Reinventing the Airline Industry
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Reinventing the Airline Industry
1–10 of 59 posts
Re: Reinventing the Airline Industry
#2I think Electrostatic engines will be a huge leap forward for jet engine travel.
Re: Reinventing the Airline Industry
#3Another problem in the airline industry is pricing stability. current prices have been climbing over the last few years and pricing has always been confusing. I think there are several possible algorithm and economic models that could be leveraged to solve pricing on the fuel side, and on the consumer ticket side.
Stable prices means that consumers and airlines can both plan better.
For consumers, it means confidence in buying a ticket.
For airlines, it means predictable revenue, and costs, which should add to the market cap of the companies.
Re: Reinventing the Airline Industry
#4The bit about taking the safety demonstration out of the cabin is not quite so simple. The author suggests a sort of "driver's license" for planes, so that a person only has to learn about the safety features and procedures once. Unfortunately, there are many different planes out there, and the safety features might be substantially different from one plane to another. (Is there a slide? Is the seat cushion your flotation device, or is there something under the seat? Is there an exit in the back?) One would need more standardization among airplanes before one can do away with repeated safety demonstrations entirely.
Re: Reinventing the Airline Industry
#5Interesting article, but there are some flaws in the author's reasoning.
1. Containerizing passenger space.
Not a good idea, it would require a massive re-engineering effort in the structure of the cabin, since a whole tube is a much more reliable pressure vessel rather than half of one with a 90 degree angle where the floor meets the wall. You generate a ton of stress at those joints with pressurization cycles. Hard angles were in part what doomed the first generation of De Havilland Comets. You can possibly add a smaller, whole tube in the cabin area, but then you get the space of a narrow body aircraft & increase weight.
Reinforcing the rest of the structure of the aircraft if you remove the cabin area would also add in a ton of weight. We all know how a cylinder of paper can support many times its weight in compression, cut a big hole in one side and it will collapse. The survivors of Aloha Airlines Flight 243 didn't know if the floor structure of the 737 alone would be strong enough to survive a landing without having the plane break in two.
2. Meshed chairs.
The FAA requires that all aircraft chairs withstand a 16G impact in order to keep passengers safe. There's a reason why the seating is so heavy and bulky, it's to keep us safe during an accident. The seat structure absorbs most of the impact, so our spines and legs don't. Mesh chairs may be cool (both figuratively and literally), but I doubt they'll hold up to 1.5 tons of impact force (16 times the average weight of an American male, 191 lbs) without tearing.
3. Noise
The 787 is heading in partially the right direction to reduce cabin noise. Other than the air rushing by the plane, most noise is from the air conditioning units, and general vibration of the structure. Most planes use bleed air from the turbofan to pressurize the cabin. Basically you take some of the hot air from the compressor stage of the engine and send it through different parts of the plane (to the wing leading edges for de-icing as an example). A good part of this superheated air is sent to the airconditioning units which work to cool it down and direct it into the cabin. The 787 eliminates bleed air completely, and uses other means (mainly electric alternatives) for most systems. Additional insulation & physical isolation of parts that can induce vibrations into the structure also help.
Re: Reinventing the Airline Industry
#6Another problem in the airline industry is pricing stability. current prices have been climbing over the last few years and pricing has always been confusing. I think there are several possible algorithm and economic models that could be leveraged to solve pricing on the fuel side, and on the consumer ticket side. Stable prices means that consumers and airlines can both plan better. For consumers, it means confidence…
Algorithms are in fact used by airline revenue management departments for perfecting consumer ticket price discrimination. Which is a good thing for the leisure traveller, as their tickets are "subsidized" by people buying more flexible etc. business fares.
Re: Reinventing the Airline Industry
#7The bit about taking the safety demonstration out of the cabin is not quite so simple. The author suggests a sort of "driver's license" for planes, so that a person only has to learn about the safety features and procedures once. Unfortunately, there are many different planes out there, and the safety features might be substantially different from one plane to another. (Is there a slide? Is the seat cushion your flot…
It could also be a liability issue – you cannot guarantee that the person viewing the online safety demonstration is the same who is going to fly.
Re: Reinventing the Airline Industry
#8Interesting article, but there are some flaws in the author's reasoning. 1. Containerizing passenger space. Not a good idea, it would require a massive re-engineering effort in the structure of the cabin, since a whole tube is a much more reliable pressure vessel rather than half of one with a 90 degree angle where the floor meets the wall. You generate a ton of stress at those joints with pressurization cycles. Hard…
So some good design problems to tackle.
1. Can we make cylinders with lightweight materials with sockets to join to the main plane. It doesn't have to be container boxed shape to be containerized.
2. Can we make Aeron style chairs withstand 16G. A kelvar mesh might be able to hold this G force. I'm not suggesting strapping actual Aeron chairs in there.
3. Good data. Looking forward to testing out the acoustic engineering on the 787
Re: Reinventing the Airline Industry
#9Many good ideas. They need to be hold against regulations, and maybe even regulations need to be hold against realities of today. Standardization is the principal idea, and I think definitely help cutting the cost for manufacturers and airlines and hopefully find its way into the ticket price.
A loaded cabin may also lead to better survival of passengers in case of a eminent fatal crash. It can be ejected, or like mars rover landing it could have inflated ballons and chute to reduce the impact.
Re: Reinventing the Airline Industry
#10Yeah, right. Airline executives actually enjoy how much they suck at their jobs. This is an industry known for volatile, extremely high prices except on, perhaps, 3 routes and terrible service, and it still needs to be bailed out, like clockwork, every 5 years or so.
It's the worst in the U.S. We get the double joy of paying Virgin prices and getting RyanAir service.
As soon as they started charging for fucking checked baggage it was obvious that, yep, these assholes just like seeing how shitty a job they can get away with. Fuckers are trolling us, that's all. They're a real-world version of this, from Louis CK (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_XiA4U_XsE#t=1m7s).
The only thing that will "reinvent" this crap-ass industry is outright obsolescence. I'd rather see work on maglev trains and in-ocean tunnels than any faith put in these assholes.