IT’S A STRETCH! Luxury sleeping pod for business-class nomads
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Chesky_W
Last month, I undertook a long journey from India to the US and back. The flying time from Bengaluru to Chicago was around 15 hours, and there was a brief transit at Frankfurt airport. On one of these flight sectors, I watched a superb movie, Conclave, which I had long been waiting to see. On another sector, I read a lovely book — A Walk in the Woods, by Bill Bryson — in one sitting. On a third sector, I slept for over eight hours at a stretch.
In short, I did many things on these flights that I could never have done in such a short period at home. This was possible because my mobile phone was shut and silent during the flights, and there was none of the interruptions and distractions that constantly punctuate our day-to-day lives.
This led me to reflect on the delights of flying. While flying comes with its own set of potential problems — such as frustratingly long waits at airports, lost baggage and jet lag — what I also discovered is that long flights cater to many of our needs and desires high up in the sky. Here are some of these expected and unexpected needs that lengthy flights fulfil.
Cocoon for the mind
Once you step on a long flight, you are entering a cocoon of your own. You don’t receive phone calls or messages that interrupt your flow of thought. This may, of course, change if flights begin offering free Wi-Fi. There are no visitors dropping in to meet you or discuss urgent issues, and no Zoom calls to attend. You have your own beautiful space for several hours at a stretch, which helps you disconnect from the cacophony of the world, relax, reflect, read or work. This helps rejuvenate the mind greatly.
Palaces in the sky
Many airlines today offer very good food, wine and other beverages on long international flights. While passengers travelling in first class or business class cabins are pampered with haute cuisine, those in economy class, too, are offered a fairly good choice by some airlines. In addition, you can generally eat at leisure, without feeling guilty about taking a long time out for lunch. Most airlines also offer excellent entertainment options, including new movies as well as award-winning classics that you couldn’t catch before.
Serendipitous trysts
Sometimes, long flights can present opportunities to meet and engage in great conversations with interesting people. On my recent flight to Chicago, I ran into the famous Indian flautist Pandit Rakesh Chaurasia, who was travelling to the US for concerts. He shared lovely insights about flutes and music concerts, as also beautiful stories about his uncle Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia.
On the flight, I also met a long-standing business associate whom I knew from my time at Titan 15 years ago. We had a wonderful, long conversation. Serendipitous encounters are an integral part of long journeys, particularly if we look out for them!
Sleeping pods
Sometimes, caught in the hectic pace of modern life, all we want is several hours of deep sleep. Long flights are the perfect places to catch up on sleep. Particularly when I am privileged to travel business class on international flights to Europe or the US, I target at least eight hours or more of uninterrupted sleep on a seat that turns into a flat bed.
When very tired, I have slept equally well on economy cabin seats too — what helps me here is a firm neck pillow. Sophisticated looking sleeping pods have become fashionable in many places, but long flights are perhaps the default sleeping pods for business nomads who have to fly around the world on work.
It is important to note that not all passengers have all the four needs described above. There may also be other needs that I have not covered. It would be useful for airline marketers to segment their consumers based on their primary needs, and then target these segments with the right set of product benefits. Such a consumer study can lead to many interesting innovations.
(Harish Bhat is an avid marketer and bestselling author. He was previously the Brand Custodian at Tata Sons)
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Published on June 1, 2025