Restoring the magic of flying

Time was when flying was marketed as a glamorous experience. Hard to believe, perhaps, if you've just spent eight hours in the steerage section of a jumbo jet. But the age of glamour could be about to return.

Boeing and Airbus, the last two companies making big passenger jets, are hyping their new planes with promises of fantastic flying experiences.

Airbus, with its new 555-seat A380, has airlines floating ideas of gyms, casinos and glamorous shopping malls in the sky.

Boeing, promoting its new carbon-fibre hulled 787, says its technology will put an end to the headaches, cracked lips and sore muscles while "reconnecting people to the magic of flying".

Even before those planes arrive, Air New Zealand is this year rolling out an airline-wide upgrade of its "long-haul product" with new seats, new lights, new uniforms and even new planes.

It brings back memories of the good old days, when airline advertisements featured pictures of smart couples, stretching back and enjoying a cocktail, while flying to "New York by Clipper with Pan American".

This time, instead of just coming up with new planes and offering them for sale, planemakers have spent the past few years asking airlines and passengers what they want in an aircraft, and they are now trumpeting the results as the start of a new era in aviation.

One of the industry's leading design exponents is Klaus Brauer, director of passenger satisfaction and revenue for Boeing, a job title that speaks volumes about where the company's priorities lie.

After all, passengers have to be satisfied, but airlines have to make money.

Speaking to the Herald from Boeing's commercial aeroplanes headquarters in Seattle, Brauer says New Zealanders will be among the first to see the results of a new company approach to building planes.

The outcome of a programme of research into different seats will be apparent when Air NZ's new fleet of Boeing 777-200 aircraft begin arriving later this year.

And when Air NZ takes delivery of two new 787s later in the decade, Brauer says there will be an even bigger change for passengers, with technology allowing bigger windows and better air quality.

Brauer trained as an economist, but speaks about the new era in aviation with the zeal of someone who is a convert to the psychology of the travel experience.

He bubbles with enthusiasm about the difference new lighting techniques, cabin air quality, overhead baggage bins, seat backs and ceilings will make to the planes of the future. "It's been such a long time since they were actively connected to the flying experience and it's still magical."

So what will passengers see that's different? Some of it, says Brauer, will be subtle.

Passengers may notice the bigger windows, but are unlikely to spot the illusion of light on the ceiling or architectural tricks that make the plane seem bigger inside.

"They may not realise that's what we're creating in the mind, but as long as they feel it subconsciously we've achieved what we've set out to do."

Passengers may get more choices. Brauer says the new 787 has being designed so airlines can easily put in two different types of economy class: one for budget-conscious business travellers and the other for families and holidaymakers.

Seats could be wider for business travellers, who don't like being squashed against a neighbour, but for families with kids to contend with there could be more leg room.

The new aircraft should also appear more spacious. Passengers with shorter eye heights give a particularly poor rating to aircraft environments, says Brauer. "That's not surprising, because a shorter eye height puts the eye below the top of those seats, they are basically just behind a wall."

What Boeing has done is to offer seats that have space between them right near the eye height of smaller passengers, which causes them to "read a greater space" than if they were looking at the seat back in front.

For instance, Brauer says people who know their aircraft prefer the Boeing 777 to the 747, and often think the cabin is bigger, despite it being smaller. This is because features such as overhead bin design and lighting give the impression there is more room than is the case.

In mock-ups of the new 787, the ceiling appears much higher than you would expect inside a plane. Special lighting and materials above the bigger entrance way give an impression of height.

The trick is to have passengers come on to the plane from the narrow confines of the airbridge and feel they are in a bigger, more open and welcoming space.

Brauer says the technique has long been used in cathedrals and temples, where congregations enter into a small, low-ceiling vestibule before walking into the high-ceilings of a central worship space.

Bigger windows that would be too heavy in an aluminium-skinned aircraft will be installed in the carbon fibre 787 and it will also have more vertical sidewalls.

As a bonus, this new-look shape also allows more room above the main passenger deck for crew rests during long flights.

Because moisture does not cause carbon fibre to corrode, the 787 cabin will have greater humidity, so passenger dehydration should become a thing of the past.

Changes are all very well but it is the airlines that have to make these new aircraft work and they are damping down public expectations to something financially realistic.

As the first airline to fly the new, double-decked superjumbo A380, Singapore Airlines is finalising its plans for how they will look inside when they start flying next year.

But for our national carrier, Air NZ, getting a competitive advantage from new-look aircraft is more than just optical illusions and new in-flight entertainment.

Ed Sims, general manager international airline, says it sees the flight crew rather than the aircraft as holding the key to making flying more pleasant for ... "the customer who may be sat in that aircraft for 24 hours."

For instance, he says, methods of serving passengers are being studied and changed to make flying nicer.

One of the least pleasant aspects of long distance flying is being woken with the lights flicked on and quickly being served with an unwanted meal.

Sims says crews will use mood lighting, phasing of meals and flexibility of service, to bring about a more gradual change, with a more natural orientation to what's going on in the natural world."

"It's fair to say our cabin crew spend longer with our customers than virtually any airline because of the routes we fly. We are undertaking a lot of work to get more sophisticated at understanding why our customers are travelling with us and a bit more about their background."

This includes identifying regular flyers and asking why they are coming to New Zealand. Crew can then help with information and planning holidays.

"I'm not trying to make them travel agents, but I am wanting them to have the passion about the destination, and, more importantly, have the knowledge about the destination so they can genuinely add to customers' enjoyment and excitement about a trip to New Zealand."

Sims describes it as "the revenge of the national carrier". While it may get kicked around by low-cost carriers that can fight only on price, Air NZ has the authenticity, the knowledge and advantages of actually coming from a destination that is "running hot".

Featuring the best of New Zealand, including its produce, "gives our flights an authenticity that other carriers - particularly the non-national - carriers realistically can't emulate".

Sims says he has no problem with the kind of claims aircraft companies make about their new products.

"I will support and endorse any efforts to bring the fun and excitement back into travel because anyone in an airline is concerned about it becoming commoditised and just becoming a chore."

What does concern him is how other airlines try to score points over their rivals with big talk about what they might install in their planes.

For instance, he points out, the talk of onboard gyms and casinos in the new A380 came from Virgin Atlantic, rather than Airbus.

"It's not so much the manufacturers, it's more us resisting the temptation to jump in and say we'll deliver things that we know we can't genuinely deliver. That's probably the biggest challenge."