Originally Posted by
mecabq
How about some of the designs we have seen over the years for more isolated Y class configurations -- like bunk beds/coffins. These were never seriously viable, I suppose (or maybe they were:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...akl-ewr-flight), but I would certainly choose something like a capsule hotel bed over a traditional Y seat on a long-haul trip, and not because of COVID.
If you follow the bunk beds concept, you have to reevaluate the current seating concepts. The cabin is not big enough for seats and bed bunks together. Do not forget down below is space mostly for cargos with its high revenue. So on the main cabin is either seats or bunks.
if you choose bunks, you have to consider how the pax eat, the movement or traffic in the cabin. Most can lay down the whole 13 hours or longer and it do feels like in a coffin for a long time. People will tend to move and stand around the cabin. Pax have to eat in shifts in a seperate area as there is not enough space for them to eat at the same time.
So all of these are not so good with a pandemic around.
During a pandemic, first is to prevent the contamination. Meaning less movements, less interaction, less contamination of the food&beverage...which are all scary and definitely kill the meaning of air travel nowadays..
We will have to be patient and wait for a vaccine to travel normally again.
At the moment international travel should only be for essential purposes. Travel bans and qurantines at arrival are nuisances but necessary. It is far from over. Infections can still destroy the small steps we have achieved so far.