http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/10/15/space.tourism/index.html
Experts: Huge space tourism expansion just months away
Thom Patterson, CNN
October 15, 2010
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Traveling to space is just months away for hundreds of paying tourists, experts say
Prices for suborbital space flights are already dropping from $200,000 to $102,000
Jeff Bezos, "Doom" games' John Carmack, PayPal's Elon Musk developing space systems
New Mexico spaceport aims to host 500,000 tourists a year as Virgin Galactic base
(CNN) -- It's unlikely that you've heard of PJ King, despite the fact that he's about to set himself apart from most humans who've ever walked the planet. In as soon as 18 months, King could be launching into space as a paying commercial space tourist.
King, a 41-year-old Irish businessman, is one of hundreds of travelers who've signed up and trained to be among the first paying passengers aboard Virgin Galactic's trips to suborbital space -- 62 miles above the Earth.
"One of the reasons I'm doing this is precisely because I want these things to be ordinary," King said. "Part of the problem with space travel is that it is special."
King believes the $200,000 he and other passengers pay for a seat on a Virgin Galactic spacecraft will help create a new future when "flights like this are happening every week, when lots of people go, and the cost has been massively reduced due to the economics of scale."
Prices are coming down, even before space tourism has started taking off.
Russia charges private travelers $40 million to ride on its Soyuz spacecraft and spend a few days aboard the international space station. For a much shorter journey, Virgin Galactic wants $200,000 for a flight to suborbital space. But Space Adventures advertises suborbital trips for about half that price: $102,000. King says he knows people who've taken out mortgages to buy their spacecraft tickets.
The plunging prices are opening doors to consumers which have been all but closed for half a century to everyone except "right stuff" supermen and superwomen with names like John Glenn, Neil Armstrong and Sally Ride.
"I believe in this," King said. "This is not a just a bunch of rich people going into space for fun."
About 360 paying passengers have signed up to be among Virgin Galactic's first travelers, CEO George Whitesides said. After the initial launches, he expects that number to grow to thousands and tens of thousands.
"That's a fundamental shift," he said. "A whole bunch of our major assumptions about space travel are undergoing a major shift."
This past year has seen important strides toward this shift. Washington licensed Jacksonville, Florida's Cecil Field as the nation's eighth non-government spaceport in January. New Mexico's Spaceport America, where Virgin Galactic plans to permanently base its space flights, completed a nearly 2-mile spacecraft runway this month.
Virgin Galactic test-flew its spacecraft Sunday.
A firm that arranges private space travel, Space Adventures, announced private partnerships this year with Boeing and Texas-based Armadillo Aerospace, a rocket development firm headed by John Carmack, the programmer-businessman behind the famed "Doom" video games.
Boeing: Come fly to space with us
King recalls the exact moment when he decided he wanted to go. When he was a youth in Ireland's countryside, far from city streetlights, the Milky Way laid out a virtual welcome mat for him.
"I remember thinking how strange it was that after man had conquered the moon, we appeared to have given up afterwards," said King, who built and sold his Clockworks International software company during the booming 1990s. "I think a lot of people imagined there would have been more progress in terms of space flight."
Virgin Galactic plans for each traveler to undergo a three-day pre-flight launch preparation program immediately before each mission. But many who've signed up, including King, have undergone centrifuge training to experience in-flight stresses stronger than gravity, known as G-forces.
I believe in this. This is not a just a bunch of rich people going into space for fun.
--PJ King, Virgin Galactic ticket holder
"At six Gs, talking is extremely difficult," King said. "It feels like you've got a weight on your chest and your head is stuck to the back of the seat."
King refers to himself and his Virgin Galactic colleagues as astronauts, a job title Col. Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, is quite familiar with.
"I don't think these space tourists should be called astronauts," Aldrin said. "That term was created by the U.S. military. My suggestions would be star-traveler or starflyer."
Aldrin says he hopes his high-profile activities like competing on TV's "Dancing with the Stars" and his new iPhone app will spur continued interest in space. "In general, the private companies are more efficient ... but I think the government has its hands full trying to do exploration."
Virgin Galactic owner Sir Richard Branson and a virtual hall of fame of other wealthy business figures have invested much of their vast fortunes in hopes of gaining a toe hold in commercial space. Budget Suites owner Robert Bigelow, PayPal co-founder Elon Musk and Amazon.com's Jeff Bezos are all developing their own space hardware for traveling to -- or living in -- Earth orbit.
