These photos keep coming to my inbox in the form of a 2MB Powerpoint presentation. I would have uploaded them to Picasa, but I felt the captions are important, so to preserve them I exported it to HTML.
As far as I can determine, the photos are credited to Michael Schlicting of United Ground Handling Services. Although he didn't share them with me personally, I am glad he shared them with others in our industry. Thanks, Michael!
YouTube suggested this video as related to the ones we have been uploading. I have to say that the graphics are quite amazing, very realistic indeed!
Director of Customer Relations and Marketing Marcus Casey provided us with this clip of the A380 safety video, captured during its demo flight over Manhattan on March 21.
Wednesday was a much longer day than Monday. I was invited to an interior tour at Hangar 19 at 13:00 and nearly got lost on the way. Inside the hangar, a loungy tent with sofas, refreshments, and a coat check provided a comfortable spot to mingle among media and Airbus/Lufthansa execs. Many of my colleagues provided support at the affair, checking people in and giving out tour boarding passes.
Tours groups were about seven people in size, and Airbus VP Communications Clay McConnell escorted each group to the aircraft outside. Along the way he gave an informative chat, which included already known facts like the craft's height, wingspan, and engine thrust. However, he also pointed out that the plane is number 007 and that the tailsign ends in "JB" for James Bond. Additionally it can travel at 85% of the speed of sound - very impressive given its rave reviews for operating quietly, inside and out.
Clay explained that this aircraft is designed to test cabin systems, which means that its appointments were not standardized throughout; rather many different cabin options were on display. For instance, in some sections the seating configuration was 3-4-3 like the 747, and in others it was 2-4-2 like the A340. Different sections of the Economy Class cabin boasted varying color schemes and upholstery, and overhead bin sizes varied as well. The Business Class section was on the upper deck, while Lufthansa has already discussed configuring the upper deck for First Class instead.
I enjoyed Clay's introduction so much that after the interior tour, I asked him if he would mind if I recorded it for the blog. He graciously agreed (thanks, Clay :) I will update this post on Monday with the video.
Update: here is the intro video, as promised.
This video clip distills the contents of the two-hour documentary I mentioned earlier into a seven-minute assembly.
Wow, and here comes already the first pic of the A380 on its way to JFK. LH employee Heike was up on the roof of the East Meadow building and took this nice shot. Isn't it a real jumbo?
The A380 just flew over the LH building in East Meadow. Wow, this was so exciting! I was not aware that it will fly over our building here in Long Island but then suddenly everyone in the office ran to the window and shouted "the A380, the A380". And there it was, the king of the skies. Ahh, I can't wait to get a close-up on it at the cabin tour.
While Customer Relations has received mostly positive feedback concerning passenger expectations of the A380, there have been a handful of skeptics who declared to us that they will never fly such a large plane. Some think that its size and majesty is just too showy, and others simply fear the worst case scenario.
Being an American and watching the news gives me a small scared streak too. But having loved every flight since my first at age 10, I know that if I ever get the chance to go on board this plane I must take it.
To detractors I would also point out that it was Lufthansa crew who successfully evacuated over 500 passengers in under 90 seconds during safety tests with Airbus. That fact plus the obsessive commitment to safety and maintenance that I have seen firsthand on many occasions gives me full confidence on any flight my colleagues operate.
Update: Lufthansa crew actually completed this test at full capacity, that is to say with 853 passengers on board!
What do you think?
Discovered a fantastically in-depth article about the A380, including one of the most fascinating aspects: how the plane is built. I recall seeing a documentary on this as well, chronicling the slow-moving truck convoy of aircraft parts which pass through a sleepy French town at about two a.m.
This article mentions that the A380's wingspan is wider than a football field is long (the actual wingspan is 261 feet, 10 inches). Still, that's just 40 feet shy of field length 300 feet ... as a huge fan of American football I simply can't wrap my brain around the size of this plane!
Found these links to some exterior photos and some interior photos in the FlyerTalk Lufthansa forum.
Photos of the A380 in Frankfurt today are already surfacing: local enthusiast tommyboy3344 has posted several already!
Well, I was going to bore you with some statistics about wingspan, fuel efficiency, and passenger capacity, but airliners.net has already beautifully written a profile of the craft complete with seat map and cockpit photos.
Those people like me, a bloody intern at Lufthansa’s NYC office, that will not have the opportunity to join the lucky crowd flying on Monday from Frankfurt, Germany to JFK should have a look at the following video to get an impression of what we’ll miss out. Although, the cabin design and seats of the MSN007 the A380 aircraft used for the Lufthansa Route Proving Program are actually from Airbus, 23 cabin crew members of Lufthansa will provide full on-board service to mostly Airbus and Lufthansa employees in addition to some press people and guests that are among the 500 passengers. The video is from September’s first passenger flight (Early Long Flights).
