THE MIDDLE SEAT
By SCOTT MCCARTNEY
A Look Inside Airbus's Super-Size A380 Jet
Airline Accountants Like
Huge Capacity, But Fliers
Still Face Lines and Crowds
WSJ.com June 21, 2005; Page D3
Some planes are better loved by airline accountants than by frequent fliers. The Airbus A380 jumbo jet may be one of those airplanes.
From the outside, the 555-passenger jet looks very much like a Boeing 747 on steroids, or at least one that has been biggie-sized by a fast-food chain. Inside, the belle of last week's Paris Air Show has two cavernous cabins that remind you this is a very conventional flying bus. It is simply one jumbo jet atop another.
Above its blunt nose is a high forehead -- the beginning of the upper deck that extends to the tail. The wings of the world's largest passenger plane look broad enough to host basketball games, and the four giant engines are even disproportionately huge for the plane because of thick cowlings to suppress noise.
There is nothing graceful or sleek about it, but credit Airbus and engine makers with getting the flying whale off the ground. It has been a long time in development, and it undoubtedly will bring affordable travel to more people. Lots more people. That is why business travelers perhaps should be as excited about the $292 million plane as airlines, which see low per-seat operating costs as a key to flying crowds of cheap-ticket travelers. A lot will depend on what airlines do with all the open real estate in the A380. Historically, airlines start with grand schemes and then replace pianos with more seats.
[The Airbus A380 preparing to land Saturday at the Paris Air Show]
The Airbus A380 preparing to land Saturday at the Paris Air Show
So despite the hubbub about onboard casinos, Jacuzzis and private double beds, what travelers most likely will find is a lot of seats in coach and more reasons to upgrade in order to avoid the masses. The first one out the door beats 554 others to customs.
Airbus took reporters aboard its first A380, which is currently being used for flight-testing. Even with exposed insulation, bundles of wiring running through exposed black composite floor beams and ballast tanks bolted to the floor, you could envision what's ahead for travelers.
To me, it looked like long lines.
At the front, the A380 has a staircase wide enough for two people to climb side-by-side with carry-on bags, and a small spiral staircase in the rear of the airplane. Boarding is envisioned from two-story airport terminals, or at least multiple jet bridges serving both top and bottom decks. You can see why that is essential -- it will take a long time to load an A380 if people have to lug themselves and their rollerboards up 15 stairs on the airplane.
The lower deck has walls that essentially go straight up. Actually, they are even better than that because they bow out at the center of the oval tube. The cabin feels tall and open, and that is a terrific improvement over many previous plane designs.
Airbus says typical coach seating on the lower deck will be 10-across -- the same as on a Boeing 747. The lower deck is very much like a 747, although the cabin is about half a meter wider than a 747 at its widest point, and Airbus says airlines may be able to offer wider coach seats. That seems iffy because the widest point is at window-level, and the floor where seats will be bolted is narrower.
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Windows give you the illusion they are bigger than they really are. The plastic interior covering is large, but it telescopes down through the airplane's thick sidewalls to a standard-sized exterior airplane window. (Note to future travelers: Some window seats over the wing may not be so desirable because all you'll ever see is wing.)
On the upper deck, coach seating will be eight-across -- the same as a wide-body Airbus A340. Upper-deck seats won't be able to reach the sidewall of the plane because the top does curve in considerably. Most likely, window-seat travelers will find an extra storage bin at the sidewall -- that is what airlines did with the same problem on the upper deck of the 747. Some airlines may also decide to use the upper deck exclusively for business-class and first-class.
It is hard to see airlines putting staterooms or health clubs on the lowest cargo deck. Passenger space grew a lot more than cargo space since you've got two jumbo passenger planes atop one cargo deck, an Airbus official says. Add in all the fuel that the plane needs to carry, and luggage space, ironically, may actually be a tight squeeze. It's a bit like those seven-passenger minivans with not much space under the tailgate.
Airbus says the A380 is a hub-to-hub kind of airplane, where long, heavily traveled routes linking airports with limited capacity will see an advantage to a modern plane bigger than a 416-passenger 747. Singapore Airlines will get the first and will put it into service near the end of 2006 or early 2007.
In an all-coach setup, the behemoth can carry 800 people. During the air show, a colleague of mine talked to an Indian airline official whose face lit up at the thought of an 800-passenger plane. If that's the revolution this plane brings, air travel will undoubtedly reach new lows.
Most of the 154 A380s that have been ordered so far are headed to Asian, Middle Eastern and European carriers. No U.S. airline has ordered the plane, but several foreign airlines are likely to fly it to New York, Los Angeles and a few other U.S. cities. (Cargo lines FedEx and United Parcel Service have both ordered the A380.)
The A380 is the airline equivalent of double-decker buses or double-decker subway cars. Each moves lots of people, but doesn't remove congestion. So it will likely be with the A380 when passengers queue up for check-in, boarding, baggage claim and customs.
If airlines depart from convention, there is room aboard the A380 to improve the flying experience. But it is hard to see how this plane can truly revolutionize travel. Stand inside the cavernous interior and imagine hundreds and hundreds of seats latched down, and it is easy to conclude that frequent fliers will see this plane as just a conventional wide-body -- times two. |
