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new zealand cuddles up to passengers with its futon in the sky Rob
fife, air new zealand's ceo, is curled on his sky couch with his
laptop, catching up on a few emails.He's the ceo ralph lauren would
hire if he had an airline.I ask if he'll have a moment after breakfast
to chat about these new seat designs we're trying out, and he says
right now would be better, and pats his hand down on the couch beside
him. The seat, already nicknamed the cuddle seat, is made up of three
economy seats with their cushioned footrests up and the backs reclined,
making the whole thing, when the flight attendant adds the mattress,
into sort of futon in the sky.And they're perfect for interviews,
something i'm guessing fife knew already.He's also probably aware he
can carry off an undone pyjama top better than most men.He may be using
the fact to try to assert his dominance during the interview.I try not
to look. "I'm one of those weird people who sleeps face down,"He says,
when i ask how he slept in this cuddle seat built for two,"And that's
probably one of the few positions this seat is not ideally suited for.
"He also says people kept stopping by to take pictures of the ceo
sleeping in economy, which also didn't help his sleep. As it happens, i
did try it out, with my fianc to check the cuddle claims.It was
tight.We tried several positions, including the one illustrated on the
popular posters for the new seat, which involves one party leaning
upright against the wall with the other nestling on his chest.Unless
your cuddlebuddy is quite miniature, that doesn't seem to work.What
does work is something i'll call the tight, frontfacing spoon.There's
enough length to allow me to spoon at 6 feet without any unnatural
curling or folding, and the fullsize, fullfluff pillows make the heads
against the window wall perfectly comfortable.And the seat belt is a
major technological innovation in itself.Each cuddle seat comes with a
belt bag with various belt attachments depending on whether you're
cuddling, sitting with your legs up, or even playing with a pair of
rompingandyetequally beltedin kids.They're more leashes than belts,
really, and spooning with them was no inconvenience. But you won't be
getting up in the middle of the night without your mate knowing, and
twisting to accommodate.And if the lights are on for any of your sleep,
this extremely intimate position does leave you feeling like you're on
display. The important thing, though, is that you now have another
option, whether you're a couple, or a family with small children.The
more important thing is that an airline has decided to spend its
research and development budget on the back of the cabin.No one's doing
this, unless it's to design a way ralph lauren
to stack more people in, like the italian company avioninteriors with
their sky rider seats, which are the inflight equivalent of
standingroom only.As john wojick, boeing's vice president for
asianpacific sales, said at a dinner celebrating the launch the night
before in seattle, air new zealand's design overhaul is"Not just for
premium passengers, [which] most people are focusing on, but the economy
class, where most people travel. " And the even more important thing
is that within a day of air new zealand's unveiling of these new
designs last janaury, four other airlines were interested in licensing
them.That number's now 30 and, according to fife, one of those is his
buddy, air canada ceo calin rovinescu, who was down in new zealand last
week for a meeting of all the star alliance airline ceos, and who he
says is"Quite interested in this. " As we get closer to new zealand, we
wrap our little pyjama party up.Fife tells me the new seats will be
available on one plane on the aucklandlos angeleslondon route by
midjanuary, on two more by april, and either on the vancouver or san
francisco route by the end of 2011. More options instead of fewer for
economy passengers is not only a technological leap, it's a
sociological one as well.It acknowledges that economy ticketholders are
valuable, just like people who pay for business class.Maybe there's
hope for this industry yet.
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