What's your favorite aircraft?

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

 

By:

Bill Burke / The Travel Guy

A poll of over 1,000 flyers by Airfarewatchdog that asked "What's your favorite aircraft type," reveals that in spite of quieter, newer Airbuses, people prefer wide-body planes.  Some take-aways from the poll:
Flyers want space/comfort over "newness" with the exception of the Airbus A380 (super quiet) which came in right below the classic 747 in polling results.
The new Dreamliner 787 ranked on the lower end, despite its much publicized, high-tech debut (perhaps due to its negatie press around its battery issues).
Favorite Aircraft Types:

1. Boeing 777: 25%
2. Boeing 747: 18%
3. Airbus A380: 16%
4. Boeing 787 8%
5. Boeing  737: 7%
6. Boeing 767: 7%
7. Boeing 757: 5%
8. Airbus A320/312: 4%
9. Airbus A330: 4%
10. Other: 4%
11. Embraer 190: 3%
12. Airbus A340:2%
13. Boeing 717: 2%
14. Embraer 195: 1%

"Our poll shows that wide body aircraft are generally more popular than narrow bodied ones, despite the fact that it's one of the most common plane types, so presumably a lot of people have experienced it," Airfarewatchdog president George Hobica said. "The ubiqitous Boeing 737 fares poorly in our results, while the far less common 777, a newer wide body, is the most popular plane. The 777 is not only newer, but it affords a sense of spaciousness that even the larger 747 doesn't have. Very few people have flown in the new 787 yet, which might explain its poor showing relatively--or perhaps it's the plane's well-publicized battery issues. And it's interesting that the far less common Airbus A380 is as popular as the older 747. That result might be explained by the fact that the A380 is much quieter in flight. In fact, it's perhaps the quietest "ride" in the sky.  And it's surprising to see the poor results for other Airbus models, such as the widebodied A330 series, of which there are hundreds plying the skyways."

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