First class looks pretty nice. How's the legroom in cattle class?

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Travis Rassat
Vector Cycle Works
Noblesville, IN
BikeFit Instructor | FMS | F.I.S.T. | IBFI
Toughman Triathlon Series Ambassador

Moooo

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"The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do."

It's not bad. Not premium coach or business class, of course. But not cattle class either. :-)

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

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TEAM HD
Each day is what you make of it so make it the best day possible.

This one had the Rolls-Royce Trent WXB engines.

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

We don't do any work directly for Rolls but have some content through other suppliers to Airbus. I saw the A350 and A380 at the Paris Air Show. They are awesome looking planes.

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TEAM HD
Each day is what you make of it so make it the best day possible.

meh...airbus pilots make suggestions to the plane.
boeing pilots fly the plane.

;-)

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ΜΟΛΩΝ-ΛΑΒΕ
we're doomed

I've been following this one since it was testing in Toulouse. I agree that the flight deck is incredible. The 787 is slick, but the yokes make it look a bit cramped. The joysticks on the Airbus look so much cleaner.
This aircraft has been in the chatter over at airliners.net over the past couple of weeks.
Thanks for posting the photos.

Spoken like a true Boeing jet jockey. ;-)

FWIW, I'm more of the stick-and-rudder school myself. I can't escape the feeling that Skynet smiles every time a pilot gives a suggestion to an Airbus he's nominally "flying." LOL!

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

First class looks comfy.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Oh, it sure is. :-) It's "Business Class," though. All a matter of square footage. There are only a few international airlines left that have an actual First Class section (Emirates, Ethiad, Lufthansa and few others).

Seats in First Class have several more square feet than you find in Business Class, but there are fewer FC seats in that section while there are more BC seats in a section of the same size in the same aircraft. Airlines have found that people are willing to pay nearly as much for "Business Class," with square footage that's less than found in First Class, as they would for FC. Result? They can put more seats in Business Class and make more money.

In the airline world, it's the First Class and Business Class flyers paying all the bills for that flight. In general, they're subsidizing all the low-fare schlubs in the back in Economy, though airlines make a few bucks from the "Premium Economy" or "Economy Plus" seats, which is why they tend to put a few of those in the Economy section as well.

Doing it this way also allows these non-ultra-low-fare, more-traditional, airlines to offer a few more amenities than you'd find on a Southwest Airlines flight, for example, or over in Europe on a Ryanair flight (lord Jesus, what an experience flying that airline is ;-).

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

not an airbus thing but an airplane thing. didn't think it was worth a new thread so you're being hijacked BK.

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ΜΟΛΩΝ-ΛΑΒΕ
we're doomed

You can't say "hijacked" in an airport! ;-)

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

Interesting that on the pilot seat, the side stick control has to be operated with the left hand and on the navigator seat, it is on the ride hand.

They're joysticks -- with all that that word implies -- more than anything else. ;-)

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

In the airline world, it's the First Class and Business Class flyers paying all the bills for that flight. In general, they're subsidizing all the low-fare schlubs in the back in Economy, though airlines make a few bucks from the "Premium Economy" or "Economy Plus" seats, which is why they tend to put a few of those in the Economy section as well.


It's the only way for the economics of the business to work. Economy class fares, are a deal when you look at it at the macro level.

When I first traveled to Hawaii for Ironman Hawaii in 1989, I think I paid $900 for my flight there. I was much younger and was not making big money at the time, so this seemed like a lot of money. I've been going back to Hawaii on and off for business now for many years for Ironman Hawaii, and will be going again this year. I just looked at flights today. I recall reading that for Economy Class fares about 90 days out is typically the best time to buy - you have the most choice, and a good range of prices. You could wait, and possibly save a bit, but then the choices start to shrink. So I looked today and the prices to fly from Toronto to Kona ranged from $900 - $1100. What else has stayed close to the same price for nearly 30 years??

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

it's prob been about 20 years now, and i think it was the WSJ, that had an article about air travel. my numbers may be off a bit, but the point is still understood. at that time the article said if air fare had kept up with the price of milk a round trip ticket from new york to lax would have been in the $1100-1300 range.

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ΜΟΛΩΝ-ΛΑΒΕ
we're doomed

No doubt almost all airlines have brutally cut costs to stay competitive in the daily (and even hourly) fare wars they carry out against each other. Pulling planes out of the inventory to lower the number of seats and keep fares high, as well, though how successful that's been is a matter of debate.

I can remember non-revving back before the mass bankruptcies and I always managed to get up in first or business. That was the life back then, I have to say. I still have flight benefits as a result of my buyout from my old airline, but I never use them. Non-revving, especially at my priority level, isn't worth putting up with the cattle call nature that predominates these days, for one. Load factors are always in the 90s and seats are limited and I don't feel like playing the non-rev airport-to-airport game, either. Heck, I'd rather take my chances catching a hop on an Air Mobility Command aircraft, which I'm also entitled to do. LOL! ;-)

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

BK,

You know far more about the business side of it. I'm just surprised that I'll fly all the way from Toronto to Kona in October, for about the same price that I paid for the same trip, 30 years ago!! That seems bizarre to me.

Then people go on and on about how expensive flying is! I go, no way . . viewed in the context of the above, it's a bargain!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

By far, the greatest benefit to the Carter-era commercial airlines deregulation regime -- which eliminated the Civil Aeronautics Board that controlled fares and routes and such -- was the effect it had on fare prices, which at the time were somewhat artificially propped up. Today, it's so inexpensive to fly that other than the price of milk I can think of no other commodity (if flying can be considered a commodity) that's cheaper.

The downsides are obvious, though. Even a few minutes spent at a crowded hub airport, in a crowded boarding gate area, on a crowded plane with people you wouldn't want to sit next to even if you were being paid for your effort (hahahaha!) will tell you plenty. ;-)

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."