Qantas A380's fully flat Skybed in business classIn the April 21 edition of The New Yorker, David Owen describes the luxuries of premium-class seating and visits the firms that design jet interiors.
Seven years ago, I flew business class on Qantas from Australia to California, a thirteen-hour trip. I hadn't had much experience outside economy, but I didn't want to look like a front-of-the-plane rookie, so I stowed my "amenity kit" without ripping it open, declined the first cocktail a flight attendant offered me, and tried to appear engrossed in a book while the passenger nearest me bounced around like a four-year-old at a birthday party. I didn't begin to play with my own seat until after dinner, when I lowered it into its fully extended position, and stretched out — not to sleep, which is something I hardly ever manage on airplanes, but to see how the thing worked. The concave back of the seat shell formed a domed enclosure over my head, like a demi-cocoon. Suddenly, I heard people speaking in loud voices and banging things around. I sat up, indignant — and realized that the noise was the sound of breakfast being served. I'd slept for eight hours straight, something I never do even at home. In a little while, we began our descent into Los Angeles.
