‘TO BE BLUNT, THE ISSUE OF ENVIRONMENT WILL LIMIT OUR...

‘TO BE BLUNT, THE ISSUE OF ENVIRONMENT WILL LIMIT OUR FUTURE UNTIL WE MOVE OUR THINKING FROM TACTICAL TO STRATEGIC. I CHALLENGE OUR INDUSTRY TO BUILD OUR FUTURE ON THE VISION OF AN INDUSTRY THAT DOES NOT POLLUTE–ZERO EMISSIONS.’ – Giovanni Bisignani,

Director General & CEO, IATA

ID Magazine Concepts Entry

Flight 2.0 /29

Travel, like trade, energy, food and now the environment, is about to become a geopolitical debate. This is because oil reserves will rapidly decline after 2030, and, with a disintegrating global ecosystem, there can be no future economic system.

In this context, there is somewhat of a paradox to modern air travel. In its current form, air travel threatens the very environment that inspires the desire to fly in the first place.


Flight 2.0 Page 3/29

25,000

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50 ,000

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225,000

250,000

MILLIONBARRELS

YEAR

World oil depletionPer major producerSource:National Geographic, 2004



Mankind will always want adventure; to explore and con-nect with others.

So, how do we satisfy this basic human urge without damaging the communities that fuel our passion?





WELCOME TO FLIGHT2.0

The year is 2030. Conventional flight is the only transit system permitted to burn fossil fuel.

Conventional flight is thus regulated via new criteria and legislation. Governments have always regulated air travel. Nowadays, however, sustainability replaces slots.

‘New flight’ is encouraged and applauded, bringing with it a new series of values and priorities. Slow is beautiful: business and leisure models now support a different approach to mobility.



ECONOMYBECOMESELABORATE


Flight 2.0 Page 12/29 ID Magazine Concepts Entry


Economy becomes elaborate.

For the vast majority of travelers, their travel ambitions are fulfilled through alternative methods of propulsion, such as fuel cells, helium and solar power.

Their journey is now as important as the destination, encouraging new business and partnerships to flourish. Slower becomes beautiful. Leisure models, ground and air services redefine themselves accordingly.

Subsidized by governments, subscripted by volume and supported by third party onboard businesses, elaborate product features become viable on a huge scale.

Through volume, the new world of ‘slowtopian’ travel becomes the economy travel, with a language that is more recognizable as first class.

PLEASE PULL OUTGATEFOLD

SO...



Flight 2.0

15:00 SUNDAY 18TH AUGUST,

SAN FRANCISCO

Randy Yutani is cycling from his North Beach

apartment to the Golden Gate Skyship airport

a few blocks away.

Enroute, he grabs a few essentials but

because of the comprehensive and elaborate

onboard services of Skyship, knows that he

doesn’t need to take too much for the long

journey. Having checked in and already cleared

security, he can now cycle straight onto the

craft and into his personal cabin.

The very reasonable (government subsidized)

price of his ticket and time spent in transit

means that he plans his working week and

social life around the fact that travel for the

vast majority is considerably slower than it

was 30 years ago. it will take 4 days to reach

his final destination, New York City.

However, slower travel is now integrated with

society with the creation of multi-purpose,

hybrid facilities that spend almost 100% of

their life in the air. People can live, work, play

and travel in harmony and frankly, luxury

with the compromise being time. As a result,

commerce and trade now structures business

around slower travel. Meetings now start

mid flight with arrival at destination and

face-to-face meeting becoming the climax of

engagement.

11:00 CENTRAL PARK,

NEW YORK CITY

Slow is beautiful and very convenient. The

second stop for Skyship after Brooklyn and

before The Hamptons is Central Park.

Randy cycles off the craft and straight into

downtown via the special docking station.

On delivering its payload, Skyship gently

returns to its cruising altitude of 1000 ft and

drifts north bound.

10:30 IN TRANSIT,

THE SKIES ABOVE MANHATTAN

Waking from a good sleep, Randy views the

stunning vistas from his own private cabin. He

glances at the Manhattan skyline below and

surveys the huge atrium space that offers a

multitude of products and services.

These include eating, socializing, wellbeing,

working and even its very own on-board park.

The experience is more akin to ocean-liner

travel and the old days of First Class airline.

The sheer volume of passenger traffic,

government subsides in support of this far

less polluting technology (Combination nuclear,

fuel cell & solar power) mean that opulent

travel is now accessible for the masses.



PREMIUMBECOMESPRIORITY




Premium becomes priority travel.

Conventional flight is restricted and controlled, and constitutes no more than 10 percent of global traffic.

All non essential elements such as galleys, overhead stowage and even crew are removed from the cabin to maximize weight reduction.

Passengers wear ‘brand’ through specially supplied apparel. Airlines rethink business models, products and services to realize sustainable flight.

Conventional travel becomes essential travel. By default, premium. WHEREAS...

PLEASE PULL OUTGATEFOLD



Flight 2.0

06:00

BELLTOWN, SEATTLE

Liberty Harrington is packed and ready for her

flight from Seattle to New York City.

This, the last of her four approved flights this

year, is permitted by the United Nations Flight

Authority Council.

Liberty’s job as a leading cancer researcher

justifies her need for ‘fast flight’. Her reasons

for travel having been carefully scrutinized via

a strict criteria that prevents most applicants

from adopting this traditional form of flight.

The price point of fast flight is such now that

flying is only accessible for those who can

afford to invest in the significant premium for

consumption.

She brings with her the bare minimum of items

as she is only allowed one small carry-on bag.

Her carrier, OneWorld, thus supports her travel

needs through enhanced ground services.

The in-flight experience is deliberately void of

any non-essential product.

20:00

ARRIVALS LOBBY, JFK

Liberty selects the clothes, toiletries and

accessories needed at the airline service

point. This shared, pre-ordered and

comprehensive concierge has her entire

wardrobe ready, much like her hotel does for

space and comfort.

She will need to return her temporary clothes

and bag on return, ensuring that her flight

back to Seattle is as lightweight as possible.

13:00

IN-FLIGHT TO JFK

The fuselage and interior of the aircraft is

dramatically different from commercial planes

of 30 years prior as the interior architecture is

now governed by a different series of criteria:

Dramatic weight reduction and the only

payload now being passenger traffic.

No windows or galleys, exterior paint, crew or

class mean that the true value of fast flight

is placed upon the consumption of fossil fuel

and creation of carbon emission.

To maximize efficiencies, the plane is

configured to maximum seating capacity

without any product differentiation.

The experience, although comfortable,

resembles that of economy products of the

past with significant enhancements made to

support passengers prior to and post flight.



Premium flight adopts a vernacular that is more associated with economy, and

Economy travel becomes an experience that is synonymous with premium.

This new dynamic re-educates the market to re-prioritize and appreciate what is truly important.



THIS NEW APPROACH BRINGS WITH IT AN INTRIGUING IRONY:

QUALIFICATIONS FOR QUICK.

SUBSIDIES FOR SLOW.



In other words:



Flight 2.0 is a viable scenario for sustainable commercial air travel in a world where current predictions for oil reserves depletion and climate change prove accurate. By regulating ‘fast’ flight and encouraging ‘slow’ flight, our radical proposal which changes product, politics, perception and paradigm forces all major interests within the commercial aviation ecosystem - passengers, governments, airline brands and aircraft manufacturers, to reassess the consequences of burning fossil fuel for purposes of artificially fast, speed-orientated personal mobility. It also challenges the convention and perception of luxury and premium. Economy and volume. In its wake, educating passengers to appreciate the true cost of buying time and the forgotten advantages of structuring life around slower forms of personal mobility.

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