Working with NASA, their companies are developing space stations, spaceplanes, rockets and capsules for space travelers. Many of these systems are expected to be operating and deployed within the next five years.
A whole bunch of our major assumptions about space travel are undergoing a major shift.
--George Whitesides, CEO, Virgin Galactic
"This is a big deal, and the American people should be excited about it," said Charles Miller, NASA's senior adviser for commercial space. "If you get the Steve Jobs and Bill Gates and Sergey Brins of American entrepreneurs working on space travel for the American people in partnership with the U.S. government, that's a good thing, which is why it was done."
NASA's shift toward the privatization of space has been planned since the Reagan administration, Miller said, and it comes as the 30-year-old shuttle program is set to end next year.
Shuttle layoffs leave some workers adrift
At the New Mexico spaceport, about 60 miles north of Las Cruces, workers are completing a combination traveler terminal and spacecraft hangar that looks right out of TV's "The Jetsons."
Tourists will gain access to the spaceport by boarding special buses at welcome centers in the nearby towns of Truth or Consequences and Hatch, said Rick Homans, the spaceport's executive director.
I don't think they should be called astronauts.
--Col. Buzz Aldrin, Apollo 11 moonwalker
Plans call for facilities accommodating about a half-million annual visitors to be finished in 18 to 24 months, including a "second-to-none" restaurant, space exhibits and simulators that replicate G-forces and weightlessness, Homans said. Spaceport officials are considering offering flights for visitors to watch Virgin Galactic spacecraft blast into suborbit from 50,000 feet.
"We want them to be able to talk to inventors, rocket scientists, to see the spaceships and to witness the technology as much as possible," Homans said. Visitors may be able to launch model rockets or walk on terrain replicating the moon or Mars.
Could these developments in space tourism lead to more practical applications, like a successor to the defunct supersonic Concorde aircraft?
Space designers imagine a network of hypersonic spaceplanes that would take off from a runway in New Mexico and land at a Tokyo spaceport 45 minutes later.
Is point-to-point hypersonic travel around the globe possible in the near future?
"We're a long way from that," Miller said. "We could do it in a decade if there was a commitment to doing it, but it is not a priority for anybody I know in the U.S. government."
Showing posts with label Virgin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Virgin. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Private spaceship makes 1st solo glide flight
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101010/ap_on_hi_te/us_space_tourism
Private spaceship makes 1st solo glide flight
Sun Oct 10, 2010
MOJAVE, Calif. – Virgin Galactic's space tourism rocket SpaceShipTwo achieved its first solo glide flight Sunday, marking another step in the company's eventual plans to fly paying passengers.
SpaceShipTwo was carried aloft by its mothership to an altitude of 45,000 feet and released over the Mojave Desert. After the separation, SpaceShipTwo, manned by two pilots, flew freely for 11 minutes before landing at an airport runway followed by the mothership.
The entire test flight lasted about 25 minutes.
"It flew beautifully," said Virgin Galactic chief executive George Whitesides.
The six-passenger SpaceShipTwo is undergoing rigorous testing before it can carry tourists to space. In the latest test, SpaceShipTwo did not fire its rocket engine to climb to space.
Until now, SpaceShipTwo has flown attached to the wing of its special jet-powered mothership dubbed WhiteKnightTwo. Sunday was the first time the spaceship flew on its own.
The news was hailed by space tourism advocates.
The "flight marks another key milestone towards opening the space frontier for private individuals, researchers, and explorers," John Gedmark, executive director of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, said in a statement.
Whitesides said SpaceShipTwo will make a series of additional glide flights before rocketing to space.
SpaceShipTwo, built by famed aircraft designer Burt Rutan, is based on a prototype that won a $10 million prize in 2004 for being the first manned private rocket to reach space.
Tickets to ride aboard SpaceShipTwo cost $200,000. Some 370 customers have plunked down deposits totaling $50 million, according to Virgin Galactic.
Commercial flights will fly out of New Mexico where a spaceport is under construction. Officials from Virgin Galactic and other dignitaries will gather at the spaceport Oct. 22 for an event commemorating the finished runway. The event will also feature a flyover by SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo.
