Efficiency?

I am flying from PHX to DCA this afternoon to attend the Aviation Week Network Defense Conference. As I was waiting for my fellow passengers to board, I was thinking about how inefficient the whole passenger boarding process is. So many things have become more efficient in the first century of commercial air travel. Moving a couple hundred people on and off an aircraft via one or two long, narrow isles is not one of them.

If I could borrow Bill & Ted’s excellent time machine, I would love to go back to 1910 and bring the Wright brothers to 2025 for a four-hour cross-country flight. So many things about the jet age would blow their minds. (I can stream Apple TV+ in my seat at 35K feet!). However, I think they would be very disappointed at the inefficiency of our boarding process. Orville would ask me to explain this: “In just six decades after we flew at Kitty Hawk, you designed a passenger aircraft that could cross an ocean faster than the speed of sound. Why, in 12 decades after Kitty Hawk, haven’t you figured out how to load 200 passengers in less than 20 minutes?”

Orville, the issue is the shape of the aircraft. Nearly every commercial transport ever built is a long tube that sits between two long, narrow wings. This is called tube and wing (T&W). There is one way on and one way off. When the guy in seat 17A stops in the aisle to unpack his overstuffed carry-on, the whole plane waits for him.

This begs the question “Isn’t there a better way?” Yes, Orville, there is a better way. It’s called a blended wing body (BWB) aircraft. A BWB is a large, flat body between two shorter wings. Most of the lift comes from the body, not the wings.

BWBs are almost too good to be true. They are the best thing to happen to lift / drag since the Wright Flyer. BWBs will use 50% less fuel than T&W aircraft, produce 50% less carbon, and will deliver a better passenger experience than T&W aircraft. BWB passenger compartments are shorter and wider than T&W aircraft. This means there are many more isles. Boarding and exiting the plane will be faster and safer.

BWBs are not science fiction. Two great companies: JetZero and Natilus expect to have BWBs in revenue service in the early 2030s. We will all be flying (and boarding) BWBs in just a few years.

As Bill & Ted put Orville and Wilbur back on their time machine to return to 1910, I hope they leave believing that innovation continues in the industry they started, and I hope all of us are freed from boarding single-aisle aircraft soon.