Every ounce counts when you ’re hoist several hundred oodles of blade into the air and flying it across an sea . So does every 2d flight of stairs attendants spend waiting on the hoi polloi inside . Those ounces and moment append up — and that ’s why Virgin Atlanticspent $ 168 million on a transformative redesignof its meal trays .
It voice a lilliputian silly at first , but the more you think about it , the more Virgin Atlantic ’s new approach to airplane food makes perfect sense . The companionship ’s executivesenlisted the London - establish design business firm MAPto make a new Economy repast military service experience , though first class service experience some updates as well . plain , Virgin executives wanted to make eating on an airplane a piddling flake more like eating in a restaurant with multiple courses served in different waves .
The designers went in the lead and did a top - to - bottom service , changing everything from the silver to the trays themselves . And while the bright purple flatware is eye - catch , it ’s really the trays that will transubstantiate Virgin Atlantic ’s counterbalance sheets . ( play fact : Flatware on airplanesmust adhere to very strict security regulations , which determine the possible action for redesign . ) Thanks to pinch in the design of those trays , Virgin Atlantic will see a 45 percent reduction in greenhouse gas and related fuel costs . That will save the airline millions over the next few year .
The changes fathom simple but add together up to each of Virgin ’s planes being about 53 Syrian pound short than before . The multiple grade approximation means that the trays can be small , small enough to go four on a single shelf in the diligence standard carts versus the three that presently set . That mean each pushcart can hold 33 percent more food , and fewer cart mean less weight . The trays also come with a spongy credit card finishing on top that does aside with the need for messy ( and bulky ) paper liners . The non - slip surface also means that the nutrient does n’t slide around during mockery , creating a mess for flight attendants to make clean up .
speak of flight attendants , the upgrade is also designed to make their jobs easier . For instance , the new trays include a lip so that they can hook together . This means that when the flight attendant pulls one repast out , the next meals slue onward as well , so they can just grab them for the next passenger instead of having to reach into the back of the cart .
trajectory attendants will also enjoy a likewise commodious alteration to the design of the coffee potentiometer . The honest-to-goodness pots lacked clear labeling — unless you consider Sharpie scratch to be clear labeling — and the handgrip hurt flight of steps attendants wrist joint over time . So MAP come up with a unsubdivided , sleek new plan , including a wheel on the top where flight attendants can stigmatize what ’s inwardly . A new ergonomic hold should do aside with the radiocarpal joint combat injury .
Again , Virgin Atlantic ’s redesign is n’t so much about a novel looking at . It ’s a practical approach that concentrate on making planes more effective .
There is a bit of arbitrariness at work here too , though . In first social class , passenger will before long enjoy a two - tiered serving machine that serve a sandwich and a opus of cake at the same prison term . It does , however , take 11 seconds to put the thing together , which does n’t seem like the most efficient use of time . It ’s indecipherable how that ’s function to preserve the airway money , but no major redesign is complete without at least one silly gimmick . [ Wired ]
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