JFK-SYD Nonstop! Delta Asks Boeing for 772LR Range Boost

Flight Global:

Quote:

---

Delta pushes Boeing to squeeze more range from 777-200LR
By David Field

Delta Air Lines wants Boeing to examine ways of boosting the 777-200LR's range to enable the airline to serve Australia directly from the US East Coast.

The Boeing twinjet is already the world's longest-range airliner, with the capability of flying missions of up to 17,500km (9,450nm), and Delta executive vice-president for network planning and revenue management Glenn Hauenstein says the airline has informally asked the airframer to study possible modifications to allow even longer-range, full-payload performance. [Full Article]

---

The issue Delta needs to keep in mind is do people want to be on a plane that long? I for one would not want to be locked in a coach cabin in a 3x3x3 config for that long. Even F class is pushing the limits.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by T-Bird76

The issue Delta needs to keep in mind is do people want to be on a plane that long? I for one would not want to be locked in a coach cabin in a 3x3x3 config for that long. Even F class is pushing the limits.

---

And then airlines wonder why people do not like to travel.

http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Delta_ ... -200_B.php

Quote:

---

Economy Class: 31.0" 18.0" 218 seats with very little recline
Delta recently outfitted BusinessElite with AC power. Delta is also adding two AC power ports to every three seats in economy.

---

I can not imagine the last row of seats that do not recline :x Better overdose on sleeping meds :mrgreen:

http://m1.cdn.spikedhumor.com/1/1092...40847692_1.jpg

that flight would be pushing 20 hrs at least,,

Maybe they should take some seats out and make a lounge or something so that the pax have a place to get up and walk around. That might decrease the weight enough to give them the 10000 (!) nm range they'd need for JFK-SYD. I suspect there would be some demand for a flight like this...even if the flight itself is 20 hours, that's still faster than having to change planes in LAX or NRT.

While the range might be there on paper what about flying west bound? Don't aircraft flying westbound fight headwinds? Doesn't that lessen true range? I wonder if that would be the case if it had a higher operating ceiling. Say 50,000+ ft.

Having been there twice, I could stomach the nonstop if I knew how long the flight would actually be.

I wouldnt think people would really want to be on a flight longer than 18 hrs compare to Singapores A345 flight from EWR-SIN which I believe is either an 18 or 19hr flight nonstop.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Idlewild

While the range might be there on paper what about flying west bound? Don't aircraft flying westbound fight headwinds? Doesn't that lessen true range?

---

I was actually kind of wondering about that...do you ever NEED to fly westbound on a flight that long? It looks JFK-SYD is only about 1000 miles longer if you fly east than it is if you fly west...over that distance, wouldn't you do better to fly east (with a tailwind) in both directions?

Excellent question. I wish we had a 772LR dispatcher here.