14 hours it took to fly from Tokyo to Vienna and that was just a connection. There were two babies on the flight. The guy next to me was eating something that smelled like a dead thing. A dead thing that smelled bad when it was alive. The films were Two Weeks Notice, Maid In Manhattan and Flubber. It wasn't a pleasant experience and I'm sure anyone who's ever had to make a long distance flight feels the same.
So, what I suggest is a new type of plane for long distance flights based on the model of Japanese capsule hotels. Each passenger (or two) has a small room with a bed, television and maybe a small fridge with snacks and drinks in. Also available are larger rooms with perhaps a mini-cinema, maybe a bar or even showering facilities. First class flights would be on larger planes with bigger rooms and maybe nifty things like squash courts or such like.-- harderthanjesus, Aug 20 2004 Sorry, fish.
One of the main parts of aircraft design is optimisation to save weight, introducing individual capsules isn't impossible, it'll just increase you fare so that you won't want to fly.
I believe it's already partially baked in that Virgin were talking about the posibility of individual cabins in the new Airbus A380, I wouldn't be surprised if they've droped the idea because someone told them how much they'd have to charge.
Imagine paying a first class fare and then some...-- scubadooper, Aug 20 2004 Well, it's so expensive anyway what's another couple of hundred? Oh yeah, another couple of hundred.-- harderthanjesus, Aug 20 2004 You're not just talking about another couple of hundred, more like a couple of thou-- scubadooper, Aug 20 2004 You can always sedate the passengers and stash them like I used to do with the slaves aboard boats in years gone by (ah, the good old days!), only the slaves weren't entitled to sedation, of coarse.-- finflazo, Aug 20 2004 Fishy.-- finflazo, Aug 20 2004 Seattle to Sydney, round trip, Qantas:coach: $1,409USD.business: $8,536USD.1st class: $12,247USD.-- bristolz, Aug 20 2004 random, halfbakery