[articulatepang]

But are you willing to pay 10-20% more for that joy? I personally would rather pay less money to fly, not get to see out the window, and spend those dollars on, say, a fancier meal at the destination. Or to have an extra day at the destination if my trip length is money-bound rather than time-bound. Or put those dollars towards an extra hour of childcare. Or … I have so many uses for dollars that give me more utility than “see out the window while flying”.

Where that number comes from: they claim 50% reduction in fuel consumption, which sounds doubtful to me, and fuel is about a third of flight costs, and I’m making some generous assumptions around perfect competition.

[dzhiurgis]

My primary destination is Europe <> NZ which is about 24 hours in air so personally I'd give up everything for flat seat. Doesn't have to be business class seat - just something barest of the bare, basically bunk beds.

Thing is with current structure airlines would dilute business class too much and airplane manufacturers would increase density all while decreasing fuel use per passenger - none of which is desirable.

[carlosjobim]

You would change the experience of the glory of flying for food instead? Live while you're alive!

[karmajunkie]

it’s cute you think that’s going to show up in lower ticket costs instead of the company’s profit margin.

[jrk]

Commercial air travel is extremely competitive and has very low margins.

[samplifier]

Sounds like a race to the bottom. Mmm bad pun.

[articulatepang]

We don't really have to guess: as jet engines became more fuel-efficient, inflation-adjusted prices for air tickets dropped. And as oil prices fluctuate, so do ticket prices. There's a bunch of noise in both these trends but the best explanation for them is that competition between airlines drives prices to roughly the cost of provision, of which 30% or so is fuel.