The wife of a friend of mine once asked him, “Does this new dress make my ass look big?” He started off well by replying, “No, of course not, Darling, the dress is lovely.” And if he’d left it at that he would have scored lots of plus points, but then he added the fateful line, “You’ve just got a big ass!”
I may have told you that story before and I may well tell it again, because it’s funny and it’s true. This time it is by way of introduction to today’s post – or rant – on the subject of airline seats. I’ve already given you my two cent’s worth on airfares a few days ago. (Click here if you want to read that.)
Just when you thought they couldn’t get any smaller, or more uncomfortable, airlines are shrinking seat widths yet again to squeeze more passengers in and more money out of them. The latest culprit is Airbus, which unveiled a new 11 seat-per-row reconfiguration for its A380 superjumbo jet.
The Airbus A380 currently seats ten passengers uncomfortably per row in economy in a 3-4-3 configuration, but the new configuration adds yet another seat to the middle section to make it a 3-5-3 – with even less room per passenger and even more discomfort.
Airbus are making the excuse that the seats in the new configuration will be the same width as before, which is 18 inches or 46 cms, but then they add the qualifying word “technically” which means whilst what they are saying may be true in theory, in practice you the paying passenger will have less room.
Applying fasab logic to the situation, if you raise an airplane’s seating capacity from 525 seats to 544 seats, and at the same time you don’t make the airplane any bigger, then there is less room for the poor abused passengers. (quod erat demonstrandum or Q.E.D.)
The A380’s main users are Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa and Qantas, all of them long-haul carriers meaning you will be squashed up like a sardine for at least eight hours, maybe much, much longer which adds greatly to the discomfort experienced by passengers.
Other long-haul airplanes that are shrinking the width of their seats include the new models of the Boeing 777, many of which are flown by United and American Airlines. They will now come with a squashingly miserable 17 in. seat width.
The seat squashing trend started with the short-haul airlines and they got away with it because of the relatively short journey times. Long-haul is different – much different – and passengers should be less willing to endure many hours of discomfort.
To add a great big insult to this injurious trend, it is all taking place against a backdrop of decreasing fuel costs and rising airfares – in other words more greed than need on behalf of the airline companies who buy these newly configured butt busters.
On the plus side – for passengers – not a single airline placed an order for the world’s two biggest commercial jets, the Boeing 747-8 and the double-decker Airbus A380 during 2014. In fact most of the Boeing 747-8s that have been sold have been mainly the air freighter version. On the negative side, as just mentioned, airplanes like the 777 are also to be made much more uncomfortable too.
With air travel forecast to more than double from today’s 3.3 billion passengers a year to 7.3 billion by 2034 – according to the International Air Transport Association – I fear greatly for the comfort of those of us flying economy.
The quizzes do March on and we are starting this month with a good mix of questions. Some you should get without too much difficulty and some you will have to think about for a while.
Oh yes, and one that I will be surprised if anyone gets the bonus points for. You’ll know it when you see it.
As usual if you do get stuck, you can find the answers waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please NO cheating.
Enjoy and good luck.
.
.
Q. 1: ‘Solidarity’ was an important Trade Union in which country in the 1980s?
.
.
Q. 2: In lawn bowls (and its indoor version), what is the target ball called?
.
.
Q. 3: Which creature lives on mulberry leaves?
.
.
Q. 4: In the USA what cities are known as the
a) Big D? b) Steel City? c) City of Brotherly Love? d) Emerald City?
(A point for each correct answer and a bonus point if get all four correct.)
.
.
Q. 5: In relation to power what is the equivalent of 746 watts?
.
.
Q. 6: What word denoted the new policy of openness adopted by Mikhail Gorbachev’s government in the Soviet Union?
.
.
Q. 7: What well known pottery form takes its name from the Italian for “baked earth”?
.
.
Q. 8: How long did Rip Van Winkle sleep for?
.
.
Q. 9: What term is given to a piece of rock or metal from space that reaches the surface of the Earth?
.
.
Q. 10: The suffix ‘stan’ is Persian for ‘place of’ or ‘country’. The names of seven countries end in ‘stan’, what are they? (You get a point for each one you can name correctly and five (yes, 5) bonus points if get them all correct.)
a) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ stan
b) _ _ _ _ _ _ stan
c) _ _ _ _ _ _ stan
d) _ _ _ _ stan
e) _ _ _ _ _ _ stan
f) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ stan
g) _ _ _ _ _ _ stan
.
.
