Could cattle class get any worse?

[QuotaMan]

Joy

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3039531/Could-cattle-class-worse-Introducing-BUDGET-economy-airlines-squeezing-extra-seat-row.html

 

With luxury plane suites pushing the boundaries of lavish travel, the upstairs-downstairs-style divide between economy and suites is continually growing.

 

And now Airbus is set to introduce an extra seat to each row of its Airbus A380 model, squeezing yet more passengers onto each plane.

 

From 2017 there will be 11 seats incorporated into the same space as the current 10 are placed, and a fourth class introduced in response to the new dreaded middle seat.

 

 

Tight squeeze! Airbus are set to cram an extra seat into their Airbus 380 in the middle section. The change is due to come into place in 2017

 

The configuration was rejected by Emirates but two manufacturers, Zodiac and Geven, have agreed to deliver the seats

 

The addition of the centre seat will change the current configuration from 3-4-3 to become a 3-5-3 set up.

 

At the moment the company uses First, Business and Economy class, but there will soon be the addition of 'budget economy', cleverly branded as Choice Economy.

 

Some critics have gone as far as calling the new set-up 'economy minus'.

 

Senior Vice President of Marketing for Airbus Christopher Emerson, told trade publication Leeham News and Comment: 'Ninety per cent of world travellers are economy but not all are homogeneous.

 

'We want to give a choice to the 90 per cent of the economy passengers. They are going to be the driver of the growth, the doubling of growth in the next 15 years.'

 

Miraculously the inclusion of an additional seat will not alter the seat width for economy ticket holders. 

 

Currently the width is 18in, which falls in line with the aircraft manufacturer's manifesto 18 months ago to adopt that size as an industry standard.

 

Airbus claims a rearrange of the cabin has enabled it to maintain this width and squeeze in the extra seat. 

The width of the arm rest, however, will change, with the aircraft adopting a slimmer version. 

 

 

The Airbus A380 will be advertised as having 544 seats instead of 525, and Emerson said the additional revenue per aircraft would be $20m per year. 

 

'That's the equivalent of 40 per cent fuel burn reduction,' he explained. 

 

 

 

[jerry]

That's simply no armrest anymore . People are getting bigger and bigger so let's give them .... less space ...  . 

 

19 seats extra on a total of 544 ... that's uhhhhh not even 4% ... i bet 99% of the people is willing to pay 4%

more for a decent seat .

 

Must remember to avoid the companies that will imply this configuration .  

[sadisfied]

That looks awful. Not even sure how they'd fit the food/drinks carts down that aisle

[DaffyDuck]

(Makes note to avoid carriers that will fly that configuration.)

[Colin back in Pattaya]

Having grown used to the 10 abreast steerage cabin in the A380, I'm not keen on seeing an 11 abreast version. But in fairness...

 

Cabin width, Boeing 747 = 20 feet, A380 = 21 ft 5 inches, difference 17 inches.

This is what initially enabled Airbus to offer both 10 abreast seating, 18 inch wide steerage seats and wider than B747 aisles. Adding an extra seat in a cabin aleady 17" wider than the B747, means reducing the armrest width, but still allows as much room as on a 10 abreast B747.

Some of you will recall that the B747 initially entered service with 9 abreast seating at a time when the airline industry was struggling. By the mid 70s, as economies picked up, seating was almost universally increased to 10 abreast.

 

Now the question is which airlines will opt for the 11 abreast configuration. It might work for some Asian carriers whose Asian passengers are slightly smaller than us 'widebody' fat falang.

[Daddee]

wow... skinny armrests mean everyone is sitting closer together than they already were...  that's insane.

[Mr Wombat]

I'd hate to be sitting in the middle seat wanting to get up and go for a piss in the middle of the night.

[semi-retired member]

No worse than already sitting in one of the two window-seats with 3-4-3 configuration, for ease/difficulty of getting out.

 

Like others above, I would avoid any airline, which used this new 3-5-3 layout  ...  but so far the article doesn't mention whether any will do.

 

The B772/773 3-4-3 layout is currently a pet hate, 3-3-3 is fine !

[the kid01]

I doubt carriers will want o commission airbus to fit the spec you have highlighted. There is way too much choice now.

 

I even check routes and what planes a carrier is putting on. Then check on the airline review sites.

 

I stick to the Middle Easter carriers.

 

Interesting to see which carriers may punt for this. Probably to old European carriers who have lost so much ground over the last 10 years.

[roger buttmore]

Even the 'normal' sized guy in the last photo has his arm in his neighbours space. 

 

Doesn't look comfy for a long one.

 

Just noticed -  no telly or entertainment unit either.