___
Online:
Virgin Galactic: http://www.virgingalactic.com/
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Branson Goes 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/01/technology/richard_branson_underwater_plane/Branson Goes 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
by Blake Ellis
Monday, February 1, 2010
NEW YORK -- Virgin unveiled the latest addition to Richard Branson's luxury fleet on Friday: an underwater plane that will fly riders into the depths of the Caribbean Sea.
Guests on Necker Island, a retreat in the British Virgin Islands, will be able to dive underwater in a submarine dubbed the Necker Nymph for $25,000 a week. But that's only after shelling out around $300,000 for a one-week stay on Necker, the private island owned by billionaire and Virgin Group chairman Richard Branson.
Beginning on Feb. 20, two riders and a pilot and will be able to take the plunge from land, or from a boat. The underwater plane uses the downward pressure on its wings to fly through the water for up to two hours at a time, while an open cockpit will give riders a 360-degree view.
The Necker Nymph's typical speed is 2 to 5 nautical miles per hour and it can dive more than 100 feet, said Karen Hawkes, a spokeswoman for Hawkes Ocean Technologies, the company that designed the Nymph.
A statement released Friday by Virgin Limited Edition, the luxury arm of Virgin Hotels, described the Nymph's launch like a plane's takeoff. "Gliding on the water's surface like an aeroplane on a runway, one of the three pilots will operate the joystick to smoothly dive down."
Vacationers will be able to fly the Necker Nymph while chartering the Necker Belle, Branson's 105-foot yacht, or the submarine can be launched from shore. Necker Belle is rented out to guests for $88,000 a week, bringing the full Necker Island experience to more than $400,000 per week.
Riders must follow SCUBA procedures and be trained or accompanied by a certified pilot before entering the underwater plane. SCUBA tanks are mounted in the submarine and passengers must wear masks while underwater, said Hawkes.
The Necker Nymph claims "near-zero" environmental impact because its "positive buoyancy prevents the sub from landing on a reef, and its low light and noise emissions ensure the fragile ocean ecosystems remain undisturbed," Virgin said.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Branson opens doors to spaceship
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/space/12/07/branson.spaceship/
Branson opens doors to spaceship
December 8, 2009
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson unveils spacecraft
Media and prospective space-ride tourists get a peek at SpaceShipTwo
Virgin Galactic has deposits from 300 people toward $200,000 tickets
Branson says the first flight into space will launch in 2011 in New Mexico
Mojave, California (CNN) -- Billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson on Monday unveiled the winged rocket his company developed to give paying customers a brief taste of space.
The 300 people who have given Branson's Virgin Galactic $20,000 deposits toward the $200,000 space-ride tickets were invited see SpaceShipTwo in its Mojave, California, hangar. CNN was given an early peek.
The first flight in 2011 -- after 18 months of testing -- will launch from a spaceport under construction in New Mexico, Branson said.
Another aircraft will carry the 60-foot-long SpaceShipTwo to 60,000 feet above the Earth, where "they will drop away and they will then go to 2,000 miles per hour in 10 seconds, where they get propelled into space," Branson said.
Its hybrid rocket motor -- still under development -- will reach a suborbital altitude high enough to reach the edges of space and weightlessness, according to Branson.
"Once in space, [passengers] will unbuckle their seats," he said. "There are enormous windows, which no spacecraft has had before, for them to look back at the Earth. They can float around and become astronauts."
The cabin, which seats six paying passengers, is 90 inches -- nearly 9 feet -- in diameter, which provides "lots of room for zero-G fun," Branson's Web site said.
The first voyage will carry Branson, his wife, mother and children, the entrepreneur said. "Actually, that's my mum on the side -- a younger version of my mum on the side of the spaceship," he said.
After just a few minutes of space tourism, SpaceShipTwo will glide back to Earth, landing where it began the trip in New Mexico, he said.
About 80,000 people have placed their names on the waiting list for seats on SpaceShipTwo and its successors.
"What we want to be able to do is bring space travel down to a price range where hundreds of thousands of people would be able to experience space, and they never dreamed that [they] could," Branson said.
He said he hopes the technology will lead to a new form of Earth travel, jetting people across oceans and continents faster through suborbital routes.
"We would love at some stage, obviously subject to government approval, to take the engineers and start looking at shrinking the world," Branson said.
The spacecraft was based on the technology and carbon-composite construction developed for SpaceShipOne, which won the Ansari X Prize in 2004 for the first privately funded human flight to the edge of space.
