Cloudship

I am surprised that no one here has posted anything about Aircraft Interiors International going on now in Hamburg. If anyone is in the position to attend, I would love to hear about it. This is an industry trade show, about something that impacts us as flyers greatly. I have read a few articles about it online, and a few of the topics covered are raising some interesting questions.

1) Air Travel Romanticism. This was covered by Boeing (about third article down on the page). I really have to agree with this, but what really caught my attention was the disappointment of the day right below. What exactly makes for a magical experience? Is it branding, or is it comfort and treatment?

2) Overhead Bins. This company has designed an overhead bin extension. It would quickly address the carry-on size issue, and maybe even the not enough room issue. Could the airlines willingness to adopt, or unwillingness, be a good measure of what the airlines true motives are on size limits?

3) Aren't we getting carried away with IFE? I sometimes get worried that it is all the industry cares about, and is spending far too much on relative to other places they should be.

4) And lastly, why is this an industry only event? I would think that the industry would want to at least have one day for the general public to come in simply in order to gather real input on whether these trends are truly what the passengers want and in the end, a real value proposition versus pointless gimmicks. I have an idea for an airline - give a few of your frequent fliers passes to the show, and get their input.

gobluetwo

sbm12, aka wandering aramean, is (or will be) covering it on his blog. Has one post up about the interior of the new A350-XWB.

http://blog.wandr.me/2014/04/photos-...mall-giveaway/
http://blog.wandr.me/2014/04/join-me...ors-expo-2014/

sbm12

I'm here now. I put something up in CBuzz but I don't think it got any traction.

Yes, the industry is obsessed with IFE and connectivity. Lots of talk about new wifi (Gogo announced another new product for global high-speed options) and such. Mostly because those are the things customers pay for rather than the things that the airlines have to provide anyways and get nothing back in exchange so they're theoretically willing to pay more for those systems.

Tomorrow I hope to do the catering hall. That should be a lot of fun.

sbm12

Catering hall was, in fact, awesome. I probably could have had a lot more in the world of free samples than I did (I saw at least 5 caviar companies) but I did walk away at the end of the day with a few bottles of champagne and much in the way of snacks. Also, no need to buy meals that day.

I've got a video online from the A350 XWB interior tour.



I'll hopefully have a slideshow post of some future seats online later today.

sbm12

A day later, but the slideshow is online.

Some of these seats are old news to folks around here. Others are likely new to everyone, having just been launched at the show.

gobluetwo

Nice article and slideshow. Definitely some interesting concepts. I wonder, for instance, how receptive airlines/passengers would be to the stacked business class seat configuration.

sbm12

Thanks.

I sat in that seat. I would actively avoid it in the future. It was simply too tight a layout in every dimension.



There is a similar version which is not stacked. It adds a few inches to the total length of the seat and is more comfy. But there is a 4" savings from stacking; do that over a full cabin and you can probably get an extra row on board whilst still claiming lie-flat beds. Airlines are going to think long and hard about that.

SeriouslyLost

I wonder how long before an airline figures out that they can just offer to drug people, put them out for an 8 hour flight, and load the bodies onto bunk pallets for the flight? Actually, there're times when that could be an attractive option...

KevinDTW

My wife says I would sometimes be better off crating myself up with some blankets, food, water, and Ambien, and traveling in the cargo hold. I'm pretty sure she's kidding but the idea is not completely without merit. I could stretch out, spend time with the dogs and cats flying down there...you know, this could really work!

jbaumstark18

B6 needs to go long haul, and If they do they would have the best long haul economy. For my dream long haul economy, I would have:

- 34'' pitch on all economy seats
- Personal IFE screens
- An amenity kit, like what delta has recently introduced
- Fixed wing headrest
- Get rid of the cradle/slide forward seats.

HawaiiO

Korean Air has all that.
Amenity kit is just a small basic bag with socks and toothpaste/toothbrush but it works.