Class Wars

How the British Airways-Virgin Atlantic business class battle continues to change the world

If Qantas invented business class in 1978, British Airways wasn’t far behind its transatlantic competitors Pan American and Trans World Airlines in offering a service between first class and economy.

BA’s nemesis Virgin Atlantic, meanwhile, started the worldwide trend (continued by Virgin Australia and Air New Zealand, among many others) of making an opaquely-named business class its top cabin.