The reusable spacecraft is a joint effort by aviation designer Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites and Virgin Galactic, a space tourism venture that is a subsidiary of Branson's Virgin Group.
Branson opens doors to spaceship
December 8, 2009
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson unveils spacecraft
Media and prospective space-ride tourists get a peek at SpaceShipTwo
Virgin Galactic has deposits from 300 people toward $200,000 tickets
Branson says the first flight into space will launch in 2011 in New Mexico
Mojave, California (CNN) -- Billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson on Monday unveiled the winged rocket his company developed to give paying customers a brief taste of space.
The 300 people who have given Branson's Virgin Galactic $20,000 deposits toward the $200,000 space-ride tickets were invited see SpaceShipTwo in its Mojave, California, hangar. CNN was given an early peek.
The first flight in 2011 -- after 18 months of testing -- will launch from a spaceport under construction in New Mexico, Branson said.
Another aircraft will carry the 60-foot-long SpaceShipTwo to 60,000 feet above the Earth, where "they will drop away and they will then go to 2,000 miles per hour in 10 seconds, where they get propelled into space," Branson said.
Its hybrid rocket motor -- still under development -- will reach a suborbital altitude high enough to reach the edges of space and weightlessness, according to Branson.
"Once in space, [passengers] will unbuckle their seats," he said. "There are enormous windows, which no spacecraft has had before, for them to look back at the Earth. They can float around and become astronauts."
The cabin, which seats six paying passengers, is 90 inches -- nearly 9 feet -- in diameter, which provides "lots of room for zero-G fun," Branson's Web site said.
The first voyage will carry Branson, his wife, mother and children, the entrepreneur said. "Actually, that's my mum on the side -- a younger version of my mum on the side of the spaceship," he said.
After just a few minutes of space tourism, SpaceShipTwo will glide back to Earth, landing where it began the trip in New Mexico, he said.
About 80,000 people have placed their names on the waiting list for seats on SpaceShipTwo and its successors.
"What we want to be able to do is bring space travel down to a price range where hundreds of thousands of people would be able to experience space, and they never dreamed that [they] could," Branson said.
He said he hopes the technology will lead to a new form of Earth travel, jetting people across oceans and continents faster through suborbital routes.
"We would love at some stage, obviously subject to government approval, to take the engineers and start looking at shrinking the world," Branson said.
The spacecraft was based on the technology and carbon-composite construction developed for SpaceShipOne, which won the Ansari X Prize in 2004 for the first privately funded human flight to the edge of space.
The reusable spacecraft is a joint effort by aviation designer Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites and Virgin Galactic, a space tourism venture that is a subsidiary of Branson's Virgin Group.
Friday, March 28, 2008
'South Park' site offers every episode
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117982893.html
Tue., Mar. 25, 2008
'South Park' site offers every episode
Parker, Stone give fans a free look
By SAM THIELMAN
After years of encouraging their fans to share "South Park," creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have set up a viable alternative to the mass YouTube-based distribution of popular clips from the hit show: They're just going to give the whole thing away on SouthParkStudios.com.
"We got really sick of having to download our own show illegally all the time, so we gave ourselves a legal alternative," the duo quipped in a statement.
The site offers every "South Park" episode including the current one, which stays live for a week after its airdate and then goes dark for the rest of the month, at which point it is added to the site's back catalog.
The streaming episodes run without ad breaks, but a spokeswoman for Comedy Central said the full episodes would eventually include advertising. SouthParkStudios.com also hosts embeddable clips. Launch sponsors for the venture are Toyota and Virgin.
It's a good time for Parker and Stone to distance themselves from the YouTube community given Comedy Central parent Viacom's protracted lawsuit against the Web-based video distrib, which features clips from the show.
Comedy Central said the site has already generated more than 3 million page visitors and more than 1 million streams of full episodes since it debuted with no fanfare last week.
Links posted in this story: Comedy Central, Matt Stone, Trey Parker
Tue., Mar. 25, 2008
'South Park' site offers every episode
Parker, Stone give fans a free look
By SAM THIELMAN
After years of encouraging their fans to share "South Park," creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have set up a viable alternative to the mass YouTube-based distribution of popular clips from the hit show: They're just going to give the whole thing away on SouthParkStudios.com.
