5 ms·

I will be flying from east US to Germany this weekend. (Planned move and visa is running out so no choice). So far I'm the only person on the transatlantic plan

I will be flying from east US to Germany this weekend. (Planned move and visa is running out so no choice). So far I'm the only person on the transatlantic plane. Interestingly enough the local US-US flight seems to still have a lot of passengers on it (50ish%)

googlexa1 6y ago
How do you know that? Seatmap are not a reliable indicator - I made this mistake once to board a full flight to India (idea was to save on assigned seat) - many people booking will not be assigned a seat until checkin. The information your OTA or bespoke corporate travel agent has is no different to expertflyer, seatmap bad indicator and for availability you'll only see a max of 9 in each bucket..
- hannasanarion 6y ago
  Empty transatlantics aren't unheard-of. I was one of only two passengers on a Lufthansa MUC-EWR last year. It's better for them to run highly unprofitable flights than miss their contract obligations with big corporations that want a plane available to move people transatlantic on a day's notice.
  - pintxo 6y ago
    Also, you have a schedule and there is likely a return flight for which you need a plane in EWR in this instance.
- technicaldonut 6y ago
  I called the airline yesterday and they told me.
  - earthboundkid 6y ago
    Well, might as well recline the hell out of your seat then. :-)
orclev 6y ago
> Interestingly enough the local US-US flight seems to still have a lot of passengers on it (50ish%) That's probably a mix of people with critical jobs needing to travel, people having to move for a variety of reasons, and people listening to the ignorant and ignoring the advice to social distance.
- technicaldonut 6y ago
  Probably. As far as I can see from the airport website this is a regular flight leaving a few times a day. Right now it appears to fly once every other day.
rwmj 6y ago
In 2011 I took a flight to Boston which happened to be on the same day that William and Kate got married. I don't know if that was the reason, but the flight was almost empty (apparently under 30 passengers on a 737). It was annoying for a couple of reasons: Firstly they didn't upgrade anyone, even though first and business was basically empty. Secondly, the flight attendants were constantly badgering me in case I wanted something, when really what I wanted was a bigger seat and to be left alone. Anyway, good luck on your 1 passenger flight.
- pintxo 6y ago
  Actually, for center-of-gravity reasons they (often) cannot reassign seats freely, as the aircraft gets balanced based on the assigned seats. If everyone moves up front, the pilots might get a surprise in how the plane reacts.
  - bdamm 6y ago
    I think this is actually not the case. A Boeing 737 totally empty and in the smallest possible configuration is 61,864lbs. If 20 people move up to 1st class that is less than 7% of the overall weight. With the engines and fuel in the centerline, that represents even less in terms of overall torque change on the center of gravity. The aircraft would adjust for this with the tiniest of movements on the elevator, so small it very well might be in the hundreds of an inch. It is not about balance.
    - technicaldonut 6y ago
      I think this depends on how full the plane is. Moving a few people probably doesn't cause an issue if the rest of the plane is completely empty. If you move 20 people from the right side to the left side of the plane this will probably have some kind of effect. On smaller regional aircraft they sometimes ask people to move seats to the other side or back to front.
      - bdamm 6y ago
        Moving people left and right has absolutely zero effect on the controlability of the plane, because the ailerons can compensate for much larger movements than that. What it might have an effect on, though, is the overall efficiency with which the plane flies. It is more efficient to have the center of lift and the center of gravity matched, than not.
cgpcraig 6y ago
I've been wondering, do they upgrade you to the highest end seat on the plane then?
- technicaldonut 6y ago
  I have hopes, but it likely depends on the airline. Had an empty flight with Singapore Airlines right after Christmas and they didn't. This is British Airways so we'll see.
  - kerkeslager 6y ago
    If you ask, they'll almost always say yes. Something like, "Hey, I noticed the flight is mostly empty. Would it be possible for me to get a complimentary upgrade to one of the empty first class seats?"
    - gnulinux 6y ago
      They're losing millions of dollars every week. Will they still be eager to say yes?
      - pintxo 6y ago
        I wouldn't mind economy service if I still get the first class seating. So zero cost for them.
        technicaldonut 6y ago
        I'd take any kind of upgrade to be honest. Right now I'm in premium economy as for some reason the ticket was cheaper than economy.
      - technicaldonut 6y ago
        The question is if the stewardess cares as much as the airline. Realstically speaking there is virtually no difference in service for them. Assuming that I get the usual economy food and I'm really the only person on the flight.

