I’ve been looking at photos of the Airbus A380 for a while now, and I gotta say that I’m impressed, but the truth of the matter is that if I ever fly on one, I know I won’t notice the difference. Why? I’ll be in coach like always, so I can’t even enjoy any of the amenities, I’m sure. What’s to stop the major airlines from having nice first and business class seats, and jam the rest of the plane with cattle-class seats? Nothing, and people will simply accept it because it’s standard for air-travel now anyway. I realize this plane will probably offer much more space at similar fuel costs (a very good idea) but who’s to say that the airlines will even pay attention to the lowly coach flyer?
I’m not holding my breath. So it’s nice to know that the people with money will get spas and showers and beds and whatnot, but I’ll be cramped between the Fat guy with halitosis and the mother with screaming child. It’s not the best thing, I tell you…
Anyone have any idea if this revolutionary plane will have any effect on the well-being of us cattle-classers?
The cattle-class seats will be the same cramped implements of torture they are now, but your travelling experience will be generally worse, because now you’ll be checking in, boarding, going through Customs, and trying to make your next flight with a lot more people all at the same time.
The A380 is really designed to make more money for the airlines, not to improve your life (except perhaps indirectly through lower fares, like that’ll ever happen).
Bigger aeroplanes has always meant more seats rather than more room. Seats are what the airlines sell. Having said that, there are airlines that recognise that some people are willing to pay a small premium to get a modest increase in comfort. E.g., Air New Zealand and its Pacific Economy Class.
I seem to recall that the manufacturer offered the exact same things when the 747 was introduced: a bar on the upper deck, showers, nightclub, bowling alley in the hold, etc, etc; but the airlines went with seats, seats, and more seats.
Bowling alleys, movie theaters, strip clubs, etc…Why do they even pretend to try to cater to us low-lifers? The next step is to have us all lie side by side like on the slave-trade boats going to America. Actually, that’d be alright for 8 hours, I’d probably get some sleep.
I long for the age of steamship crossings. And no I’m not going to pay to go on one of those new-fangled ships nowadays, I wanna go really cheap in 6th class, but hell at least I would get to walk around.
Actually there are some in the industry who want standing seats. So you’d stand for 8 hours strapped to a tall board behind you. Who was it that worked this out? Virgin?
Although it doesn’t seem to me like it would save you to much room. And they may have only been thinking about it for short hauls like say New York to DC or London to Paris.
I’ve always wondered though, could you possibly fit in more passengers if we all had to somehow lie down? What about bunk beds? I realize it’d be a huge pain to get out if you were on the outside, but I’d rather lie down than sit any day. I’m imagining a 7 by 2.5 foot bed. Very small, but maybe workable if you stack them three high? Or maybe you could only do that in the middle. I dunno, probably not workable.
Actually, Airbus is having some major difficulties in producing the plane at all. They’re attempting to shed 10,000 jobs and have lost several major orders including the Only order for the freight version of the aircraft. Boeing is eating their lunch right now.
I remember a couple of years ago when the Airbus was first starting to be built, they had a lot of tv specials about it where they showed all these wonder facilities. First thing that popped into my head was “Who are they kidding? Like they’re not just going to cram as many coach class seats as they possible can into that thing”…There might be some sort of bar in first/business class (I’ve seen that before on Virgin Atlantic), I can’t see there being any sort of nice ammenities for coach class. Mostly because nobody would ever be in their seat.
Even though the rumor is false, in Virgin’s defense, they’re one of the better long-haul carriers. I’ve flown them a lot and, apart from Emirates, they’ve been the best I’ve been in.
What other airline would send the staff prowling round the cabin in the middle of the night looking for people who can’t sleep, and whispering to them with a smile: “do you want a jelly donut?”
Technically, they just lost the 2nd of 2 freight orders. And they’re shedding 10,000 jobs because it was designed to be a Euro love-fest instead of a centrally built airplane. The people making money on the plane are the ones moving it around like a bunch of ants at a picnic.
Although the 747 is a tough plane to make money with it has the advantage of being able to land at most major airports. The 380 requires modified runways and connecting gates. It’s another Concord with no place to go. Kinda sad because aviation really doesn’t have anything new to shake things up. It’s all about refining the machines to be more efficient.
