The Airbus A380 has allowed airlines to highlight their newest and best high-end products and Lufthansa Airlines is no exception. With the introduction of the A380, Lufthansa has been able to showcase a new level of luxury with their new first class seats found in the front of the upper deck. Many airlines call this set up “suites,” but these are really a hybrid. If you are flying with someone you know and get two tickets, you have the ability to put down the mid-screens and easily interact with your companion. If they are a stranger (or someone you know, but don’t want to talk to), you are able to put up the wall and have your own private suite-like space.
Although I haven’t been able to test out the first class suites on a flight, I can say just sitting in them for a few minutes is quite nice. Experiencing on of these seats first hand, will set you back a pretty penny; a round trip flight costs about $20,000.00.
Although the suites are quite impressive, the two lavatories are unreal. You have plenty of room to freshen up or use the facilities. It is also the prime location to join the mile-high club, if that is your thing.
The VIP cabin gets quite a few things the rest of Lufthansa A380s do not First is a bit more headroom with the lack of overhead bins. Passengers will find plenty of room to store their items either in their suite or in a storage locker, which they can personally lock. There is also additional sound deadening material to keep the first class cabin a bit more quiet for the long journey. To help reduce jet-lag, there is a special humidifier created by Lufthansa, just for their Airbus A380 first class cabin.
All the knowledge that flight attendants have about safety and serving the customer doesn’t happen over night. Employees will spend weeks training, most of the time using an aircraft interior mock-up. Last week, Virgin America installed a new Airbus A320 mock up at their Burlingame, California Headquarters. It is unknown if the training A320 comes with techno music standard or if you need to bring your own.
You can also check out photos of the process that Virgin America posted on their Facebook.
This is a classic commercial for Republic Airlines. I chose it not only for the retro Boeing 727 and DC-9, but for sharing the idea of positive letters. Believe it or not, airlines actually do receive letters like this and I have been to more than one airline headquarters where they proudly display them on the wall, to remind workers that some folks are appreciative. For most airlines, all letters (good or bad) are read.
The Republic Airlines in this video is not the same today that operates Frontier. In 1986 Republic Airlines was purchased by Northwest Airlines, which is now part of Delta.
This video was shot in Los Angeles, CA at Ontario International Airport (ONT) in 2009. On its own, it is a pretty slick video showing a bit of airport operations and of course aircraft. The video was made by Greg Strasz who is a visual effects art director who has worked on movies like 2012 and soon to-be release Anonymous. Yea, not too shabby work huh? Although he loves video effects, he also loves aviation and shot this video to provide as a reference for his VFX department to the director of 2012. Obviously it worked. If I remember there was a pretty slick shot of the main character flying a plane under a falling building in the movie. Ah yea.
How do airlines figure out how to charge for tickets? Probably not like this, but this is still a great Alaska Airlines commercial. This is not the first time that Alaska has shown the bad practices of Sky High Airlines. Back in the 1980’s Alaska showed how poorly Sky High would handle your bags.