8 ms·
More details here: https://www.tudelft.nl/en/ae/flying-v/ https://www.tudelft.nl/en/ae/flying-v/ > "we’re looking into new options to having a rest or taking m
by mattlondon 7y ago
More details here: https://www.tudelft.nl/en/ae/flying-v/ https://www.tudelft.nl/en/ae/flying-v/
> "we’re looking into new options to having a rest or taking meals on a plane. Offering food from a buffet is one of the options we’re sinking our teeth in"
Based on the A380 "promises" of in-flight gyms/casino/salons/creches, I think we can safely call bullshit on this - we'll just get more seats crammed in as usual (in economy at least - perhaps first class will get these?). That is fine - I understand the economics - it is marketing I guess.
- __m 7y agoYou don’t have gyms/casino/salons/creches in your A380?
- kens 7y agoIn case anyone else wondered why an A380 would include religious symbolism: in North American English, a crèche is a Christmas nativity scene with baby Jesus, while in British English, a crèche is a nursery/daycare. The latter makes much more sense on a plane.
- mattlondon 7y agoInteresting - I assumed creche was an American term and widely understood. In the UK I've never heard it used much (we typically use "nursery" but I opted for creche based on the assumption that most readers are not UK-natives)
- sapphire_tomb 7y agoI'm from the UK and I hear crèche used way more than nursery.
- zupzupper 7y agoNursery is way more common here in the States, creche is usually used when someone is writing sci-fi or fantasy and wants to sound fancy =)
- logfromblammo 7y agoNurseries are for human children; creches are for ineffable alien offspring-rearing purposes.
- wishinghand 7y agoI agree with that. I’ve only known crèches as places where a human body is held in order to be augmented or have a mind transfer to a body in a second crèche.
- alex_duf 7y agoIt's French, it means both nursery and the nativity scene. Each side of the Atlantic decided to land on the other definition
- bostik 7y agoCréche is for children, nursery is for plants. Simple. (UK resident.)
- chrisseaton 7y ago> a crèche is a Christmas nativity scene with baby Jesus That's a scene... of a crèche. It's the same terminology.
- starpilot 7y agoYeah, they made the same promises for the 747 as well.
- dang 7y agoThanks—we've changed the URL to that from https://www.tudelft.nl/en/2019/tu-delft/klm-and-tu-delft-join-forces-to-make-aviation-more-sustainable/ https://www.tudelft.nl/en/2019/tu-delft/klm-and-tu-delft-joi..., which is a press release.
- semi-extrinsic 7y agoFor a lot more in-depth info, and even flight footage from a scaled RC demonstrator, see link below (from 2015, flight test at 1:18:30 in the video - yes it's a >1h long presentation/lecture) https://www.jbenad.com/news/2015/2/4/flyingv https://www.jbenad.com/news/2015/2/4/flyingv
- AshleyGrant 7y agoYou get what you pay for. If you want to pay absolute bottom-dollar prices, you're going to get absolute bottom-dollar service. If you want to pay more you can and will get more services. I've hung out at an on-board bar on a 777 in the last year on a flight from Australia to the US, but the ticket cost over $8k USD round-trip. It's possible to have a private shower and bedroom onboard an A380 flight, but you will pay dearly for the privilege. There's room in the market for both extremes as well as in the middle. I doubt you'll get a buffet service on a round trip ticket that costs <$500 (trans-oceanic, at least) as it likely is not economical to offer that. That being said, there are airlines that are offering improved options even in Economy cabins... they just charge for it. An example is Air New Zealand's "Economy Skycouch" https://www.airnewzealand.com/economy-skycouch https://www.airnewzealand.com/economy-skycouch So with the possibility that this design could save on fuel costs, maybe airlines will be able to sell upgraded experiences at prices that are today bare-bones. Time will tell.
- mastre_ 7y ago> It's possible to have a private shower and bedroom onboard an A380 flight, but you will pay dearly for the privilege. I wonder if a paid shower pass system would work. You wait your turn, but you get to take a shower, for, say, something like $100. Just seems like it's kept to an all-or-nothing on purpose.
- pkulak 7y agoThe problem is that now there's so much price pressure on the economy seats, they are subsidized by the more expensive options. If you want a first class seat today, that takes 50% more room on the aircraft, you will pay what, 2, 3, 4 times as much money? There's really no middle ground. I'm fine with that, cause I have a family or four, we're all short, and I'm cheap, but I guess that makes me part of the problem. :D
- baxtr 7y ago"Take from the rich, give to the poor!" Although in my experience, many companies that don't care that much about travel expenses pay most of the economy seats. At least on the transatlantic flights I've been on.
- matz1 7y agoThere are no in-flight gyms/casino/salons/creches but we have in-flight bed, shower, bar right now.
- baybal2 7y agoI know how to make A380 profitable, but you may not like it... Put 1000 economy class seats into it and fly NYC-London, or Tokyo-SF till it falls apart. I otherwise have no idea how in the world can it make money. I seriously believe that second hand A380s will eventually see this fate.
- petre 7y agoYou still have to fill it. It would probably be easier to fly 3 or 4 A321LR instead depending on demand.
- mynameisvlad 7y agoEconomy class seats generally speaking will earn the least amount of money to an airline, so this idea would actually likely be the most unprofitable option. To make it truly profitable, you convert the plane to First class, but then you'll need to fill all those seats. Wendover Productions had a great video on this a few years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzB5xtGGsTc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzB5xtGGsTc
- Max-q 7y agoWhy, then, do the companies only offering one class (South West, Ryan Air) tend to make a profit, while the ones with multi class (KLM, Air France, American Airlines) tend to lose money? That video is very wrong compared to real life. For the first: it assumes a full plane. My experience is that economy tends to be full, business has a lot of available seats. For the second: it does not account for the cost of running lounges, fast track security and other complimentary services offered to business and first class passengers. Look at the companies. Filling the plane with economy passengers and offering low service level is what brings profitability.
- iamtheworstdev 7y agoI believe Southwest makes its money by catering to business persons that pay more for flexible scheduling and more direct flight options rather than paying more for amenities.
- senectus1 7y agoI was just on an A380 Business class flight. I can tell you there is a "saloon" on this thing, because at 37000 feet I stood in my Qatar PJ's with two other guys and drank cocktails in the bar. surreal experience for me...
- viewtransform 7y agoThink about it. 500 years ago it took Columbus and his crew of 88 men ten weeks to reach America in three 58 foot, 100 ton wooden boats pushed along the ocean by wind. They had no toilets, ate boiled food with cheese and salted meats. Today, 525 of us can travel on a 230 feet long, 600 ton flying boat lifted above the clouds crossing over the north pole from Los Angeles to Dubai at Mach 0.8 in 17 hours. We can watch movies, special order a kosher or vegetarian meal, drink fine wine while wearing complimentary socks and PJ's. For a few thousand dollars each.