This week in Patrick Smith's ASK THE PILOT
FLYING ISN'T SO BAD, IT'S GETTING ON AND OFF THE PLANE THAT SUCKS. SOME IDEAS TO MAKE IT BETTER.
<<< When boarding, please, for the love of god, do not place your carry-on bags in the first empty bin that you come to. Use a bin as close to your seat as possible. It drives me crazy when I see a guy shoving his 26-inch Tumi into a bin above row 5, then continuing on to his assigned seat in row 52. I know it's tempting, but this causes the forward bins to fill up quickly. Because airplanes are boarded back-to-front, there are no spaces left for subsequent passengers whose assigned seats are in the forward part of the cabin. They are forced to travel backwards in order to stow their belongings, then return upstream, against the flow of traffic, to get back to their seats. After landing, the same thing happens in reverse, only now it's worse because * everybody * is moving up the aisle en masse. Heaven help the poor sod who has to navigate rearward to retrieve his stuff. Am I wrong to suggest that assigned bins might be a good idea? If nothing else, airlines should make a gateside announcement requesting that passengers please use compartments at or near their seats.
The basic philosophy of boarding a plane from the rear might itself be part of the problem. if you ask me, planes should be boarded not back-to-front, but outside-in. In other words, window and center seats first, followed by the aisles. A lot of the existing congestion is caused by people having to squeeze around each other to reach their outboard seats. ... >>>
To read the full article, click here:
http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/...skthepilot267/
You can read for free. Look for the enter Salon or skip this ad prompts on the gateway page.
Last week in ASK THE PILOT:
Airlines & the environment, part 2. The scourge of onboard trash, and what some airlines are doing about it. Plus, how some airlines are tackling emissions, from Virgin Atlantic to a little-known Costa Rican carrier that claims to be the first carbon-neutral airline.
<<< One of the things that always shocks me is the amount of material waste -- namely plastics, paper, styrofoam and aluminum -- generated and thrown away by airlines and their customers. In the U.S. alone almost two million people fly daily. Thats a minimum of two million plastic cups, just in
The full story:
http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/...skthepilot266/
FLYING ISN'T SO BAD, IT'S GETTING ON AND OFF THE PLANE THAT SUCKS. SOME IDEAS TO MAKE IT BETTER.
<<< When boarding, please, for the love of god, do not place your carry-on bags in the first empty bin that you come to. Use a bin as close to your seat as possible. It drives me crazy when I see a guy shoving his 26-inch Tumi into a bin above row 5, then continuing on to his assigned seat in row 52. I know it's tempting, but this causes the forward bins to fill up quickly. Because airplanes are boarded back-to-front, there are no spaces left for subsequent passengers whose assigned seats are in the forward part of the cabin. They are forced to travel backwards in order to stow their belongings, then return upstream, against the flow of traffic, to get back to their seats. After landing, the same thing happens in reverse, only now it's worse because * everybody * is moving up the aisle en masse. Heaven help the poor sod who has to navigate rearward to retrieve his stuff. Am I wrong to suggest that assigned bins might be a good idea? If nothing else, airlines should make a gateside announcement requesting that passengers please use compartments at or near their seats.
The basic philosophy of boarding a plane from the rear might itself be part of the problem. if you ask me, planes should be boarded not back-to-front, but outside-in. In other words, window and center seats first, followed by the aisles. A lot of the existing congestion is caused by people having to squeeze around each other to reach their outboard seats. ... >>>
To read the full article, click here:
http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/...skthepilot267/
You can read for free. Look for the enter Salon or skip this ad prompts on the gateway page.
Last week in ASK THE PILOT:
Airlines & the environment, part 2. The scourge of onboard trash, and what some airlines are doing about it. Plus, how some airlines are tackling emissions, from Virgin Atlantic to a little-known Costa Rican carrier that claims to be the first carbon-neutral airline.
<<< One of the things that always shocks me is the amount of material waste -- namely plastics, paper, styrofoam and aluminum -- generated and thrown away by airlines and their customers. In the U.S. alone almost two million people fly daily. Thats a minimum of two million plastic cups, just in
The full story:
http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/...skthepilot266/