"We got really sick of having to download our own show illegally all the time, so we gave ourselves a legal alternative," the duo quipped in a statement.
The site offers every "South Park" episode including the current one, which stays live for a week after its airdate and then goes dark for the rest of the month, at which point it is added to the site's back catalog.
The streaming episodes run without ad breaks, but a spokeswoman for Comedy Central said the full episodes would eventually include advertising. SouthParkStudios.com also hosts embeddable clips. Launch sponsors for the venture are Toyota and Virgin.
It's a good time for Parker and Stone to distance themselves from the YouTube community given Comedy Central parent Viacom's protracted lawsuit against the Web-based video distrib, which features clips from the show.
Comedy Central said the site has already generated more than 3 million page visitors and more than 1 million streams of full episodes since it debuted with no fanfare last week.
Links posted in this story: Comedy Central, Matt Stone, Trey Parker
Monday, September 3, 2007
The New Mile-High Club: Forget the Hotel Room
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/BusinessTravel/story?id=3543005&page=1
The New Mile-High Club: Forget the Hotel Room
Airlines Race to Upgrade Lie-Flat Seats and TVs and Even Add Private Rooms
By SCOTT MAYEROWITZ
ABC News Business Unit
Aug. 31, 2007 —
For most of us, the thought of flying conjures images of long lines, cramped seats and questionable food choices if we are lucky enough to get some food.
But for those who can afford it, airlines are going out of their way to add amenities in their first-class and business-class cabins. New seats, new entertainment systems and a bevy of additional services unheard of just a few years ago are popping up as airlines battle each other for lucrative customers.
Welcome to the latest round of airline seat wars.
International airlines have long prided themselves on having an extra level of service. But now some American carriers, fearing that they might lose some of their most-profitable customers, are starting to step up their own efforts.
In October 2006, Delta announced its intention to be the first U.S. carrier to offer lie-flat seats in its international business class. American Airlines introduced its plans for upgraded seats in March of this year and United unveiled its plans last month.
United's "First Suite" offers a 180-degree lie-flat seat, a five-course meal, a laptop power source, a personal video screen with nine channels and a videotape player with a choice of 14 feature films.
Sound nice right?
Yes, but it is nothing compared to what some international carriers are doing.
Emirates Airlines plans to spend $50 million in the next 18 months to upgrade its first-class product. Its new in-flight entertainment system, which will also be available in coach, will offer more than 600 channels of entertainment on demand. First-class screens will be a whopping 23 inches.
Singapore Airlines has a news system called KrisWorld. Passengers can choose from 100 movies, 150 television shows, 700 CDs, 22 radio stations and 65 games.
Robert Mann, an airline industry analyst and consultant in Port Washington, N.Y., said that airlines are putting their money where the profit is. On some routes, a first-class ticket can go for $10,000 or more. Airlines will do anything to attract those types of customers.
That said, Mann is still not convinced that it is the best business model for airlines all the games, videos and toys are nice, but they are not what the business traveler needs.
"You didn't go to play, you went to work," Mann said.
As for the beds, Mann believes that they "give you the appearance" that you will get a good night's sleep and be fresh for your meeting. But that it's still not a great night's sleep.
The airlines choose to roll out their best amenities on the most-profitable routes.
"It's basically the very, very long hauls and the very, very deep pockets," Mann said.
That means flights to the world's financial markets such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, London and Paris.
The latest trend is to go to big pods with privacy screens or even private rooms with sliding doors.
"It's everything that an airplane doesn't want to be. These things are incredibly heavy. They are cumbersome," Mann said. "It guess it's exclusivity. I think first-class gets you there, but I guess some people think you need to go to walls until you really get it."
Change Takes Time
Upgrading seats is not an easy task.
First, an airline has to come up with a concept and design it, but designing something for an airplane has many extra hurdles. Cost and size are factors, but so is weight and compatibility with the rest of the aircraft's systems.
Airplane seats also need to clear a rigorous set of flammability and safety tests.
It can then take several months or even more than a year to manufacture the seats.
But even once the airline gets the seats it doesn't mean passengers will immediately see the benefits.
Airlines only make money when their planes are in the sky so they prefer to upgrade seats and other amenities only when an aircraft comes in for its routine maintenance. That means it can take months for new seats to appear throughout an airline's fleet.
Joe Ferry, the head of design for Virgin Atlantic, said a constant struggle when designing new seats is to make sure that there are still the same number of paying passengers in a section.
