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Aviation History
2001
2001 - 0073.PDF
terms Let comfort come before gimmicks As an aviation professional, I find Airbus' continued use of the gym, casino and shopping arcade facili ties in the advertising and promo tion of their new A3 80 superjumbo disturbing. Unlike terrestrial or marine environments, aircraft operate in a changing, three dimensional world dominated by the atmosphere and gravity. If control is lost, aircraft plunge earthwise; atmospheric conditions may toss them around or make them lose thousands of feet without prior warning; mechanical failures may cause loss of cabin pressurisation requiring the donning of oxygen masks and rapid descent to lower altitude. So to promote features that will have hundreds of people milling around on board an aeroplane in flight is irresponsible. Can Airbus tell us what these poor souls will be expected to do in case of a sudden cabin depressurisation? Or in the event of clear air turbulence when the aeroplane suddenly sinks or is tossed around? Will the gamblers first run back to their seats or line up to cash in their chips? Unless they are attending to something urgent, all passengers should remain seated with their seat belts fastened throughout the flight. Instead of these ludicrous schemes, I suggest that Airbus puts more effort into making all seats - economy class as well as first and business - more comfortable by increasing leg and shoulder rooms, and improving ergonomic charac teristics, by adding better seatback adjustments and foot rests. Making the traveller more com fortable in his or her seat should be the direction to take not the promotion of facilities that have no place on board aeroplanes. JACOB ZILBER Barcelona, Spain The A380 is too conventional I question Airbus' decision to go ahead with the A3 80. Until now Airbus has beaten the competition using innovation, technology and marketing. Sur prisingly, none of these apply to the A3 80. It is a rather convention al aircraft that will have to face a much lower development cost of the well proven 747 in the small very-large aircraft market. Airbus should have opted for an advanced design - a blended wing- body is a crude example - which Boeing could not follow keeping the advantage of a 747 derivative. NICOLAOS KEYAHAS- Athens, Greece The opinions on this page do not necessarily represent those of the editor. Flight International cannot undertake to publish letters -without name and address and reserves the right to select or edit letters. Address: The Editor, Flight International, Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS, UK. E-mail:flight.international@rbi.co.uk WHAT'S ON 39th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibition 8-11 January Reno, Nevada, USA Contact American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Tel+1(703)2647500 Fax+1 (703)2647551 3rd Annual European Airfinance Conference 18-19 January Dublin, Ireland Contact Yvonne Hynes, Euromoney Seminars Tel+44 (0)20 7779 8999 (USA)1 800 437 9997 Email hotline@euromoney.com Flight International Crew Management Conference 5-6 February London, UK Contact Angela Jones Tel+44 (20) 8652 3818 Fax+44 (20) 8652 3482 Email angela.jones@rbi.co.uk Flight International's "Beneath the skin " exhibition is on at La Muse'e ae Pair et I'espace, Aeroport ae Paris, he Bourget BP113, 933S2 he Bourget, Cdx, France. For further information contact: Tel+44 (20) 8205 2266 Fax+44 (20) 8205 7617 FUGHT Flight International has a limited number of 2001 calendars available to order, priced at £6.95/US$11 (including postage and packaging). The calendar features 12 fantastic photographs selected from our Flight Collection library, plus detai the main shows and events taking place in 2001. ORDER YOUR To order your copy, please phone ESCO on+44 (0371) 810 433 with your credit card details or make your cheque payable to Flight International and send it to: Flight International Calendar Offer, 9th Flqor, Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton Surrey, SM2 5AS. Alternatively, you can fax your credit card details to +44 (20) 8652 8923. Please allow 2-3 weeks for delivery. Please send me copies of the Flight International 2001 Calendar at £(US$) . made payable to Reed Business Information. Signature: each. I enclose a cheque for £(US$)_ Name: Credit Card: Amex/Visa/Mastercard/Eurocard* 'Delete as appropriate Card Number: nana DDDD •••• •••• Expiry Date: •• •• Address: Postcode: Company registered i Country: 1 England. Registered number 151537 at Quadrant House, Sutton, Surrey, SM2 5AS, UK. SA. REED tSS BUSINESS *^ INFORMATION FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 2 - 8 January 2001 71
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