The business class section of the Boeing 747-8 International mock-up has amazing lighting.
The orange exterior of the Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental has been getting a lot of well deserved attention. But my mother always told me, “it is what’s inside that counts.” She’s right, so let’s take a close look at the interior of the Boeing 747-8I.
The plane seen at the 747-8I unveiling had no interior and Lufthansa’s first plane isn’t quite ready yet for a viewing. However, Boeing does have a full, two story interior mock up at the Customer Experience Center located in Renton, WA and I was lucky enough to be invited to check it out.
My first impression was, “wow.” I understand that the seating choices and a lot of the fanciness won’t be chosen by every airline, but just the lighting is a huge improvement. The full color spectrum LED lighting in the ceiling and along the walls makes the cabin feel bigger and the new overhead bins (also found on the 787 Dreamliner) actually make the cabin bigger.
Boeing was able to show what “standard” lighting seen today looks like versus the new lighting and it makes a huge difference. Boeing suggests that an airline makes the ceiling lighting the same color as the sky (blues to oranges), but airlines can customize almost any color. The sky colors brings your eyes up and gives a feeling of a higher ceiling and a much more enjoyable environment.
This mini-suite on the upper deck looks pretty comfy.
Unlike the mood lighting seen on airlines like Virgin American (which is also awesome), the lighting in the new interior doesn’t cause the whole cabin to change colors. Airlines have the ability to create different lighting in the ceiling and side walls, but still keep the main lighting on the passengers white.
The stairs going up to the upper deck is much more welcoming on the 747-8I than the stairs I have seen on Boeing 747-400s.Showing what could be, the upper deck of the mock up had lounge and private suite seating. Who needs a seat that turns into a bed, when you can have a seat and a bed with a sitting area right outside?
Although the mock-up doesn’t have engines attached to it, I would imagine the real 747-8I will be much quieter inside. Seeing the 747-8F take off, it is obviously much more silent than the Boeing 747-400 and older models.
Boeing will have a consistent feel across all their airlines. Now, the Boeing 737, 777, 787 and 747-8I will have similar custom lighting and more modern interiors. These new interiors will keep passengers happy and help to make airlines more profit. Sounds like a winning combination to me.
airBaltic was founded in 1995 and is owned by the government of Latvia. The low cost carrier was founded with a single Saab 340 and they received their first Boeing 737 in 2004. Now airBaltic has a fleet of 34 aircraft consisting of two Boeing 757-200s, eight 737-500s, eight 737-300s, 10 Fokker-50s and eight Bombardier Q400s.
Their livery is simple, but it works. The tail, winglets and landing gear doors go well together all being green. It does seem odd with the engine cowls only being silver in the front.
Two United and one American aircraft find parking.
A United Boeing 747-400 and American Airlines Boeing 777 sit while other aircraft start to line up.
These four photos were sent to me of different US Airlines being diverted to Yokota Air Base which were bound for Narita in Tokyo Japan. The airbase took 11 inbound flights and over 500 passengers. Col. Otto Feather, commander of the 374th Airlift Wing at the base, told NextGov.com that the, “entire Yokota community — including the Red Cross and the Boy Scouts — turned out to care for the stranded passengers from United and Delta airlines, among others.” Check out a video of the air base helping all their short-term guests.
According to the Wall Street Journal, all All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines (JAL) flights are canceled at least through Saturday.
I am in the process of trying to find out who took these photos to give proper credit.
Oh noes! Will AvGeeks be safe taking Laviator photos in the future? Taken on Air New Zealands Boeing 777-300ER
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered airlines to remove the oxygen tanks located in lavatories in 6000 aircraft across the United States. The FAA determined that someone could use the oxygen tanks to start a fire or to create a bomb. The Air Worthiness Directive 2011-04-09 stated that airlines had to comply over a 21-day period, ending on March 4th. The entire process was kept a secret to the general public, since the FAA did not want someone to use the information for evil doing.
This means that if cabin pressure is lost mid-flight, there would be no oxygen mask for a passenger in the bathroom. This has some people very upset (and afraid), but really flight attendants are trained to take care of you and although some people think depressurization happens all the time it is a very rare situation — especially when you think about how many flight hours are completed in the US on a daily basis. I would rather take the risk of being in the bathroom during decompression versus someone using the oxygen container for something bad.
So why have the bathroom oxygen tanks been removed, but not the others in the main cabin? I suspect the ones in the lavatories were targeted since passengers have a pretty high level of privacy and could barricade themselves in. The airlines and aircraft manufactures are working on a better solution (I am thinking an alarm to access the oxygen tank?), but there is no word when oxygen will be re-activated in the lavatories.
