regarded as regional business class or premium economy in the rest of the world is branded as "domestic first class" by US airlines or "Executive Class" by Air Canada. The service is generally a step below long haul international business class. US territories in the Western Pacific (Guam and the CNMI) and sometimes Hawaii are considered international for service purposes and generally feature long haul business class.

However, domestic first class does have two very different meanings on certain transcontinental routes between New York City and California. American Airlines and United Airlines both operate a special service on the JFK-LAX and JFK-SFO routes known as "american flagship service" and "United p.s." (p.s. stands for premium service) respectively. In these cases, first class is actually a three-cabin first class which is different from two-cabin first class, both in comfort and price (such as lie flat seats in first class, for example). In these cases, domestic business class is generally equivalent or slightly higher than a two-cabin domestic first class ticket. The three-cabin first class is more of a true first class rather than a rebranded business class.

US discount carriers (such as JetBlue, Southwest Airlines and Spirit Airlines) do not have first class cabins, instead opting for an all economy layout with a few select rows with extra legroom (such as bulkhead and emergency row seats) available for a nominal fee.