Standing room only
“The airlines have come up with a new answer to an old question: How many passengers can be squeezed into economy class? A lot more, it turns out, especially if an idea still in the early stage should catch on: standing-room-only “seats.”” [source]
This is depressing. It is bad enough standing on a train, I hate to imagine the experience of being crammed in a real cattle class flight, standing all the way.
What is missing in this proposition is the question of the customer experience? Is there a customer appetite for this? Have the airlines done market research to understand the demand for standing room only flights? (And not just run a few focus groups but mocked up the experience and gathering feedback on it). It is all to easy to drive a business case based upon the extra sales volume that this shoddy experience will be expected to provide, but when it goes to market, will the demand match that predicted in the business case?
There is another way to look at this – putting more people on a plane is the environmentally responsible way to fly – the more room someone takes up on a plane, the more planes are needed to move folks around. If more people on a plane equals less planes in the sky (but people still get the benefits of seeing other places), then I would think this a ‘good thing’ And if you are flying somewhere, the important experience, after all, is not the journey.
Not, of course, that I think this motivates the airlines in the slightest – at least, not while they don’t have to bear any of that environmental cost.
Also, I’m sure I’ll be regretting my words as I find myself standing on the 15hr long haul back from China 😉