Caution Wide Load

When I think of airplanes, I can only think of a few- the Boeing 747, the Boeing 757, and the Concord. However, according to Andy Pasztor and Peter Sanders, who wrote this article in the Wall Street Journal on October 5, 2010, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) want to set stricter policies for the new Boeing 787 model that is to be released after the spring of 2011. This commercial jet, and the 747-8 cargo planes will need to have five miles between airplanes traveling the same direction (versus the three mile distance now in place by the FAA). When planes are behind these new Boeing models, no matter their size, during great intervals of decent, they will need to keep a distance of 10 miles.

I will be one person not riding in a 787 or 747-8 due to questions over the timeliness and safety. Currently, according to the article, the 787 is three years behind schedule because of "design issues, manufacturing problems, and engine malfunctions." That is the main reason I have difficulty flying over the wing, because I think I will either be seated next to a terrorist; or the engines will go out and next thing I know I'm dead, or stuck on an island with a polar bear and a smoke monster. Forging ahead, the 747-8 is a thick woman, coming in "at nearly one million pounds", you can bet there will be wake turbulence. Wake turbulence is that feeling like the airplane is failing, and "typically increases with aircraft weight." Not only is it loud, and so is the passenger plane, the 787; but both will have severe consequences if people have heavy bags, that are over the maximum 50 pounds.

Honestly, I thought investing in an airline company would be a good idea, since this year tourism is supposed to increase (WSJ late September article). This means that competitive and discount pricing, is not as much of a deal as it was last year. These airlines know that people who can afford the flights will shell out a few extra dollars to go home this holiday season, since those who can think about it can probably afford it.

However, the new Boeing airplanes- 747-8 and 787- seem like they will make traveling more of a hassle, and make people less likely to want to fly. If airplanes have to distance themselves, then this means less airplanes, and so higher prices. However, whether people will continue to fly or not beats me. I assume that people will continue flying at the same rates because there are necessities that flying is needed for- business, going home if you live far away for work, or school, et cetera. Although, Boeing itself has not been timely, and efficient to the customers with the release of the 787 airplane. This makes me suspicious that the Boeing company will not actually be able to follow through on the promised dates for the release of the two planes. Then again, rather safe than sorry.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704631504575532373845280544.html#printMode