New York Times travel writer Joe Sharkey toured Boeing’s 777-200LR prototype in New Jersey last week and seems to have come away impressed, particularly with the overhead crew rest arrangements.
Boeing, as you probably know, has cleared space in the “attic” above the main passenger cabin to create rest areas for flight and cabin crew. Airbus also has crew rest areas, but they put them down in the belly, and Boeing’s marketing people are pretty relentless when it comes to pointing out that takes away space for cargo.
Sharkey also notes that long-haul, transcontinental service is where U.S. airlines are making money these days (Continental Airlines in particular) and that’s driving demand for Boeing’s Everett-built 777.
Key Quote: “Look at where Continental’s revenue comes from. In the second quarter, it was up 5.2 percent from domestic passenger traffic, but rose 25.7 percent from flights to and from Europe and 21 percent from flights across the Pacific.”
Here’s a link to Sharkey’s column:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/02/business/02road.html
And here’s a link to a posting on Boeing’s Flight Test Journal (the official blog of the 777-200LR) about the dog-and-pony show Sharkey attended …
http://www.boeing.com/commercial/777family/200LR/flight_test/archives/2005/07/live_from_newar.html
… plus Boeing Blogger-in-chief Randy Baseler’s musings on the matter:
http://www.boeing.com/randy/
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