Absurdly Driven looks at the world of business with a skeptical eye and a firmly rooted tongue in cheek.
Things aren’t going well for Economy Class passengers.
Somehow, they’ve become an afterthought. A thought that comes after everything else, especially profit.
How low, though, will airlines go?
Keep looking down.
Here, you see, I bring you the latest densification plans of British Airways.
Should you be unfamiliar with the term densification, its simplest definition is shoving as many seats into a plane as possible until the passengers can breathe no more.
British Airways has been criticized in recent times of being very keen to make money at the expense of its image as a premium airline.
Personally, I’ve had relatively pleasant experiences on the airline.
I’m not sure how pleasant it will be if I travel on its newly-retrofitted short-haul Airbus planes.
As was revealed on FlyerTalk, Business Class passengers — or, as BA calls it, Club Class — may not be able to hang their coats anymore, as the wardrobes will now be used for “general storage.”
Behind them, however, Economy Class passengers will enjoy seats that don’t recline.
Which I don’t see as necessarily a bad thing, except for the fact that the seats will have only a 29-inch pitch.
Think knees digging into the seat in front.
And, well, these are the sort of slimline seats now being favored by certain U.S. airlines too.
This, though, is the pinnacle of despair on these planes: there’ll be no garbage bins or, well, water in the rear galley.
Yes, to save a little space.
This means that if you’re sitting near the back of the plane and want a simple glass of water, the Flight Attendant will have to go all the way to the galley in Club Class to get you the drink.
And how easy do you think this will be, given these single-aisle planes?
Please also put yourself in the shiny shoes of Flight Attendants who will have to spend a considerable amount of their time carrying trash all the way to the front of the plane.
Where there isn’t a lot of room in the first place.
And, if you’re a passenger in Club Class, just think of how many times these Flight Attendants will be walking up and down your aisle in order to dispose of trash or to get a glass of water.
Just to make sure they get enough exercise on these flights, the cabin crews will also have to do all the safety demonstrations manually because the overhead screens are being removed to make the planes slightly lighter.
I’m sure that if you have a CFO-type mentality, you’ll be delighted at such cutting or corners.
In the end, though, BA becomes, in the eyes of many, just another budget airline.
Which is a pity.