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Please Don't Squeeze the Passengers: Airbus

Airbus, the big European planebuilder has urged airlines to go with 18"-wide seats, up from the standard 17" in use now. Their studies indicate that the extra width makes a BIG difference in passengers' ability to sleep on long flights (which are increasing) as well as improving overall comfort. Frequent Flier comments HERE

The best part of every trip is realizing that it has upset your expectations

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If this standard were adopted, it might be the single greatest improvement in quality of travel in economy class.  17 inches is alright if no one is beside you, a rarity today.  On an Transocean flight, it make sleeping very difficult indeed.  I'm glad to see Airbus take this proconsumer stand.

Airbus has taken a major step in passenger comfort with the introduction of the new Airbus 380, their new double-deck airliner. Just as a large cruise ship will sail choppy seas in much greater comfort due to its size and sophistication, the new 380 is so much more smooth, quiet and comfortable up in the skies. Sure seat sizes and configuration will vary between operators but certainly the overall 'environment experience' is so much nicer

Interesting point, Mac. Large planes with bright decor somehow seem to me roomier, even if the seat is the same size. I think there's a balance between physical comfort and "feel" that airlines may not always recognize. On the other hand, I've been on 777s that had so little division of space that my mental image was sitting in a huge concert hall...and felt a bit uncomfortable from that!

I've never flown an A380, Mac.  They still haven't caught on in North America, where Boeing clearly dominates the market.  One thing that I've wonder about is with all those people to board (somewhere over 500), is the process of getting on and off the plane very slow or have they figured out how to make this move along with reasonable efficiency?

It seems as if the terminals that they use have many more access ramps (fingers) to spread the loading and unloading, plus, of course, the terminal also needs to have sufficient immigration desks and baggage facilities. So far our experiences have been good but I can imagine just how it could foul up!

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