[wordup] Bunk bed proposal for Air New Zealand's jets

[Adam Shand]

You have no idea how long I've wanted this for.  Being 6'5" and  
flying economy class across the Pacific is only barely short of  
torture ... all I want to survive it is the ability curl up in a ball  
and go to sleep without being woken up every 30 minutes because  
somebody has to climb over me to go to the bathroom.

Please please please make this so ...

Via: Teresa Shand <teresa at spack...>
Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/4157740a34.html

Bunk bed proposal for Air NZ's jets
By ROELAND VAN DEN BERGH - The Dominion Post | Thursday, 9 August 2007

Air New Zealand is considering replacing cramped economy seats with  
sleeping pods in a bid to revolutionise air travel and stay ahead of  
its much bigger rivals.

Air New Zealand strategic development general manager Nathan Agnew  
said the airline wants to introduce an entirely new type of economy  
cabin when it takes delivery of its fleet of Boeing 787-9 and  
777-300ER long-range jets from 2010.

Seats that recline to full-length beds have until now been the  
preserve of business and first class passengers.

Air New Zealand has already equipped its planes with flat-bed  
business class seats, and premium economy seats which give about 15cm  
more leg room.

Cathay Pacific was fitting economy seats that recline within a fixed  
shell, similar to business class seats, and giving more leg room.

"We think that if you are going to do that concept why not push it to  
the next level, why stop there?" Agnew said.

"We haven't even constrained ourselves to saying that it necessarily  
will be a seat. The other option is to give people a sleeping pod."

Air New Zealand engineers had been given a project to think about how  
the concept could work, Agnew said.

German airline Lufthansa was considering fitting economy beds in its  
Airbus A380 super jumbos.

One concept showed berths stacked three-high in a herringbone layout  
along the sides, and another row stacked down the middle of the cabin.

"We like it (the pod) as a concept. We are yet to evaluate whether  
practically it could be fitted out to an aircraft interior," Agnew said.

Cabin crew already sleep in pods during long distance flights,  
usually hidden away at the rear plane or in the ceiling space above  
the passenger cabin.

"Given that a lot of our long-haul flying is overnight, it might  
actually be preferable for our customers simply to have something  
like that rather than have a seat," Agnew said.

Because eating in a pod might be difficult, passengers may be served  
a meal at the airport before the flight, allowing them to immediately  
go to sleep once on the plane.

"We have some quite creative ways, at least conceptually, how this  
could work."

There were also a myriad of other issues to consider, like the  
ability to sit and video entertainment. On any flight some people  
want to sleep and others want to remain awake.

Agnew said airfares would be similar to current economy fares.

A big issue for engineers to overcome was finding a way to make the  
pods as light as possible.

Agnew stressed that it was still a theoretical concept with no  
guarantees that Air New Zealand would ultimately provide them in its  
new planes.

"We have started the process and we are trying to be highly creative.  
I wouldn't want to put the expectation in the public mind that that  
is how it going be, but it certainly is in our evaluation set."