"It's easy to just take off seats and give them more space," Ferry said.
But it isn't that easy.
When Ferry and his team of 15 designers work on a new concept, they test ideas with the flight crew and with some of their frequent fliers.
The seat must also go through rigorous crash tests, flammability tests and a list of other checkoffs.
Virgin's upper-class service - something it calls a first-class product at a business-class price - is not just about being comfortable, but about being hip. There are sharp colors on the plane, massages, meals on demand and for customers who don't want to spend the entire flight in their seats, there is a bar on its 747s to mingle at.
So how much does Virgin watch out for its competition's latest products?
"We keep an eye on what they are doing," Ferry said, "but it certainly doesn't dictate what we're doing because we like to think we're so much further in advance of all the other airlines that our own driving factor should be ourselves."
The Next Step?
Singapore Airlines, one of the leaders in service and amenities, used to upgrade its seats every seven years or so.
"That cycle has become shorter," said James Boyd, vice president of public relations for the airline.
The airline has new seats on its long-haul routes such as New York-to-Singapore or Los Angeles-to-Singapore - the longest distance and duration flights available today.
But many airline watchers are waiting for Oct. 15 when Singapore takes delivery of the first Airbus A-380.
Boyd won't say much about it except that "this is going to be a complete rethink of air travel."
Airbus recommends installing 555 seats on the new jumbo jet. Singapore will have fewer than 480.
But there's more to a flight than a good seat. Singapore Airlines prides itself on its service.
While most airline flight attendants undergo six weeks of training, Singapore Airlines has a five-month program. It is so rigorous, Boyd said, that only 10 percent of those who apply graduate from the training.
The Ego Play
Mann said when it comes down to it, "I don't think anybody really chooses" an airline because of the amenities.
"They're really chosen because they're the only guys that fly nonstop to Doha or Dubai or wherever it may be," he said. "You're buying based upon nonstop service and to some degree global [frequent flier] alliance affiliation."
Some of the newer Middle-Eastern airlines, such as Qatar Airways and Emirates, are "spending a ton on image," Mann said.
"There's some ego stuff involved here. It is a highly visible industry. If you're going to try to play in a game where you expect people to drop $10,000 one way to fly some place, you really have to have - at least what you think - is a top quality product," he said.
But the irony of all of this is that the people who buy these sorts of tickets are opting out of the scheduled airline system all together, according to Mann. Instead they are buying time on private jets where they don't have to deal with airport security, lost baggage or lengthy delays at major airports.
"What [the airlines are] really trying to do," Mann said, "is make a last gasp at people who are on the fence ready to jump for the business jet."
The New Mile-High Club: Forget the Hotel Room
Airlines Race to Upgrade Lie-Flat Seats and TVs and Even Add Private Rooms
By SCOTT MAYEROWITZ
ABC News Business Unit
Aug. 31, 2007 —
For most of us, the thought of flying conjures images of long lines, cramped seats and questionable food choices if we are lucky enough to get some food.
But for those who can afford it, airlines are going out of their way to add amenities in their first-class and business-class cabins. New seats, new entertainment systems and a bevy of additional services unheard of just a few years ago are popping up as airlines battle each other for lucrative customers.
Welcome to the latest round of airline seat wars.
International airlines have long prided themselves on having an extra level of service. But now some American carriers, fearing that they might lose some of their most-profitable customers, are starting to step up their own efforts.
In October 2006, Delta announced its intention to be the first U.S. carrier to offer lie-flat seats in its international business class. American Airlines introduced its plans for upgraded seats in March of this year and United unveiled its plans last month.
United's "First Suite" offers a 180-degree lie-flat seat, a five-course meal, a laptop power source, a personal video screen with nine channels and a videotape player with a choice of 14 feature films.
Sound nice right?
Yes, but it is nothing compared to what some international carriers are doing.
Emirates Airlines plans to spend $50 million in the next 18 months to upgrade its first-class product. Its new in-flight entertainment system, which will also be available in coach, will offer more than 600 channels of entertainment on demand. First-class screens will be a whopping 23 inches.
Singapore Airlines has a news system called KrisWorld. Passengers can choose from 100 movies, 150 television shows, 700 CDs, 22 radio stations and 65 games.