[southsidebruce]

I took a flight (economy class on a US carrier) in April 2012 from BKK to Dulles (Virginia, USA)... it went to Hong Kong and there it filled to the BRIM... I had a relatively BIG, Chinese guy next to me (probably 6' 2" and weighed in at around 250 or so)... so this BIG guy proceeds to fall asleep and lean into me... fuqueME, I thought - what would Tony Soprano or any of his Captains have done?  but I got through the flight and vowed to NEVER, EVER get a route that takes me though HongKong - especially if the flight is to the States...I assume that due to the HUGE number of Chinese middle class who now are mobile/fly around - that they often fill flights in HongKong...  On the flight in the other direction (to BKK), the plane was not as full and I had sufficient space... only complaint was from some boneheads from Russia (forget, but pretty they were speaking Russian (I studied Russian in school)), who were loud, obnoxious and the ones in the row behind me would grab my seat and pull it forward as they moved in and out of their seats - one of my pet peeves - again, if it were Tony Soprano, the obnoxious passenger(s) would have a talking to, and if that didn't work, they would be found in the bathroom at the end of the flight by a flight attendant, not in very tipTop shape... American Italian Mafia justice served... 

[Jimbo58]

All of the seat configurations on a new airliner are up to the purchasing airline. So I assume this is being offered by Airbus as an option. I doubt many premium airlines will prefer aircraft in this configuration, but we will have to wait and see, then choose who to fly with accordingly.

[Jimbo58]

All of the seat configurations on a new airliner are up to the purchasing airline. So I assume this is being offered by Airbus as an option. I doubt many premium airlines will prefer aircraft in this configuration, but we will have to wait and see, then choose who to fly with accordingly.

[jerry]

After reading the article another time it's not the whole plane that has this configuration but only the mid section .  

[piehead]

I gave up cattle class a long time ago.eva business class lhr to bangers for me every time,if I cannot afford that then I would rather stay at home.

[Gnorman]

They've done away with the seat belts also. 

[nixonsbest]

They've done away with the seat belts also. 

And the life jackets....

[Daddee]

And the life jackets....

and the toilets...

[axunjaxn]

I took a flight (economy class on a US carrier) in April 2012 from BKK to Dulles (Virginia, USA)... it went to Hong Kong and there it filled to the BRIM... I had a relatively BIG, Chinese guy next to me (probably 6' 2" and weighed in at around 250 or so)... so this BIG guy proceeds to fall asleep and lean into me... fuqueME, I thought - what would Tony Soprano or any of his Captains have done?  but I got through the flight and vowed to NEVER, EVER get a route that takes me though HongKong - especially if the flight is to the States...I assume that due to the HUGE number of Chinese middle class who now are mobile/fly around - that they often fill flights in HongKong...  On the flight in the other direction (to BKK), the plane was not as full and I had sufficient space... only complaint was from some boneheads from Russia (forget, but pretty they were speaking Russian (I studied Russian in school)), who were loud, obnoxious and the ones in the row behind me would grab my seat and pull it forward as they moved in and out of their seats - one of my pet peeves - again, if it were Tony Soprano, the obnoxious passenger(s) would have a talking to, and if that didn't work, they would be found in the bathroom at the end of the flight by a flight attendant, not in very tipTop shape... American Italian Mafia justice served... 

They have been doing that on domestic flights in the U.S. for years. Our Chinese cousins are learning quickly. But they are not TEXAS size yet.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Jack

[petermik]

Before anyone starts squeeling about "cattle class" add up the mileage in your flight and divide it by the amount you have paid this will give you a figure of price/mile tell me what other form of transport is as cheap regarding cost/mile and in addition you get food and drink also

p.s. fat bastards should pay more anyhow

[biggles]

"p.s. fat bastards should pay more anyhow"

 

An interesting concept. Presumably charging extra for luggage is because more weight uses more fuel. Why then should a 65kg passenger have to pay extra for luggage of over say 23kg (a total of 88kg) when a passenger weighing 90kg with the same weight of luggage is already up to 113kg with no penalty imposed. It doesn't really matter where the weight is located, in the hold or in the cabin, the plane still has to lift it.

[andy666]

p.s. fat bastards should pay more anyhow

Yes, just like old guys should pay more for their Barfines.... It's only fair :-)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[the kid01]

Getting back to the jist of this thread. Don't be surprised if the a380 config is used for shorter haul routes. I'm sure they are doing there sums and could cut three 737 flights into 1 a380 flight. Provably the next big thing less flights bigger aircraft.

 

If I can afford it I avoid economy. Qatar airways this time. a380 with the bar!

[eXplosief]

Would an airline use an A380 for short haul routes?

[the kid01]

Would an airline use an A380 for short haul routes?

Don't know, but can't see those cramped seat being ok for a flight over 6 hours. Thai airways used to use a jumbo from bkk to Phuket.