Frequent fliers try to create perfect plane By Chris Woodyard, USA TODAY NEW YORK =97 The largest commercial jetliner ever to fly should be outfitted= =20 with its own in-flight disco. No, make that a yoga classroom. Well, maybe a= =20 cocktail lounge with floor-to-ceiling wraparound windows. So went the=20 discussion as Singapore Airlines invited 20 of its best business and=20 leisure fliers for a weekend of blue-sky thinking on how to outfit the=20 Airbus A-380, a double-decked behemoth set to make its debut in four years.= =20 As the first airline on tap to receive the history-making aircraft,=20 Singapore is hoping that focus groups in New York, London and Singapore=20 will help lead to the design of passenger-friendly interiors. The invited=20 customers caught the spirit during sessions Saturday and Sunday at a hotel= =20 here. "They really are starting from scratch, so they can break the rules,"= =20 said passenger volunteer Juan Acevedo, who works for an asset management=20 firm and flies overseas twice a year. The stakes are huge. Airbus doesn't want to flop in its bid to dethrone=20 rival Boeing's 747 as the reigning queen of the world's aviation fleet. So= =20 far, it has sold more than 100 A-380s to eight air carriers, including 10=20 firm orders to Singapore, despite the air travel slump. All eyes will be on= =20 Singapore. From an economic perspective, the airline is banking that the=20 economy will have recovered by the time the plane is ready. From a=20 passenger point of view, Singapore is hoping to add features that will make= =20 the A-380 as noteworthy inside as it is for its outside dimensions. Airbus= =20 says the A-380 is designed for 555 passengers. It will be up to Singapore,= =20 however, to decide how many seats to install and how much space to leave=20 free for other uses. The airline hopes to find designs that will make the=20 cabin seem less cramped. "There are ways to use the space in a more=20 efficient way," said Joseph Debacq, Singapore's customer research chief.=20 That's why passengers are being made an integral part of the process,=20 reversing past practice. "A lot of the designs of modern aircraft have been= =20 led by the engineers and the airlines," said Roy Langmaid, part of the consulting team brought in to run the exercise. "In=20 some ways, the passengers have been an afterthought." Not this time. To foster breakthrough thinking, the frequent fliers were=20 led through exercises designed to release inhibitions and free creativity. Ideas flew. Asked to come up with innovative ways to use an unneeded=20 forward cargo hold as passenger space, participants bounced around=20 everything from the disco, yoga classroom and view-lounge concepts to a=20 gym, hot tub or showering area. The space could be turned into a glassed-in= =20 room where giant-screen, wrap-around movies could be shown like at a=20 planetarium, one participant suggested. Or it could be domed to allow in=20 natural sun or moonlight. Most of Sunday was spent building full-scale=20 mock-ups of areas where successively larger groups of people could live for= =20 up to 18 hours, the length of a long trans-Pacific flight.Dividing into=20 teams, participants scribbled on easels, taped together panels, spread out= =20 aluminum foil and decorated with colored paper and marking pens. They grabbed whatever furniture they could find, then added glasses and=20 carafes to create more intimate atmospheres.About three hours later, the=20 conference room resembled a makeshift desert encampment. But what the=20 exercise may have lacked in craftsmanship, it made up for in a few=20 resounding themes: =B7 Personal space. Passengers sought to find solutions to present-day= =20 planes, which can be crammed with so many seats that fliers feel shoehorned= =20 in. "No matter where you're sitting or what you're paying, you feel like a= =20 hostage," stockbroker Marion Lukasik said. To maximize available space, the groups envisioned retractable seats,=20 fold-down tables and multiple levels. They wanted the option of interacting= =20 with other passengers or withdrawing to their own private spaces. One group called their business-class configuration Freedom Class for the=20 ability to walk around. Taking advantage of the plane's double decks, some= =20 had upstairs and downstairs living areas. =B7 Sleep. The ability to have a lay-flat bed on a daylong flight=20 overrode just about every other passenger concern. "People want to sleep,=20 no matter what class they are in. There is a lot of passion around that,"=20 Debacq said. At one point, the group wrote down how much extra they would be willing to= =20 pay to have their own assigned bunk for the length of the trip. The results= =20 weren't disclosed. =B7 Peace. One group named their configuration Tranquility Class to=20 underscore the serenity they seek, decorating it with reassuring greens and= =20 purples. Like others, they envisioned a place where passengers could tune=20 out the world through music libraries or other interests to pass the time. =B7 Self-service. Though Singapore promotes its attentive flight=20 attendants, customers said they would the like the option, too, of being=20 able to grab their own snacks or drinks, pick out music or videos and try=20 out other self-service ideas. Although the airline also will hold similar sessions with in-plane crews,=20 this was the last one with passengers. Consultants will review notes and=20 videotapes from the sessions, then combine them into a report for Singapore= =20 executives. The airline works with Airbus to incorporate its ideas into the= =20 cabin. No matter how many of the ideas eventually are adopted, passengers=20 said they were grateful to be invited. "I'm not sure what I was expecting.= =20 At least for the airline, they are willing to look for our input and make=20 (the plane) more comfortable," Lukasik said. The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com CBC Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ The Trinbago Site of the Week: (ReadyMix) http://www.readymix.co.tt/ (ReadyMix Cement Ltd) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************