Friday Reads – 9 June 2023

1. Any way around the paywall on that “Tiny Truck” article?

2. You can sign up for the free trial – the writer’s a published author so has a good transport blog. LBM

3. I can’t see any drawbacks at all in the “fartface” airline seats.

4. Basil Jet, getting out of the lower seats will be difficult being unable to stand.

5. I think the person who thought up the double level airplane design either just wanted some publicity regardless of the practicality or they have no understanding of other issues. The primary one is evacuation in and emergency. You would also need to increase the number of exits which would reduce the structural integrity of the plane and would not be possible to retrofit. More toilets would be required as would more flight attendants and hence more seats for them – which have to be special seats. More passenger weight means less fuel capacity – to the point where one wonders if any fuel at all could be carried. Far easier just to build a double deck plane but that then highlights the problem that you need more engines and in any case airlines have found there is very limited demand for routes where one needs to carry over 400 passengers.

   I put this one alongside the idea to repurpose disused tube tunnels for cycling.

6. @PoP
   While I completely understand the point you are trying to make, I wonder if you are coming at it from the wrong angle.
   Certain airlines are definitely keen to cram more passengers onto a plane and I think this is probably a more comfortable way to achieve that than those stupid sitting/standing/perch things that have previous been touted.
   Those same airlines are unlikely to care if passengers have to queue for the entire duration of the flight to use the toilet…

   I see these seats being most useful on shorthaul flights, but I have to wonder if there is physically enough vertical space in the cabin to fit such seats on the smaller planes typically used on those routes. (Can the floor be lowered without redesigning the entire structure of the plane?)

   But the biggest issue really is the evacuation one.
   Even with more doors the steps will be an issue, as will the narrow corridor.

   I don’t see how more passenger weight means less fuel capacity. It does, of course, mean less range though.

7. @djl The article says it is intended for the centre section between the aisles on wide-body interiors that have the headroom. The perch variant was for the rear of narrow bodies. They are both targeted at short haul routes where flights are not range limited.
   It does point at a possible ultra low cost future. No one so far has pushed into the sector likely as other costs become more significant.
   Laker & Norwegian were pushed out of the market, Ryan/Wizz/SW so far are the bottom. The Asian area will likely be the next development. With used 747s and 380s plentiful no one has seen an opportunity to try them at full economy layouts.

8. @Aleks

   On a 747 or A380 the airlines make the most revenue on business class, not economy. The cattle class seats in the back don’t have much margin, they fill up what would otherwise be empty space and the cost of the ticket mainly covers the kerosine required to lift the extra weight of passenger + bags.

   Furthermore, few 747/A380 flights were full even before the pandemic, and if you can’t fill out economy class now, and the cost of an economy ticket mainly covers fuel, so for every passenger you add > you increase your fuel costs > the ticket isn’t much cheaper; therefore economy of scale isn’t very applicable, and therefore full economy layout doesn’t really improve much.

   There’s a reason the airlines are getting rid of 747s and A380s: there are just very few routes where you can consistently fill them up and make the lease cost worthwhile!

9. @PeeWee all that is true of scheduled airlines and serving the ultra wealthy where profits are many multiples of ordinary folk.
   Used to be true of rail with Pullmans, porters, limiteds in a previous gilded age. There are artificial capacity constraints currently driving higher fares.
   Breeze now ‘class’ as Nice, Nicer, and Nicest.
   747s used to operate as belly cargo haulers with the human cargo as gravy.. The Upper class was just a marketing way of selling the cramped cabin on a widebody.
   The market value of a 380 has ‘increased’ from $25m during COVID to $37m today Global Express are a new startup in the UK by those behind the holiday home swap scheme. They have just outright bought a 380 as their first plane, previous operations like Hi Fly have leased. There are ways of ‘filling’ a plane, RyanAir do it everyday. The standing seats were to be a price leader and sold out first for less than £10. When you have non-refundable tickets you do not actually fly them all. Each sector has a small allocation based on previous metrics held for walk-up fares on the day for 10x the average seat. The profits are earned from ‘service’ fees added on.
   Generally the larger the plane the higher the earnings. 737s were 130 seats, the latest Max10 is 230 seats. Within that there are limitations – the 220 is classed and taxed as a regional jet below a seating capacity, but some other markets want larger seating for lower costs compared to 737/320s. Some longer routes now justify direct services sacrificing some empty seats for greater fuel range.

10. https://www.globalairlines.com/about

    Gatwick to LAX and NYC starts spring 2024 with 4 A380s.

    Global Airlines claims to be a “game-changing force within the aviation industry” and will set “out to change the face of consumer aviation around the world, taking us all back to the age of golden travel… with a modern flair”.

    Global Airlines will have approximately 471 seats aboard our 4 x A380s, with more coming in 2024.
    The A380 is capable of carrying between 500 and 853 passengers in regular seating.

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