The Flights Are Long. The Planes Are Cramped.
AS if commercial air travel weren’t miserable enough, more airlines are using narrower jets on long-haul flights, putting an even greater squeeze on travelers in coach. Delta Air Lines is among the latest to announce plans to use the slim Boeing 757 on trans-Atlantic routes serving destinations like Britain and Ireland. Continental, which now flies 21 routes to 20 European cities with the 757, was among the first. Northwest and US Airways also have begun flying the narrower jets to Europe.
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But the 757s, which are generally tolerated on shorter, domestic routes, tend to bring out claustrophobia in passengers on long-haul flights. Unlike wide-body aircraft like 767s and A330s, which typically have two aisles, a 757 has one, which means a lot less room for stretching cramped legs. Because the 757 has no two-seat rows in coach, just three seats on each side of the aisle, there is a higher chance of getting stuck in a middle seat. And while most airlines using the 757s on trans-Atlantic flights are reconfiguring their premium class cabins with better seats and entertainment systems, the coach cabins haven’t been changed all that much.
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The use of 757s on trans-Atlantic flights was recently made possible by so-called blended winglets — new devices on wings that reduce drag, increase fuel efficiency and boost flight range. The 757, which took to the skies in the early 1980s, was used at first on mid-length domestic flights and then, after regulations were changed to allow twin-engine airplanes on longer routes, also on transcontinental flights. The new winglet technology, further expanding the 757’s range, allows United States carriers in search of new markets overseas to expand service to more regions, often with direct routes to smaller cities — moves they wouldn’t be able to justify using larger planes that eat up more fuel and have many more seats to fill.
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