Efrem

Another Airbus patent. They seem to patent a lot of things that have zero chance of ever being built and used. Still, this concept has some merit, if you don't mind dangling from a crane while they put it in and take it out ...

"Airbus Patents Detachable Cabins to Cut Plane Boarding Times," wired.com

(The article doesn't say, but I assume the galley(s) and lav(s) would be fixed to the airframe.)

DonCarpenter

If this could work safely, it would be great.

fassy

That makes no sense, you would want to have the galleys and lavs also in the module so you can service them "offline". Unloading, cleaning and loading the galleys and lavs costs a lot of time.

In general not a bad concept at all. Might be a tough nut to crack for the mechanical design but if the cabin pod is fully self-sufficient pressurized vessel, why not?

ScatterX

Poor journalism.

Title: "Airbus Patents Detachable Cabins to Cut Plane Boarding Times"

Actual idea: Method ... will "reduce immobilization time of the aircraft"

This is 99.99% about reducing TURN TIME of the aircraft (which it won't really do anyway). It is not about passenger loading/experience or passenger load time. The author states this will save time by "not waiting for that jerk with the oversized carry-on to finally check the damn thing." This is misleading at best. Passengers will still have to load into the pod and deal with all the same loading issues. What has changed is the passengers will ALSO have to wait for the pod to be put on the plane and then also wait for everything else that needs to happen before the plane can depart.

The pod concept might reduce passenger time if passenger unloading and main cabin cleaning were the only necessary actions during a turn. In reality, the plane will still sit there waiting for luggage/cargo swapping, fuel loading, lav dumping, lav cleaning, crew swaps, food/bev stocking, clearance, and other things. The new crew will also have to inspect the "new" plane after the pod is installed. IMO, all of these things will get worse because the ground crew will consume time messing with the pod. Airlines are certainly not going to add a bunch of people (AKA expensive labor) to make this work.

IMO, this doesn't even seem like a good idea for the airlines. Considering the total system costs over any period of time, the profit per passenger likely decreases.

At any rate, it won't be better for passengers unless the passenger loading experience is better and faster. This concept is worse and slower.

Sopwith

... and Airbus is going to fix it.

http://www.popsci.com/airbus-wants-t...s-and-airports

Tchiowa

Certainly would make turn around time faster. No passengers getting on or off. No need to stop to clean the plane or load new food.

LondonElite

If you really think about this, it's a terrible idea for passengers.

Beven12S

This "solution" is an old concept; the shipping container. The only novel thing here is that people are being used as the consignment. I would not have granted the patent on the basis of obviousness.

JY1024

Moving over to Travel News, where there is an extant thread on the same news. Thanks. /JY1024, TravelBuzz co-moderator

weero

With the less of the pressurised cylindrical structure, passengers have to get used to get a lot less oxygen ... which will further reduce the air rage triggered by long waits for the airline body to arrive ...