I see that Airbus has filed patents for ways to git more people into a plane. Here it is.
consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/ep2923946a1.pdf
and in simpler form here
uk.businessinsider.com/airbus-eu-patent-filing-over-fitting-more-people-on-planes-2015-10?r=US&IR=T
I'm not really sure how you can patent a seating plan but anyway - I hope the additional weight (people and their luggage) would remain well within the aircraft tolerance - also that they improve the boarding and disembarking process, not just in the plane but in the terminals too.
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I don't care how they cram me in, as long as I've got enough leg room.
I'm tall and need around 28" before my knees are jammed into the back of the seat in front.
One of my most comfortable flights was in an old BAC 111 facing backwards. The guy opposite had no option other than to let our knees overlap!
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The hosties will love the food and drinks service and judging by the rubbish, food, and drinks that get on the floor I would not want to be in the lower seats.
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>> would remain well within the aircraft (tolerance)
Visions of those competitions to get as many people as possible into a mini, legs sticking out of the windows.
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The boss of Ryanair once bizarrely proposed standing passengers using hand grabs, just as in buses.
Not sure about the takeoff and landing safety requirements which, presumably, had never entered his mind.
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>> Not sure about the takeoff and landing safety requirements which, presumably, had never entered his
>> mind.
Everything will have entered Michael O'Leary's mind. Clever bloke. He seems to have gone a bit quiet, unless the fourth estate has become bored with reporting his comments.
He has come out with all sorts of nonsense, such as paying for the toilet, to get Ryanair into the public consciousness and keep it there.
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He went quiet because he realised that Ryanair was getting a lot of bad publicity, especially with regard to customer care and attention.
It paid off because it reversed the trend of not doing as well financially as expected.
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>>Everything will have entered Michael O'Leary's mind. Clever bloke.
Really clever mind.
Everybody thinks Ryanair must be the cheapest it can possibly be because of his comments.
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I've heard O'Leary openly comment in interviews that some of the suggestions like paying for the toilet are just publicity tools to get the Ryanair name media coverage.
Really clever guy, and whatever you think of him or the airline you have to credit him with taking a small outfit that was loosing money into a profitable market leader
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>> I've heard O'Leary openly comment in interviews that some of the suggestions like paying for
>> the toilet are just publicity tools to get the Ryanair name media coverage.
>>
Like the famous Ratner remark?
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>>Like the famous Ratner remark?
Which always bemused me, as who thought they were buying sold gold for the price of a sandwich?
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As I recall, it was a comment that he had made at dinners a number of times, and the actual report in the newspapers that caused all the fuss was reporting on an occurrence some 6 months or so before the report.
A silly thing to say, but the media made much of it at a quiet time.
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>> As I recall, it was a comment that he had made at dinners a number
>> of times,
That absolutely right. It wasn't the first time he had used the joke or even the first time it had been reported.
I remember because I was peripherally involved with Ratners around that time. At least 6 months before, there had been a feature in the FT about Ratners including an interview with Gerald and Victor, his cousin (I think) who was in charge of buying. The interviewer asked how they could sell a cut glass decanter with a silver tray six glasses for under £10. "Because it's crap" said Gerald; "Clever buying" said Victor.
Nevertheless Gerald Ratner was also a smart guy, even if the (very successful up to that point) transformation of Ratners wasn't all his own idea. His autobiography, Gerald Ratner: The Rise and Fall...and Rise Again" isn't great literature but it's an interesting read for anybody in retailing. Ratners was in trouble until he bought Terry's, a smaller rival firm built up by Terry Jordan who had left Ratners.
Gerald Ratner even said in his book that the advice he got from Jordan in the first post-takeover meeting was worth all the money he paid for the acquisition. Jewellers then didn't advertise discounts, have January sales, or put cheap stuff in the window. Terry's did all those things. The key insight was that the most important consideration for people in the mass market buying jewellery was price. Engagement rings that had been 18 carat were changed to 9 carat, the expensive rings went in the side window and the cheap necklaces and earrings went in the front.
There's a bit of a parallel with Ryanair in the break with the industry norms.
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Fitting more people in aircraft - Roger.
