5 ms·

This is very cool. But, there are two ways to make your trips shorter: 1 - make them feel shorter by providing some luxury, comfort, ability to sleep watching

This is very cool. But, there are two ways to make your trips shorter: 1 - make them feel shorter by providing some luxury, comfort, ability to sleep watching movies, or remaining predictive, etc. 2 - go faster and reduce the travel time. There is a cost/benefits points where 1 vs 2 will not make economic sense, even for very wealthy. This is why I think, this kind of technology will mostly work and see demands in military applications and not so much for jet-setting around the world.

TrevorJ 8y ago
Even with current airplanes, for most trips the hassle is all the stuff that involves getting on the plane in the first place. Once you are in your seat, you can either relax or by relatively productive with your laptop+in-flight wifi.
- diminoten 8y ago
  Relaxing in economy is pretty difficult...
- hinkley 8y ago
  That's why high speed trains are displacing short plane flights in, for instance, Japan. (IIRC the trains often go closer to your real destination as well. Planes get pushed to the less influential suburbs due to noise problems)
- fataliss 8y ago
  On a 20h+ flight to Australia, I guarantee you, you will want it any possible minute shorter. Not even mentioning how shorter travel time could help with Jet-Lag. I can see many reasons why we may want to push both in the 1 and 2 categories!
  - TrevorJ 8y ago
    Right, I agree. But I suspect these types of flights make up a fraction of the total number of business related flights in a year. I can't prove that though, would be interesting to see some figures on that.
- Johnny555 8y ago
  Once you are in your seat, you can either relax or by relatively productive with your laptop+in-flight wifi. I think that's only true if you fly first-class (domestic) or business class (or maybe premium economy) international. In standard Economy I can't open my 15" laptop screen all the way, and when I try to use my keyboard, my elbows poke the person in the seat(s) next to me. So being productive while flying is not an option. The economics don't support giving people adequate space, so reducing the time in flight is a big win for everyone.
  - jessriedel 8y ago
    You could buy two seats, or pay extra for the ones with more legroom. I think the GP's point, say, is that you could do both (two seats with extra legroom) at ~3x the cost, so if you're trying to make flights faster you need to compete with that. Indeed, the fact that airplanes are configured the ways they are suggest most flyers aren't willing to pay much at _all_ for more comfort...so it would be surprising if they'd pay a lot more to go faster.
  - TrevorJ 8y ago
    Upgrading to a 'sane' amount of legroom cost me 40 bucks on my last flight as I recall. Even if time in the seat is 100% wasted time, all the ancillary stuff like getting to and from the airport, security, rental car, bag check, etc, etc is a significant % of the overall time expenditure for all but the longest flights.
    - Johnny555 8y ago
      It varies widely among airlines, the last time I booked United for SFO->SEA (a 2 hour flight), they wanted $89 for "economy plus" and ~4 inches more legroom. And even with the extra legroom, the seats are still quite narrow and I have a hard time using a 15" laptop and still keeping my elbows within my armrests. I think I paid $29 for the upgrade on Alaska Airlines (though you need to do your research, since depending on the plane (Alaska, former virgin, Horizon), you may not get more legroom, just a seat closer to the front and maybe a free cocktail.

TrevorJ 8y ago

Even with current airplanes, for most trips the hassle is all the stuff that involves getting on the plane in the first place. Once you are in your seat, you can either relax or by relatively productive with your laptop+in-flight wifi.

diminoten 8y ago
Relaxing in economy is pretty difficult...
hinkley 8y ago
That's why high speed trains are displacing short plane flights in, for instance, Japan. (IIRC the trains often go closer to your real destination as well. Planes get pushed to the less influential suburbs due to noise problems)
fataliss 8y ago
On a 20h+ flight to Australia, I guarantee you, you will want it any possible minute shorter. Not even mentioning how shorter travel time could help with Jet-Lag. I can see many reasons why we may want to push both in the 1 and 2 categories!
- TrevorJ 8y ago
  Right, I agree. But I suspect these types of flights make up a fraction of the total number of business related flights in a year. I can't prove that though, would be interesting to see some figures on that.
Johnny555 8y ago
Once you are in your seat, you can either relax or by relatively productive with your laptop+in-flight wifi. I think that's only true if you fly first-class (domestic) or business class (or maybe premium economy) international. In standard Economy I can't open my 15" laptop screen all the way, and when I try to use my keyboard, my elbows poke the person in the seat(s) next to me. So being productive while flying is not an option. The economics don't support giving people adequate space, so reducing the time in flight is a big win for everyone.
- jessriedel 8y ago
  You could buy two seats, or pay extra for the ones with more legroom. I think the GP's point, say, is that you could do both (two seats with extra legroom) at ~3x the cost, so if you're trying to make flights faster you need to compete with that. Indeed, the fact that airplanes are configured the ways they are suggest most flyers aren't willing to pay much at _all_ for more comfort...so it would be surprising if they'd pay a lot more to go faster.
- TrevorJ 8y ago
  Upgrading to a 'sane' amount of legroom cost me 40 bucks on my last flight as I recall. Even if time in the seat is 100% wasted time, all the ancillary stuff like getting to and from the airport, security, rental car, bag check, etc, etc is a significant % of the overall time expenditure for all but the longest flights.
  - Johnny555 8y ago
    It varies widely among airlines, the last time I booked United for SFO->SEA (a 2 hour flight), they wanted $89 for "economy plus" and ~4 inches more legroom. And even with the extra legroom, the seats are still quite narrow and I have a hard time using a 15" laptop and still keeping my elbows within my armrests. I think I paid $29 for the upgrade on Alaska Airlines (though you need to do your research, since depending on the plane (Alaska, former virgin, Horizon), you may not get more legroom, just a seat closer to the front and maybe a free cocktail.