Out of my way, peasants!

By B.R.

THOSE who fly in airlines’ premium cabins expect to be delivered seamlessly to their flat-beds. Limousines to the airport, use of luxurious departure lounges while their plane is readied, and certainly none of that pesky queuing with hoi polloi to get through security—every potential irritant is swept aside. But once in the sky, at least, there is no way for our betters to jump the queue. When caught in a holding pattern over London, they just have to sit it out with the rest of us.

At least for now. Speaking at a lecture at the Royal Academy of Engineering, reported by the Sunday Times, Richard Deakin, the boss of Britain’s National Air Traffic Service, held out some hope for VIP flyers. Mr Deakin revealed that in future airlines might be able to request that planes with a high proportion of first- or business-class passengers be given landing priority.

This would only apply between flights operated by the same airline—so British Airways could bump its Hong Kong flight ahead of its Ibiza one, but not ahead of that of a low-cost rival. But abandoning the traditional “first-come, first-served” rule of landing aircraft at busy airports will feel to many like another turn of the rack that is economy-class flying.

Still, while this particular outcome might be unappealing, there is a more logical reason to give airlines the ability to shuffle around aircraft in the skies. Mr Deakin said the airlines could also choose to prioritise planes with lots of connecting passengers. This makes sense, particularly when flights have been delayed. There is no sinking feeling quite like realising you are about to miss your connecting flight in an airport half a continent from your final destination.

Among the other blue-sky ideas that Mr Deakin discussed was the possibility that within 30 years aircraft might fly in formation to reduce drag, much like a flock of birds. Within 50 years, he continued, we would see hypersonic travel, with planes flying at 100,000 feet and commuters travelling from London to Sydney and back within a day. All of this will be enabled by more precise air-traffic control. The future of flying, it seems, is exciting and uncharted territory. Perhaps the only thing we can say with any certainty is that for those plotting it, the lot of the poor souls at the back of the plane will not be of the uppermost consideration.