Today's Washington Post has a story that is kind of ironic. I posted about the Pan Am China Clippers on Wednesday. Those long-ago airliners tried to make the travel experience as comfortable as possible by offering bunk beds and a lounge. In other words, decent amenities. Well it seems that Boeing and Airbus both have figured out that comfy passengers mean happy passengers. Happy passengers are more likely to fly, making for happy aircraft manufacturers who can sell more aircraft.
Picture this instead: Starting in 2008, major aircraft makers say, the newest planes will feature fresher air, soothing lights and bigger windows. They're even talking about such amenities as showers and bunk beds, while admitting those are less likely to wind up in typical airliners.
Flying through the sky in a cramped tube may never be anyone's idea of heaven, but the world's biggest aircraft manufacturers are building jets that they claim will be more comfortable than ever, inaugurating an era of more tolerable air travel.
Veteran fliers have heard such sales pitches before. They've been promised amenities such as on-board luxury lounges, gyms and restaurants. The proposals often ran into major obstacles: The airlines weren't interested. Struggling to earn a profit, they have been cramming in more seats rather than adding amenities.
This time, however, rival aircraft manufacturers Boeing and Airbus say they've got it right. They're building jets that don't give the airlines a choice on many of the amenities, such as bigger windows, that passengers say they want most.
For the first time, Boeing is even limiting the type of seats airlines can choose to put in coach on its newest jet, forcing carriers to chose from an approved catalogue.
"We are trying to prevent the airlines from reducing the flying experience," said Kenneth Price, a marketing director at Boeing.
The improvements will appear first on Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, the first of which is scheduled to be delivered to customers in 2008. The Dreamliner cabin will be pressurized to a level typical of elevations 6,000 feet above sea level, Boeing says, compared with the current pressure, equivalent to an elevation of about 8,000 feet. Price says studies have shown that improving the cabin pressure significantly reduces headaches and other ailments.
The idea of bunk beds isn't generating a lot of interest from airlines, so those are unlikely, as is the shower. But it does sound as if they are going to limit the airline's ability to try to cram as many people in as possible. That, along with better air quality will help improve the experience of flying enormously. Gee, the China Clippers had it more right than today's crop of airliners seventy years ago. Funny world, isn't it?
