Flying long: Carriers are experimenting with healthy menus, gyms on board

Airbus models, Boeing's Dreamliner make flying economically viable

According to a report in nytimes.com, as flight times grow, carriers are experimenting with everything from healthy menus to onboard gyms to make almost 20 hours in the air more bearable. Published days after the world’s longest nonstop flight — a 9,534-mile, 18-and-a-half-hour journey from Singapore to Newark on a Singapore Airlines’ aircraft, touched down, the report says that more long flights are in the offing as new, lighter and more fuel efficient, dual-engine aircraft — including the Airbus models and Boeing’s Dreamliner — make flying for nearly a day economically viable as the number of ultra-long-haul flights increases. And for the passengers, who are in for these super-long-haul travel, which most industry experts define as any flight over 8,000 miles one way, the onboard amenities — such as gyms, bars, Yoga lessons, new healthy food options and even delayed meals aligned closer to meal times at the destination — have been introduced or proposed. 

The cloud way

According to a forecast by Gartner Inc. the global spending on IT will increase by 3.2 per cent in 2019 to reach $3.8 trillion, up from the expected spending of $3.7 trillion in the ongoing year.

 "While currency volatility and the potential for trade wars are still playing a part in the outlook for IT spending, it's the shift from ownership to service that is sending ripples through every segment of the forecast," said John-David Lovelock, research vice-president at Gartner.  

The research and advisory company said the slow growth rate signals an inclination towards cloud services, that is, instead of buying their own servers, firms globally are turning to the cloud. As enterprises continue their digital transformation efforts, shifting to 'pay for use' will continue,“ said Lovelock. Enterprise software spending is forecast to experience the highest growth with an 8.3 per cent increase in 2019, software as a service is driving growth in almost all software segments, particularly customer relationship management.