Air New Zealand wants to give passengers the option to lie down while they fly. The airline has filed patent and trademark applications for its "Economy Skynest" concept, which would modify the economy cabin in planes to include six full-length sleeping pods. The famously remote island nation would plug the sleeping pods into planes taking some of the longest flights in the world.
"We have a real history of innovation, and we want to push the boundaries as much as we can," Kerry Reeves, Air New Zealand's head of airline programmes, told Cheddar. "This is all about giving our customers, even in economy, the best possible choice of travel experience."
The pods are about 6.5 feet long and 22 inches wide. They include blankets, sheets, pillows, and privacy curtains. USB outlets and reading lights could be included as well.
Don't expect the Skynest on your next flight though. The concept is still in development.
"At this stage, we're still very much in the exploration stage of the concept," Reeves said. "We've taken it right through feasibility. We know we can do this. We're just finalizing the viability of the concept before we give it the absolute go-ahead to put it on an aircraft."
The company put in three years of research and gathered feedback from 200 customers who tested prototypes at a hangar in Auckland.
With renderings of the concept now circulating, Reeves said the positive response has been resounding.
"The amount of interest from customers all around the world, many, many cultures, has been absolutely huge," he said.
Though the pods will be located in economy class, Air New Zealand has not yet announced what access to the pods might cost but said there is likely to be high demand.
Final approval of Skynest is set for 2021, at which point the company would begin the service on the 17-hour Auckland-New York route.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
The stunning indictment that led to the arrest of more than 30 people — including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and other NBA figures — has drawn new scrutiny of the booming business of sports betting in the U.S. The multibillion-dollar industry has made it easy for sports fans — and even some players — to wager on everything from the outcome of games to that of a single play with just a few taps of a cellphone. But regulating the rapidly-growing industry has proven to be a challenge. Professional sports leagues’ own role in promoting gambling has also raised eyebrows.
Tesla, the car company run by Elon Musk, reported Wednesday that it sold more vehicles in the past three months after boycotts hit hard earlier this year, but profits still fell sharply. Third-quarter earnings fell to $1.4 billion, from $2.2 billion a year earlier. Excluding charges, per share profit of 50 cents came in below analysts' estimate. Tesla shares fell 3.5% in after-hours trading. Musk said the company's robotaxi service, which is available in Austin, Texas, and San Francisco, will roll out to as many as 10 other metro areas by the end of the year.
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