Are we there yet? The longest flight in the world

are we there yet plenty of parents have heard that question from the backseat now join us on the world's longest airline flight where many a passenger might ask the very same question Kris Van Cleave joined the boarding line with the mentality of a marathon runner Dwane Brown showed up to the gate your friends think you're crazy [Music] what he is is an aviation fanatic at the starting line along with 160 other passengers for the latest launch of the world's longest nonstop flight New York to Singapore a more than 9,500 mile trek connecting two of the world's financial capitals in a mirror get this 19 or so hours along s5 in 13 hours so this will be interesting for Donis corolla and Lu's Seco time is money they're racing to get to a business meeting and are willing to pay about four grand one way to shave six hours off their trip makes a huge difference because we're able to get down on the ground earlier than we would have had we taken a non directly enter this specially designed Airbus a350 made from a composite material and carried by two engines Singapore Airlines says it's up to 30 percent more efficient than the plane it's replacing and can stay in the air for over 20 hours could you do this route without this airplane no we could do it we couldn't do it economically and therefore it wouldn't persist Campbell Wilson is a senior vice president at Singapore Airlines so we've been intrinsically involved in the whole process of the aircraft's design it's not to to make records it's to serve a customer need and a customer want these days corporate card carrying business Flyers want to get there fast and in comfort on board there are 67 business class seats that convert into beds the other 94 are Premium Economy so while you can still get stuck in a middle seat it's not as cramped as the coach seat you typically have to squeeze into the idea is that we want to get you there in peak condition chef Anthony McNeil is Singapore Aires food and beverage director in an effort to combat jet lag the airline is focusing on nutrition designing a special low sodium low carb menu the philosophy that we've taken with this particular flight is smaller portions and more regular intervals why smaller portions more often it gives you some excitement but also interaction with the crew and also the wines onboard and the interaction of the cuisines allows for a much more pleasant flight experience the airline also delivers in seat exercise videos for passengers to get the blood flowing raise legs and circle the ankles twice in each direction hours in and somewhere over Russia I was in need of a good stretch it takes 13 flight attendants and two sets of pilots to get this show off the ground there's even a shift change at 30,000 feet and they can spend their off-duty time here in the crew rest area off-limits to passengers we're gonna fly across the North Pole captain ray Chaudhary showed us our flight path which takes us over the top of the world offering this Arctic aerial tour is it different doing 19 hours than four or seven or eight on a longer flight like this you have to manage your wrist your fatigue levels your concentration it's an endurance test for passengers - I ate watched a movie slept watched another movie read an entire newspaper ate again and we still had 10 hours to go and yet even though it's only 16 17 hours 18 hours I cannot wait for the 20-hour flight to keep everyone refreshed the cabin comes with sixteen point seven million combinations of light to simulate different times of day still the marathon flight and the 12-hour time change do take their toll but we made it even crossing the finish line early to the delight of Donais Carolla jetlag gets higher a little tired dehydrated I probably need to drink a lot more water but other than that I'm ready to explore Singapore which makes the time saved on this seemingly interminable flight well worth the trip

Channel: CBS Sunday Morning

Views: 590,507

Rating: 4.8586903 out of 5

Keywords: CBS Sunday Morning, CBS News, news, flight, plane, world, singapore airlines, longest commercial flight, 19 hours, nonstop, new york city, singapore, travel, experience, aviation

Id: TKcion9SUMo

Length: 5min 11sec (311 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 06 2019