Why Qantas' plans for exercising on planes are a bad idea

Exercise isn't always a great idea. Getty Images

If you ever see me after I've been to the gym, you'll know why Qantas' idea for putting exercise equipment in passenger aircraft is a terrible one.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has challenged Boeing and Airbus to build a plane capable of flying direct between Sydney and London or New York by 2022. Qantas calls it Project Sunrise, and with the long-range Airbus A350 and Boeing's 777X on approach the big flight could be on.

There are plans for bunks in the cargo area, child-care facilities and - here's where I'm worried - exercise areas. It's on their proposed 20-hour flights that Qantas reckon exercise areas could be a good thing.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce. Photo / Dean Purcell

"We're challenging ourselves to think outside the box," Joyce told Bloomberg.

"Would you have the space used for other activities - exercise, bar, creche, sleeping areas and berths? Boeing and Airbus have been actually quite creative in coming up with ideas."

Please, Alan, make it a bar - not an exercise area. Post-exercise, I'm all sweaty and huffing and puffing. In short, not some one you want to be sitting next to on a 20-hour flight halfway around the world.

Yes, even yoga can bring on some heavy-duty sweats.

Artists impression of a Boeing 777X aircraft. Picture / Boeing

Note to all airline executives: If you can't put a shower in your plane, don't put so much as a yoga mat on board. If people want exercise, tell them take a stroll.

You know what's worse than sitting next to a stranger on a plane? Sitting next to a sweaty stranger on a plane.