USA Today sent a reporter and photographer to take a 15-hour flight from Chicago to New Delhi, chronicling life inside an aluminum tube flying across continents. http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2006-07-31-long-haul-india_x.htm
Key Quote: “7 hours, 24 minutes until disembarking: OK, it’s official. I am really tired of sitting in my seat. Coach is hard enough for cross-country flights … let alone for a trip to the other side of the world. Making things worse: I have an unobstructed view of business class … those guys look really comfy. Me? I now feel like I’m in a constant state of wriggling.”
Uncomfortable or not, ultra-long-haul travel like this is a big profit center for airlines, the paper reports. http://www.usatoday.com/money/biztravel/2006-07-30-india-flight-usat_x.htm
Key Quote: “As more Americans travel frequently to destinations such as India, China and Japan, more airlines are beginning to offer non-stop flights. The ultralong, non-stop flight is the fastest-growing length category of flight, according to a USA TODAY analysis of airline schedule data from Back Aviation Solutions. This month, an average of 30 daily flights departed from the USA with flight times of 14 hours or longer. This compares with an average of 18 daily departures four years ago.”
By the way, the story refers to the flight being aboard a “777ER.” According to its Web site, American Airlines flies 777-200ERs — normally 301-seat jets — configured to carry between 224 and 245 passengers.
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