Robert Mann, an airline industry analyst and consultant in Port Washington, N.Y., said that airlines are putting their money where the profit is. On some routes, a first-class ticket can go for $10,000 or more. Airlines will do anything to attract those types of customers.
That said, Mann is still not convinced that it is the best business model for airlines all the games, videos and toys are nice, but they are not what the business traveler needs.
"You didn't go to play, you went to work," Mann said.
As for the beds, Mann believes that they "give you the appearance" that you will get a good night's sleep and be fresh for your meeting. But that it's still not a great night's sleep.
The airlines choose to roll out their best amenities on the most-profitable routes.
"It's basically the very, very long hauls and the very, very deep pockets," Mann said.
That means flights to the world's financial markets such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, London and Paris.
The latest trend is to go to big pods with privacy screens or even private rooms with sliding doors.
"It's everything that an airplane doesn't want to be. These things are incredibly heavy. They are cumbersome," Mann said. "It guess it's exclusivity. I think first-class gets you there, but I guess some people think you need to go to walls until you really get it."
Change Takes Time
Upgrading seats is not an easy task.
First, an airline has to come up with a concept and design it, but designing something for an airplane has many extra hurdles. Cost and size are factors, but so is weight and compatibility with the rest of the aircraft's systems.
Airplane seats also need to clear a rigorous set of flammability and safety tests.
It can then take several months or even more than a year to manufacture the seats.
But even once the airline gets the seats it doesn't mean passengers will immediately see the benefits.
Airlines only make money when their planes are in the sky so they prefer to upgrade seats and other amenities only when an aircraft comes in for its routine maintenance. That means it can take months for new seats to appear throughout an airline's fleet.
Joe Ferry, the head of design for Virgin Atlantic, said a constant struggle when designing new seats is to make sure that there are still the same number of paying passengers in a section.
"It's easy to just take off seats and give them more space," Ferry said.
But it isn't that easy.
When Ferry and his team of 15 designers work on a new concept, they test ideas with the flight crew and with some of their frequent fliers.
The seat must also go through rigorous crash tests, flammability tests and a list of other checkoffs.
Virgin's upper-class service - something it calls a first-class product at a business-class price - is not just about being comfortable, but about being hip. There are sharp colors on the plane, massages, meals on demand and for customers who don't want to spend the entire flight in their seats, there is a bar on its 747s to mingle at.
So how much does Virgin watch out for its competition's latest products?
"We keep an eye on what they are doing," Ferry said, "but it certainly doesn't dictate what we're doing because we like to think we're so much further in advance of all the other airlines that our own driving factor should be ourselves."
The Next Step?
Singapore Airlines, one of the leaders in service and amenities, used to upgrade its seats every seven years or so.
"That cycle has become shorter," said James Boyd, vice president of public relations for the airline.
The airline has new seats on its long-haul routes such as New York-to-Singapore or Los Angeles-to-Singapore - the longest distance and duration flights available today.
But many airline watchers are waiting for Oct. 15 when Singapore takes delivery of the first Airbus A-380.
Boyd won't say much about it except that "this is going to be a complete rethink of air travel."
Airbus recommends installing 555 seats on the new jumbo jet. Singapore will have fewer than 480.
But there's more to a flight than a good seat. Singapore Airlines prides itself on its service.
While most airline flight attendants undergo six weeks of training, Singapore Airlines has a five-month program. It is so rigorous, Boyd said, that only 10 percent of those who apply graduate from the training.
The Ego Play
Mann said when it comes down to it, "I don't think anybody really chooses" an airline because of the amenities.
"They're really chosen because they're the only guys that fly nonstop to Doha or Dubai or wherever it may be," he said. "You're buying based upon nonstop service and to some degree global [frequent flier] alliance affiliation."
Some of the newer Middle-Eastern airlines, such as Qatar Airways and Emirates, are "spending a ton on image," Mann said.
"There's some ego stuff involved here. It is a highly visible industry. If you're going to try to play in a game where you expect people to drop $10,000 one way to fly some place, you really have to have - at least what you think - is a top quality product," he said.
But the irony of all of this is that the people who buy these sorts of tickets are opting out of the scheduled airline system all together, according to Mann. Instead they are buying time on private jets where they don't have to deal with airport security, lost baggage or lengthy delays at major airports.
"What [the airlines are] really trying to do," Mann said, "is make a last gasp at people who are on the fence ready to jump for the business jet."
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