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The Bottom Line

NOTE: Sadly, Eos declared bankruptcy and ceased flying on April 27, 2008.

The Eos experience made me wonder if a group of smart, experienced airline industry pros got together and asked themselves: How can we make flying pleasurable again?

Eos Airlines, launched in 2005, provides affluent travelers with an antidote to the miseries of long lines, crowds, unexplained delays, confusion, endemic rudeness, and harried staff.


Eos Photos >

From curbside in one city to arrival gate in the next, Eos enables its 48 passengers to soar literally — and in spirit — on each flight.

Pros

• Eos provides air travelers with a luxury air transportation experience
• There are no lines to wait on anywhere
• Passengers are escorted from the curb, to check-in, through security, to the gate
• Staff is alert, polite, and helpful
• At these prices, there are no screaming babies aboard.

Cons

• Eos Airlines is expensive
• Eos will spoil a traveler for any other airline
• It's a letdown having to leave the aircraft and return to the real world.

Description

• Eos Airlines flies between New York City's JFK Airport and London's Stansted.
• Planes are 757s designed to hold 220 passengers; Eos accommodates a total of 48.
• Private, attended lounges at both airports offer free gourmet snacks, bar drinks, and wi-fi.
• Ground transportation into London is included, either private car or 1st class on Stansted Express.
• Once a passenger checks in, a member of the Eos staff fast-tracks him or her through security.

• Passengers are offered a four-course menu or a quick meal. Midnight snacks, too.
• Each passenger receives a Fujitsu PEA (personal entertainment appliance) to choose films, music, TV.
• Flying time to London is just over 6 hours. To NYC, it's about 1.5 hours longer due to head winds.
• Fellow passengers are business people and celebrities such as Gwen Stefani and the Duchess of York.
• Does it cost more? Yes. But there's no better way to begin a romantic trip across the Atlantic.

Guide Review - Eos Airlines

Has the CEO of an airline ever approached you at the airport and wished you a pleasant journey? At JFK, Eos Airlines chairman and ceo David Pottruck did just that, introducing himself to each of the passengers in the posh Emirates Lounge waiting to board one of carrier's two daily flights to London.

Pottruck has much to be proud of. Eos is the antithesis of cheap domestic airlines and no-frills European carriers like EasyJet.

The Eos difference began for me at curbside, where a uniformed Eos security person greeted me and led me to check-in. There was no line. After I was handed my boarding pass and a complimentary roundtrip pass for the Stansted Express, another Eos employee led me to a quick, first-class security line. From there yet another staffer took me to the lounge, where I savored pre-flight delicacies including smoked salmon and chocolate mousse.

On board, a free "sleep suit," personal entertainment device, gourmet dinner, and podlike seat that unfolded into a bed delivered a flying experience that took me to new heights.

The worst thing about Eos is having to disembark and enter a world that unlike the airline is raucous, unruly, and not completely dedicated to one's comfort, safety, and enjoyment.

The writer was provided with complimentary transportation for the purpose of reviewing those services. While it has not influenced this review, About.com believes in full disclosure of all potential conflicts of interest. For more info, see our ethics policy.