Pubblico un articolo, spero interessante, comparso sul Wall Street Journal.
Insomma forse non tutti hanno capito che il comfort del 787 tanto sbandierato è in antitesi con l'idea di voler un aereo che sia efficiente anche dal punto di vista economico.

Boeing ’s Dreamliner’ offers
wider seats, but airlines balk

ln push for profits, many carriers add extra, narrower spot.
By Scott McCartney

A NEW PLANE, the Boeing 787 “Dreamliner,” will take flight next year offering passengers improvements in airplane comfort, including bigger windows, roomier storage bins and better in-flight air quality.
The plane also has a novel coachseating plan so innovative it was ’ awarded a patent in the U.S. and Europe.
But passenger comfort will take a back seat to airline economics: an extra seat, actually. Most airlines are already abandoning Boeing’s new coach-seating idea and revertming to what they know best - cramming more seats into coach.
The original design called for eight seats in each row of a 787 coach cabin. But about 75% of airlines that have ordered the 210-passenger plane are opting to install nine seats across a coach row, according to Boeing. That means travellers will sit in a 17-inch-wide seat, about the same as on today’s Boeing 737s and 757s, instead of a 19-inch seat arranged in a new, patented
3-2-3 seating configuration designed to maximize comfort.
“We have to find some equilibrium to make people happy in a way that is also profitable for airlines,” said Klaus Brauer, one of Boeing’s leading designers of aircraft interiors.
The 787 will have some enhancements for passengers regardless of what airlines do with their seats. Because the 787 fuselage will be built largely of carbon-fiber composite materiais-essentially strong plastic- instead of aluminum, it can be flown with higher humidity in the cabin and at lower cabin altitude. That means travelers will arrive feeling less tired and less dehy-drated.
The 787 will have windows 65% bigger than today’s standard and outside views from any seat in the plane. Instead of window shades, a film over the windows can be adjusted by flight attendants to block out sunlight during movies while still allowing passengers at the window seat to look out, much like a limousine. It will have overhead storage bins that will load rollaboard bags on their side, wheels in first, to get more bags in each bin. The bins also push up into the ceiling for more head room.
But a big part of Mr. Brauer’s design was built around the 3-2-3 seating and a wider-than-normal coach seat. A typical domestic first-class or international business-class seat is about 22 inches wide. At up to 19 incheswide, a 787 coach seat in eight across seating would be a haif-inch wider than the seating on the Boeing 777.

About 75% of airlines have opted to install nine seats across a coach row.
In recent years, however, airlines have been frustrated at attempts to sell more-comfortable coach seats at higher prices. Both British Airways and U& Corp.’s United Airlines have extra-room coach products and report good results, but the rest of the industry is skeptical. AMR Corp.’s American
Airlines abandoned its extra-legroom campaign when it concluded having more seats to sell generated more revenue. Boeing’s 777 widebody scores well in customer-satisfaction surveys, but 777 ticket prices aren’t higher. In the end, coach customers usually compare price first and foremost.
Extra seats are so important to airlines these days that Airbus is pondering whether it needs to widen the cabin of its planned 787 competitor, called the A350, to accommodate nine-across seating. A decision is expected in July. Cramming in extra seats is a touchy subject for airlines. Mark Moran, head of operations at Continental Airlines, told an aviation conference in Phoenix last month that Continental was leaning toward nineabreast seating in its 787s.
A Continental spokesman says “we’ve announced no public decision.” Northwest Airlines, the only other U.S. carrier to order the plane, says it is “reviewing seating options on the 787.”
A lot of factors go into how small your seat feels, such as how spacious the ceiling looks. Mr. Brauer’s research shows that eye-level space has a lot to do with how cramped you feel. In addition, research conducted by Boeing, airlines and others shows that the biggest comfort factor is whether the seat next to you is occupied. “There are tremendous halo effects to having an empty seat next to you,” said Mr. Brauer, Boeing’s director of passenger satisfaction and revenue marketing. Mr. Brauer concluded optimal 787 coach seating would be 3-2-3.
But when Boeing opened a mock-up of the 787 interior last year fitted with both seating patterns, airlines quickly began deciding nine seats in each row seemedplenty comfortable, and more profitable. Only 10% of airlines who have ordered the 787 so far have stuck with eightacross seating. Another 15% are opting for a two-class coach cabin, hoping to sell the more-comfortable eight-across configuration as a premium economy class.

(fonte: Wall Street Journal)






Se offri maggior comfort in classe economica ma il passeggero poi vuole continuare ad avere le stesse tariffe l'unico risultato possibile è quello di mandare in rovina i conti di una compagnia, specie ai livelli attuali di costi del carburante...