Show News Brings the News, Yes, and Perspective Too
Show News has nothing if it doesn't have a sense of history.
While specializing in being first with the news, the magazine also brings the
perspective of the past.
In this vein this editor embarked for Newark, set on
becoming one of the last to experience the first all-business transatlantic BBJ
service inaugurated by PrivatAir before the aircraft is upgraded. I was about
to savor business-class travel as it used to be, way back in 2002 when
Lufthansa launched the radical concept of flying a BBJ in scheduled service.
If one can tell a pioneer by the arrows in his back, then
one must assume Lufthansa and PrivatAir have dodged a lot of them. Their
transatlantic venture has proven a resounding success, building a following for
the quirky, vintage, even clubby feel of riding in the fleet's oldest BBJ,
rather like going for a Sunday afternoon drive in the Bentley.
The first clue that this would be no ordinary business-class
flight came from the hostess in the Lufthansa lounge. "Internet?" she replied
with raised eyebrows. "No. This airplane's a sleeper."
And so it was. One could tell the frequent fliers on this
route— they brought a book to read. Those who didn't, slept. The reason, one
must remember, is that this is a vintage BBJ. The sumptuous leather seats proved
almost outrageously comfortable and cradled one as only cradle seats can. Their
previous owners, British Airways, had declared them obsolete when electric,
steeply reclining seats became the rage. And they fit the BBJ's narrowbody
fuselage without seeming any less wide than the high-tech electronic marvels of
today that almost require a training course to operate.
Being manual, the seats didn't need an electrical hookup,
making them a perfect fit because the BBJ's cabin isn't wired for them. One
cannot plug in a laptop, and there are no individual TV screens or inflight
telephones in the seatbacks to cause distraction. No multi-button control
modules to contend with, and none of those headset jacks that so often seem
faulty on the airlines today.
One's time is focused on relaxing. On reading. On being
served Lufthansa's fine fare of good food and splendid wine. On sleeping. On
luxuriating in being out of touch with the world and unreachable by it. The
businessman sitting next to me said these are qualities he treasures in this
day and age. Downtime. Could this be the way business class will differentiate
itself in the future?
Inflight entertainment is available for those who need it in
the form of a personal, battery-powered Sony Watchman, with a good selection of
movies from the VHS tape library wheeled down the aisle by PrivatAir's flight
attendants.
Sadly, all this shall become a thing of the past as the BBJ
will soon get some well-earned downtime of its own. Its seats will be replaced,
its panels removed, wiring added, and three years' worth of technological
progress installed to bring it closer to Lufthansa's current fleetwide
standard.
Once more the elegance of the past will give way to
progress.
