Economy Class, Done Right!
 

Hey all. There are two new posts up on ASK THE PILOT...

1. Economy Class, Done Right! The woes of steerage, and six ideas to make it better. A look at economy, from PeoplExpress to the present.

"...If you ask me, what makes economy class uncomfortable is only partly to do with legroom. It's more about the shapes of the seats themselves, and the terrible ergonomics of the surrounding space. Each time I settle in to an economy chair, I silently wonder what malformed extraterrestrial it apparently was designed for..."


2. Have Pillow, Will Travel: I’m vexed and perplexed by the widespread phenomenon of teenage girls carrying giant fluffy pillows onto airplanes.

"...I'm uncertain when exactly this trend got started, but you see it everywhere. Granted it’s a helpful idea, now that many carriers no longer dispense even tiny, non-fluffy pillows on all but the longest flights. The trouble is, people like me are out of the club. Grown-up men can’t walk through airports with giant fluffy pillows unless we’re willing to get laughed at. We’re stuck with those stupid inflatable neck brace things..."

Both new stories are on the home page, here...

http://www.askthepilot.com/

Enjoy!

-- Patrick Smith

1. Excellent point on the ergonomics of the seats. The seats themselves can make a HUGE difference. E.g. compare short/medium-haul Y seats on AF A320 fleet (and by that I mean A318, A319, A320, A321) and KL 737 fleet - a world of difference; the KL Recaro seats are vastly superior.

Apparently though, airlines don't like to actually spend money on those seats and make them comfortable. They tout the lie-flats, suites and all that, but hardly ever advertise comfort in Y, because they don't really care about people in Y. I think that time has shown that most Y pax care more about the price and would gladly stand for 10 hours to save $0.15.

2. The pillow thing is limited to US pax. I haven't seen European "pillow folk", for example. I've wondered about this myself and I can't wrap my head around the fact that in Y you generally have fairly little room to play with. Add giant pillow ... and you're seriously crowding yourself in there. On long haul flights I often see blankets and pillows thrown on the floor (as they protrude in the pax personal space) and I can't imagine how crammed it would feel to add a big pillow in the already small space. To answer the author though, I suppose the manly thing to do is bring a mattress on the flight. ;)