Q. 11: What color is the most-prized variety of jade?
.
.
Q. 12: Whose theorem uses a 3, 4, 5 triangle?
.
.
Q. 13: Piraeus serves as the port for which major city?
.
.
Q. 14: Which insects communicate with one another by dancing?
.
.
Q. 15: What was the name of Captain Nemo’s submarine?
.
.
Q. 16: What creature is an ophidiophobe afraid of?
.
.
Q. 17: In the US and the UK what is the name given to the government department responsible for formulating and recommending economic, financial, tax, and fiscal policies?
.
.
Q. 18: Which of the 12 Zodiac signs start with the letter ‘L’ ?
.
.
Q. 19: Which English politician, when told by Lady Nancy Astor that if he were her husband she’d put poison in his coffee, replied that if she were his wife he’d drink it?
.
.
Q. 20: What popular song originated as the jingle “Buy the World a Coke” in the groundbreaking 1971 “Hilltop” television commercial for Coca-Cola? (A bonus point is available if you can also correctly name the group.)
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
ANSWERS
.
Q. 1: ‘Solidarity’ was an important Trade Union in which country in the 1980s?
A. 1: Poland.
.
.
Q. 2: In lawn bowls (and its indoor version), what is the target ball called?
A. 2: Jack.
.
.
Q. 3: Which creature lives on mulberry leaves?
A. 3: The Silk worm.
.
.
Q. 4: In the USA what cities are known as the
a) Big D? b) Steel City? c) City of Brotherly Love? d) Emerald City?
(A point for each correct answer and a bonus point if get all four correct.)
A. 4: The correct answers are
a) The Big D = Dallas
b) The Steel City = Pittsburgh
c) The City of Brotherly Love = Philadelphia
d) The Emerald City = Seattle
.
.
Q. 5: In relation to power what is the equivalent of 746 watts?
A. 5: 746 watts is the equivalent of 1 horse power.
.
.
Q. 6: What word denoted the new policy of openness adopted by Mikhail Gorbachev’s government in the Soviet Union?
A. 6: Glasnost.
.
.
Q. 7: What well known pottery form takes its name from the Italian for “baked earth”?
A. 7: Terracotta.
.
.
Q. 8: How long did Rip Van Winkle sleep for?
A. 8: Twenty years.
.
.
Q. 9: What term is given to a piece of rock or metal from space that reaches the surface of the Earth?
A. 9: It is known as a ‘Meteorite’.
.
.
Q. 10: The suffix ‘stan’ is Persian for ‘place of’ or ‘country’. The names of seven countries end in ‘stan’, what are they? (You get a point for each one you can name correctly and seven (yes, 7) bonus points if get them all correct.)
a) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ stan
b) _ _ _ _ _ _ stan
c) _ _ _ _ _ _ stan
d) _ _ _ _ stan
e) _ _ _ _ _ _ stan
f) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ stan
g) _ _ _ _ _ _ stan
A. 10: They are in alphabetical order,
a) Afghanistan
b) Kazakhstan
c) Kyrgyzstan
d) Pakistan
e) Tajikistan
f) Turkmenistan
g) Uzbekistan
.
.
Q. 11: What color is the most-prized variety of jade?
A. 11: Green.
.
.
Q. 12: Whose theorem uses a 3, 4, 5 triangle?
A. 12: Pythagoras.
.
.
Q. 13: Piraeus serves as the port for which major city?
A. 13: Athens.
.
.
Q. 14: Which insects communicate with one another by dancing?
A. 14: Bees.
.
.
Q. 15: What was the name of Captain Nemo’s submarine?
A. 15: It was called the ‘Nautilus’.
.
.
Q. 16: What creature is an ophidiophobe afraid of?
A. 16: Snakes.
.
.
Q. 17: In the US and the UK what is the name given to the government department responsible for formulating and recommending economic, financial, tax, and fiscal policies?
A. 17: Treasury.
.
.
Q. 18: Which of the 12 Zodiac signs start with the letter ‘L’ ?
A. 18: They are Leo and Libra.
.
.
Q. 19: Which English politician, when told by Lady Nancy Astor that if he were her husband she’d put poison in his coffee, replied that if she were his wife he’d drink it?
A. 19: Winston Churchill.
.
.
Q. 20: What popular song originated as the jingle “Buy the World a Coke” in the groundbreaking 1971 “Hilltop” television commercial for Coca-Cola? (A bonus point is available if you can also correctly name the group.)
A. 20: “I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony) by The New Seekers.
fasab 