googlexa1 6y ago

How do you know that? Seatmap are not a reliable indicator - I made this mistake once to board a full flight to India (idea was to save on assigned seat) - many people booking will not be assigned a seat until checkin. The information your OTA or bespoke corporate travel agent has is no different to expertflyer, seatmap bad indicator and for availability you'll only see a max of 9 in each bucket..

hannasanarion 6y ago
Empty transatlantics aren't unheard-of. I was one of only two passengers on a Lufthansa MUC-EWR last year. It's better for them to run highly unprofitable flights than miss their contract obligations with big corporations that want a plane available to move people transatlantic on a day's notice.
- pintxo 6y ago
  Also, you have a schedule and there is likely a return flight for which you need a plane in EWR in this instance.
technicaldonut 6y ago
I called the airline yesterday and they told me.
- earthboundkid 6y ago
  Well, might as well recline the hell out of your seat then. :-)

orclev 6y ago

> Interestingly enough the local US-US flight seems to still have a lot of passengers on it (50ish%) That's probably a mix of people with critical jobs needing to travel, people having to move for a variety of reasons, and people listening to the ignorant and ignoring the advice to social distance.

technicaldonut 6y ago
Probably. As far as I can see from the airport website this is a regular flight leaving a few times a day. Right now it appears to fly once every other day.

rwmj 6y ago

In 2011 I took a flight to Boston which happened to be on the same day that William and Kate got married. I don't know if that was the reason, but the flight was almost empty (apparently under 30 passengers on a 737). It was annoying for a couple of reasons: Firstly they didn't upgrade anyone, even though first and business was basically empty. Secondly, the flight attendants were constantly badgering me in case I wanted something, when really what I wanted was a bigger seat and to be left alone. Anyway, good luck on your 1 passenger flight.

pintxo 6y ago
Actually, for center-of-gravity reasons they (often) cannot reassign seats freely, as the aircraft gets balanced based on the assigned seats. If everyone moves up front, the pilots might get a surprise in how the plane reacts.
- bdamm 6y ago
  I think this is actually not the case. A Boeing 737 totally empty and in the smallest possible configuration is 61,864lbs. If 20 people move up to 1st class that is less than 7% of the overall weight. With the engines and fuel in the centerline, that represents even less in terms of overall torque change on the center of gravity. The aircraft would adjust for this with the tiniest of movements on the elevator, so small it very well might be in the hundreds of an inch. It is not about balance.
  - technicaldonut 6y ago
    I think this depends on how full the plane is. Moving a few people probably doesn't cause an issue if the rest of the plane is completely empty. If you move 20 people from the right side to the left side of the plane this will probably have some kind of effect. On smaller regional aircraft they sometimes ask people to move seats to the other side or back to front.
    - bdamm 6y ago
      Moving people left and right has absolutely zero effect on the controlability of the plane, because the ailerons can compensate for much larger movements than that. What it might have an effect on, though, is the overall efficiency with which the plane flies. It is more efficient to have the center of lift and the center of gravity matched, than not.

cgpcraig 6y ago

I've been wondering, do they upgrade you to the highest end seat on the plane then?

technicaldonut 6y ago
I have hopes, but it likely depends on the airline. Had an empty flight with Singapore Airlines right after Christmas and they didn't. This is British Airways so we'll see.
- kerkeslager 6y ago
  If you ask, they'll almost always say yes. Something like, "Hey, I noticed the flight is mostly empty. Would it be possible for me to get a complimentary upgrade to one of the empty first class seats?"
  - gnulinux 6y ago
    They're losing millions of dollars every week. Will they still be eager to say yes?
    - pintxo 6y ago
      I wouldn't mind economy service if I still get the first class seating. So zero cost for them.
      - technicaldonut 6y ago
        I'd take any kind of upgrade to be honest. Right now I'm in premium economy as for some reason the ticket was cheaper than economy.
    - technicaldonut 6y ago
      The question is if the stewardess cares as much as the airline. Realstically speaking there is virtually no difference in service for them. Assuming that I get the usual economy food and I'm really the only person on the flight.