Emirates airlines saves weight by banning paper

The Cranky Flier reports that Emirates Airlines, desperate to reduce the weight of its planes in order to save fuel, has made the painful decision to remove all paper (magazine, safety briefing card, SkyMall catalogs, etc.) from the seat back pockets of its forthcoming A380s. Passengers looking for information such as what to do when the cabin fills with smoke will be able to access it on their video monitor. The airline figures that each each pocket contains 4.4 pounds of reading material. With Emirates' 787s configured with 489 seats, that comes out to around 2,100 pounds saved per aircraft.

Sounds fairly reasonable. After all, lots of airlines are trying to lighten up.

But in a move that seems to run counter to the "less is more" craze sweeping the industry, Emirates is tricking out its 380's with showers in first class. Yes, showers. Because if you are paying thousands of dollars to fly between New York and Dubai, you should arrive fresh. These showers require Emirates to load up each flight with a ton of fresh water. One ton is equal to 2,000 pounds, which is the amount of weight saved by pulling seat back paper products. Get rid of the paper and the showers and you'd save 4,000 pounds per flight, and more fuel.

Maybe this isn't such a big deal. After all, an Emirates coach class ticket between New York and Dubai goes for $1,700, the same ticket in first class comes in at just over $14,000. You get what you pay for, right? But it's tough to feel good about something that so clearly illustrates the divide between the super rich, and the rest of us.