Poll: Airline Passenger Comfort - Would You Slow Down If You Could Enjoy The Ride?
Friday, June 7, 2013 at 07:06AM 
A 747 upper deck lounge from back in the 70's... now that's comfort!
A ran a poll like this shortly after AirPigz launched over 4 years ago in an effort to see if people would prefer greater comfort and inflight entertainment over jet-age speeds of 550 mph. The idea being that fuel burn could be significantly reduced if we aimed for a cruise speed of more like 400 mph... and with reduced fuel costs maybe the airlines could still make money while giving the common passengers more legroom and elbow room so they didn't feel like cattle.
Plus, with modern inflight entertainment options like wifi (and some things we haven't even thought of yet) and maybe even real food service (gasp!) the longer ride might actually feel shorter. There's a huge difference between eating on an airliner with elbow room or without it! Imagine a nice warm meal enjoyed with lots of legroom and plenty of elbow room. Then follow that up with a movie or web surfing or emailing friends from your own laptop or tablet (with a power port at every seat) - this could be very relaxing! Another benefit from the slower cruise speed would be a much quieter cabin. I bet this alone could have a big impact on overall comfort.
Seriously, several airlines had lounges like this for a while back in the 70's
I'm also thinking that we can come up with some radically different cabin designs that would make the interior environment far more appealing and relaxing. What familiar real-world interior space does an airliner cabin remind you of? Nothing. I think that should change... the cabin should feel more familiar to us. Plus, maybe we'd even be able to offer a lounge area like these two pictures show. These were real 747 lounge areas from back in the 70's when the seats were bigger and the people were smaller!
So anyway, in that first poll, over 80% of the people responding said yes, they would slow down. But the sample size for the poll was pretty small, so I thought I should ask the question again. It's not scientific at all and there are very few specifics here, but in the broad overall concept, would you be willing to slow down if it meant you could actually enjoy the ride?
Reader Comments (3)
Looks like the upper deck bar in the Emirates A380 I fly today...
Bjorn- I imagine there are many first class cabins that have really nice lounges in them but my concern is for the masses of people riding in the back of so many airliners, especially in the U.S. - it's nothing like it used to be back in the 70's!
Due to the economic realities of air travel in 2013 compared with 1973, I think it safe to say that we shall never see a return to the golden years of air travel, in fact we will probably see more erosion in terms of comfort and customer service. Whenever a new aircraft is introduced it is depicted with shopping kiosks, spas, and night clubs, when in reality the carriers are interested only in cramming in another 100 seats. LED lighting and self tinting windows are great, but how about speeds of .925 mach like the newest generation of bizjets. Just get me there faster please.