A321 Will Fly Nonstop From Europe To South America

I always look at the map when flying from BGI - the stretch between then Azores about 2.5 hours in each direction and the same to bda

@ Callum I am utterly mystified at the number of people who seem desperate to prove that Boeing’s screw-ups are anyone’s fault except Boeing’s. The US is a country that generally seems to despise regulators and government agencies, always preferring to entrust itself to the entrepreneurial dynamism and good intentions of the heroic private sector. Yet here we have a case where the private sector has screwed-up (even Boeing themselves have admitted that!) — and yet people like you seek to shift the blame somewhere else. Why? The only conclusions I can come to are (a) you work for Boeing; or (b) you own shares in Boeing; or (c) you hate government so much that this is just another stick you can try to beat them with. This whole chain of events starts with Boeing. But for their decisions, none of this would have happened. Others downstream may also have performed sub-optimally — but that wouldn’t have mattered if Boeing had got it right, from the beginning. As it happens, I agree with you a little — decades of virulent anti-government rhetoric have led to US regulators becoming enfeebled or, worse, subject to capture by the very companies they are supposed to regulate (“self-certification” is a symptom of this, too). Let’s not forget that the FAA was almost the last global regulator to ground the MAX. If I were American that would give me pause to think about the sort of society I had created. That right-wing, anti-commie president Eisenhower was warning more than half a century ago about the dangers of the military-industrial complex unbalancing US democracy. Seems nobody bothered to listen to him.

The nice Paul - What a stupid metaphor. A more accurate comparison would be a policeman sitting back giving you a thumbs up while watching you being mugged... Police can't, and have never claimed to, stop every crime ever. The FAA is irrefutably meant to catch design faults on planes it certifies as being safe

@William I agree with most of your points except for 2. The A321XLR's cabin pressurization is set at 8000ft, not 6000ft. Surely the most comfortable widebody economy configuration is 2-4-2 in JAL's 787? Or 3-4-3 in the A380? Or failing that, the few remaining 777 3-3-3 configurations?

Ive experienced a 8 hour 6200km/3350Nm flight between Sydney and Manilla on an A321neo fitted with ACT tanks fitted. This was a range beyond the ceo. It was quite comfortable. Your comfort in economy class will be defined primarily by seat width (an A321 gives you 18 inches and 2 inches armrest so you wont rub shoulders embarrassingly with the person next to you), seat pitch (this will be on the high end, say 32 inches for an XLR since it will focus on longer routes). Aisle access is little worse than the 3/3/3, 3/4/3 or even 3/5/3 that is common on 'widebodies' and that often force you on to 17 inch seats with 1.5 inch armrests. The only widebody configuration ever comfortable was the A330 2/4/2 anyway. There is no issue with toilet access since in a 4+ hour flight there is plenty of time to go outside of the meal service and there just aren't that many passengers needing to use the aisle at that time. The flight attendants simply moved the service trolley back or forward a few rows for the 2 passengers affected. Airbus have done a lot of work on the A321XLR. 1 Cabin pressure is reduced from 8000ft to 6000ft. 2 Overhead bins are 30% bigger and can fit three full sized roller bags over each row of three seats. 3 Garbage compactor allows the extra garbage from the 2 meals services to be reduced and water supply is increased from 200L to 490L. US unions standard require cabin crew rest facilities equal to a 40 degree recline seat for flights of 10-12 hours.