The growth of the premium economy class suggests there are people who will pay a little extra to avoid being crammed in. Photo / File
The growth of the premium economy class suggests there are people who will pay a little extra to avoid being crammed in. Photo / File
COMMENT There are some important aviation developments I would like to share with you this week. The first is an area of great concern to me because I am moderately bulky and come fitted with legs.
A number of airlines are apparently trying to cram more seats into their planes whichmight mean you have to cancel upcoming flights if you too are fitted with appendages for walking.
Ryanair was one of the first to offend when, in 2014, they asked Boeing to squeeze eight more seats than normal into their planes. They are, of course, a budget airline so price is a major driver and potential travellers should already know that.
I wouldn't have thought of Cathay Pacific as a budget airline but according to reliable reports they started cramming an extra seat into each row on their Boeing 777-300s in 2017.
This sardine-inspired move means each passenger is deprived of about an inch of personal space, not a lot on a short hop but pretty significant on a biggie.
The Philippines' biggest budget carrier, Cebu Air, has also been inspired by the small oily fish. They are moving galleys and bathrooms on some of their new A330neos so that they can cram in 460 seats which is 20 more than the plane's current maximum. Sardines will be queuing up at the ticket outlets.
The growth of the premium economy class suggests there are people who will pay a little extra to avoid the cram but cannot manage the huge hike to the cost of business class.
Emirates are talking about another development which may surprise you; the airline's president is suggesting that windowless planes are the way of the future. Planes, he said, would be structurally stronger and lighter so they could fly faster and higher and burn less fuel.
They could, of course, play footage of whatever is outside on your personal entertainment screen. "Please enjoy this film of some clouds outside." They could also deceive you by playing stock footage of different clouds. You would never know the difference.
Captain (to crew at debriefing): I played them cumulus and it was perfectly fine outside.
Crew: Ha ha ha ha ha!
Safety issues are yet to be worked through because, in an emergency situation, crew need to be able to see what's outside. Crew wouldn't want to be giving passengers the order to jump onto the escape chute if it were leading directly into, say, a bouncy castle.
Airlines also need to rethink the way they serve meals in the air. We are all aware of the problems of single-use plastics these days and airlines are big offenders. If you've seen the recent pictures of the clean-up from the beaches of remote Henderson Island, you will know how severe the problem is.
In the early days of passenger flights, some would have a lunch stopover. The plane would land and passengers would be served a meal in a hangar or at picnic tables while the plane refuelled for the next leg. Now, instead of pulling into a lay-by, we generate inexcusable waste at 35,000 feet.
Add to this the fact that air travel is one of the biggest offenders in the business of destroying the planet and things really are starting to look bleak.
Wyn Drabble.
If you are really passionate about flying but want to be morally righteous, perhaps you could check into the Haneda Excel Hotel in Japan where you can choose to stay in a flight simulator room. To get there, you'll need to...well...fly to Japan so perhaps we'd better forget about that idea.
