As Virgin Atlantic gears up for the launch of its redesigned “Upper Class Dream Suite”, the carrier has employed a 'whispering coach' to ensure crew avoid disturbing sleeping passengers during night flights.
As part of their training staff will be taught how to speak to passengers at between 20 and 30 decibels, a level arrived at through trial flights and input from speech experts due to “its calming effect and the fact that it won’t disturb other passengers whilst lights are out”.
The coaching comes ahead of the launch of Virgin’s newly-designed “Upper Class Dream Suite”, which is set to be unveiled on the carrier’s London-New York morning service this spring.
Few details have been released aside from the new branding (Virgin currently refers to its premium seat at the “Upper Class suite”), although the carrier says it has invested £100 million in “a new cutting edge Upper Class cabin including an enhanced seat, a futuristic bar, and many other cabin updates to give passengers a unique flying experience”.
Virgin recently unveiled a new economy dining service (see online news November 1, 2011), along with plans to refurbish its Gatwick fleet (see online news October 15, 2011), as part of a $2.2bn aircraft investment programme.
The carrier also began taking delivery of new Airbus A330 aircraft last year, with early deliveries featuring a two-class economy and premium economy layout - see online news April 2, 2011.
For more information visit virginatlantic.com.
Report by Mark Caswell
