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A380 cancellations by Qantas raise new questions about the superjumbo's future

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Re: A380 cancellations by Qantas raise new questions about the superjumbo's future

#201

Post by TheTruth321 »

danepowell wrote: post #123
Someone1234 wrote: post #3

I totally understand why big aircraft (A380, 747, etc) are disappearing commercially but I will miss them. Flying in a larger aircraft makes one feel less like cargo, in particularly for airlines that offer places to stretch your legs (e.g. "bar" seating, showers, staircases, etc). I was always kind of secretly hoping large blimps would return. And we'd get to choose between 7 hours in a tiny metal tube with the seat…

I love the A380 as an aerospace enthusiast, but absolutely despise it as a passenger. In my experience (with Lufthansa), the boarding process is chaotic and takes forever, the seat pitch is minimal in economy, and never have I felt more like cattle than when sharing the situation with 700 other passengers. I'm curious how your experience as a passenger sounds so different from mine.

It probably depends on the airline.

My Emirates experience of the A380 was incredible vs a decidedly crappy experience in a Qantas A380.

The former made me love the A380, top of the list. The latter made me hate it.

Love that plane technically though. Smooth. Relaxed. Quiet. Relatively spacious.

Re: A380 cancellations by Qantas raise new questions about the superjumbo's future

#202

Post by EdwardDiego »

steedsofwar wrote: post #196
danepowell wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love the A380 as an aerospace enthusiast, but absolutely despise it as a passenger. In my experience (with Lufthansa), the boarding process is chaotic and takes forever, the seat pitch is minimal in economy, and never have I felt more like cattle than when sharing the situation with 700 other passengers. I'm curious how your experience as a passenger sounds so different from mine.

I have a similar view on the A380, but I love being a passenger on them more than any other plane. The extra leg room is what wins over for me and as I fly Emirates the in flight entertainment is brilliant. For me it’s a shame we are seeing a decline of these planes. I loathe to think the industry is going to go back to less leg room, more seats and feeling like cattle.

When I'm flying Emirates, the censorship on the IFE is hilarious. Watching the Gotham TV series, and they kept censoring the word "lesbian".

Also, the Wolf of Wall Street Emirates style is significantly shorter (they cut all the scenes with extensive hookers and cocaine) and when Margot Robbie walks out nude they cropped the image and zoomed in on her face only, albeit with extensive pixellation.

But hey, at least Emirates will never tell you that you've had too much to drink, unlike Singapore Airlines.

Re: A380 cancellations by Qantas raise new questions about the superjumbo's future

#203

Post by short_sells_poo »

EdwardDiego wrote: post #200
danepowell wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love the A380 as an aerospace enthusiast, but absolutely despise it as a passenger. In my experience (with Lufthansa), the boarding process is chaotic and takes forever, the seat pitch is minimal in economy, and never have I felt more like cattle than when sharing the situation with 700 other passengers. I'm curious how your experience as a passenger sounds so different from mine.

To be fair though, according to Seatguru.com, Lufthansa are the most 'efficient' in terms of seating - that is, you will have the least leg-room etc. on a Lufthansa flight. The precise airplane model doesn't matter, they always have the least space for a passenger. Bonus for when you press the steward summons button and an angry balding German steward (who nonetheless has a ponytail) turns up half an hour later and d…

I know this is anecdotal but it made me chuckle because this was exactly my experience as well. There is barely enough legroom for me (and I'm not all that tall, 185 cm or 6'1" in freedom units), and I managed to spill a bit of coffee by accident since I basically have to play tetris with my limbs. Up comes a strict German stewardess and proceeds to berate me saying that "it's a brand new carpet, just installed last week!". I was so stunned by this that all I could blurt out was "You think I did this on purpose?".

Re: A380 cancellations by Qantas raise new questions about the superjumbo's future

#204

Post by jessriedel »

reacweb wrote: post #181

When you increase the size of an aircraft, you reduce the discomfort associated with weather conditions. If the occupancy rate is good, you also increase fuel efficiency. To have good occupancy rate, you need to organize and to have many airports supporting big aircrafts. This is only political and Boeing is a very strong political influencer to harm competition. Like for Concorde, when Boeing fails on technical, the…

What are the political tricks that Boeing used to discourage Emirates and Qantas from buying Airbus?

Re: A380 cancellations by Qantas raise new questions about the superjumbo's future

#205

Post by taneq »

trhway wrote: post #41
stanski wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, the time difference between a jet airline and blimp would be a lot bigger than 3 times or so. 7 hour in a metal tube vs 5 days in a blimp sounds more realistic.

there is well forgotten middle ground - large and relatively slow (say 200-300mph using today's tech) plane, something like this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dornier_Do_X

I think the problem with these is that they're terribly inefficient. Large plus slow equals low altitude, which means thick air.

