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IPFS News Link • Transportation: Air Travel

Airbus Patents Detachable Cabins to Cut Plane Boarding Times

• Wired

It's quiz time. What's the worst part about flying? "Everything," is an entirely appropriate response, but the one thing that's most miserable about flying is the waiting.

Waiting to get through security. Waiting for bad food and overpriced water. Waiting to get on the damn plane, waiting to get off the damn plane. You'd think the industry's approach to customer service is "hurry up and wait," but airlines hate waiting as much as you do. Every moment a plane is a stationary is a moment it isn't making money. Boeing says cutting an airplane's "turn-time"—its time on the ground—by 10 minutes improves utilization level 8.1 percent. That's a big deal in an industry that typically earns a profit of just $8.27 per passenger, and it's why flight attendants practically push you down the aisle. Airlines want you seated ASAP.

That's got Airbus reconsidering the boarding process with an idea to turn aircraft cabins into what amount to shipping containers. We'll pause here to let you groan.


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