Maybe it'd be possible to revisit nuclear powered aircraft? Modern, intrinsically safe reactors powering turboshaft engines could keep a ponderous flying platform aloft for months at a time.

Re: A380 cancellations by Qantas raise new questions about the superjumbo's future

#206

Post by giggsey »

distant_hat wrote: post #178
danepowell wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love the A380 as an aerospace enthusiast, but absolutely despise it as a passenger. In my experience (with Lufthansa), the boarding process is chaotic and takes forever, the seat pitch is minimal in economy, and never have I felt more like cattle than when sharing the situation with 700 other passengers. I'm curious how your experience as a passenger sounds so different from mine.

I've flown the A380 with Emirates a bunch of times in economy and it was quite nice. Much more quieter and a lot more space. They also gave bassinet seats for my infant which made a huge difference on a 10 hour flight.

I'm doing London -> New Zealand on an A380 with Emirates next month, with a bassinet for a 14 month old infant.

We're a bit worried that he may end up being too big for it. That, and keeping them entertained for two long flights.

Re: A380 cancellations by Qantas raise new questions about the superjumbo's future

#207

Post by peteretep »

SmellyGeekBoy wrote: post #197
consp wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is my experience too. With emirates I can actually sit in an economy seat in a 380 without destroying my knees (looking at you Lufthansa, you can do it too in you 380s). A trip to Tokyo recently I did the first stretch in a 380 and the second in a 777 and the 777 was horrible compared to the 380: less seat space (I think about 1 to a bit less than 2 inches), less overall room. Though still more room than most ai…

Indeed, my only A380 experience was with Emirates and I assumed that they were all set up in the same way. I tend to fly Virgin Atlantic long haul and will at least upgrade to their premium (business) class, but economy on an Emirates A380 is comparable IME and to be honest I doubt I'd waste money paying to upgrade if I flew with them again.

VS’s Premium is a Premium Economy product, not a Business class product — that’s their Upper Class. Not looking to be pedantic, but it’s priced as Premium Economy, shows up on OTAs as PE, and is virtually identical to any other PE.

Re: A380 cancellations by Qantas raise new questions about the superjumbo's future

#208

Post by peteretep »

SmellyGeekBoy wrote: post #198
owenversteeg wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? I've flown both Premium Economy and Economy (>10 flights each I believe) for Delta, as well as both on a few other carriers, and I've never noticed a difference that was worth more than $20 in my mind. (Most of these were long-haul.) If it's free or very cheap, then sure, but it's such a small benefit that I've been on flights where I didn't even notice I was in Premium Economy until I stood up at the end of…

"Premium Economy" seems to be a Virgin Atlantic thing and is basically their business class. It includes much larger seats, premium in-flight entertainment, nicer toilets, and a much better food and drink selection. The section on the aircraft I've flown on is also much smaller (50 seats?) and curtained off from the unwashed masses. Agreed that a lot of airlines off an "economy plus" which is basically slightly faste…

> "Premium Economy" seems to be a Virgin Atlantic thing and is basically their business class.

Neither of these statements is true.

Re: A380 cancellations by Qantas raise new questions about the superjumbo's future

#209

Post by LittlePeter »

chrisper wrote: post #170
danepowell wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love the A380 as an aerospace enthusiast, but absolutely despise it as a passenger. In my experience (with Lufthansa), the boarding process is chaotic and takes forever, the seat pitch is minimal in economy, and never have I felt more like cattle than when sharing the situation with 700 other passengers. I'm curious how your experience as a passenger sounds so different from mine.

For long hauls I'd always recommend to upgrade to Premium Economy. It's not quite first class, but it's much better than regular economy imho.

Cathay Pacific has terrific Premium Economy seats on their 777s.

Re: A380 cancellations by Qantas raise new questions about the superjumbo's future

#210

Post by ddalex »

SmellyGeekBoy wrote: post #198
owenversteeg wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? I've flown both Premium Economy and Economy (>10 flights each I believe) for Delta, as well as both on a few other carriers, and I've never noticed a difference that was worth more than $20 in my mind. (Most of these were long-haul.) If it's free or very cheap, then sure, but it's such a small benefit that I've been on flights where I didn't even notice I was in Premium Economy until I stood up at the end of…

"Premium Economy" seems to be a Virgin Atlantic thing and is basically their business class. It includes much larger seats, premium in-flight entertainment, nicer toilets, and a much better food and drink selection. The section on the aircraft I've flown on is also much smaller (50 seats?) and curtained off from the unwashed masses. Agreed that a lot of airlines off an "economy plus" which is basically slightly faste…

Well, I bought Premium Economy on Virgin Atlantic and what I got was an exit door seat - that was ok, but it was all it was. No better food or anything else.
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