Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Hmm United has double daily service to PVG using a 787-8 and a 787-9, thats 84 seats in total daily. That means apple is filling 60% of their business class product. The other thing is, UA utilizes their older style business class seats on the 788/789 currently which is the same exact seat on their transcontinental 757's. Those seats are decent for the 5-6hr transcontinental flights but horrible in in the sleeping position if your tall or have big feet like me because the foot cubby is so small. I can't think most of those apple employees would be too happy knowing China Southern has a better business product on that route. The HKG, LHR and a couple other routes are served by the 777-300ER which has the new "Polaris" business class that actually has way more room and all seats have direct aisle access in a 1-2-1 configuration.
 
I hated working for a large company (not Apple) and having to do these trips. Even with Business/First class the traveling get old quickly. These days one or two overseas trips a year is about my limit.

Try flying cattle class sometime. I am one of those people who supposedly do not exist according airlines: I got a blood clot in my leg on a flight in economy class, then it traveled to my lung and nearly killed me...
 
  • Like
Reactions: unclemax
Plenty of tech focused roles here in the UK. They probably see companies such as ARM for their CPUs etc.
true, it could also have to do with planning Apple in the UK post Brexit, but both of those explanations are less funny then a way of explaining Jony Ive's relative disappearance/downplaying as a public face at the company.
 
It sounds like you know more about this than me, but can't design be done on computers anywhere? Just seems like a lot of travel and CO2 emissions.

Time zone difference.

It's not effective to work solo in a team and wait 8 hours for a reply to a simple question.
 
  • Like
Reactions: VulchR
No way Apple fills 50 business class seats every day. Not a chance. They may have a contract saying Apple can use up to 50 seats in an emergency but no way they have that many R&D folks going that often. I also question why Shanghai. That’s another flight away from Shenzhen where most of their products are made. SFO to Hong Kong would make more sense.

I don’t doubt the scale of Apple’s international travel, but these specifics seem off.

Air China is in the Star alliance with United. PVG is their main hub, they can connect anywhere intra-asia seamlessly.
 
No way Apple fills 50 business class seats every day. Not a chance. They may have a contract saying Apple can use up to 50 seats in an emergency but no way they have that many R&D folks going that often. I also question why Shanghai. That’s another flight away from Shenzhen where most of their products are made. SFO to Hong Kong would make more sense.

I don’t doubt the scale of Apple’s international travel, but these specifics seem off.

+1. That 50 seats daily must be referring to something else - UA has two flights with a total of 84 business class seats, in each direction. Apple is taking up 30% of those on a daily basis? That seems rather high, especially in the middle of the week.
 
  • Like
  • Disagree
Reactions: technole and M.Rizk
What a strange thing to complain about. I get complaints of higher prices, lack of innovation or slow adoption with their products but complaining about one of the only companies trying hard to be environmentally conscious?
I'm very pro right to repair, as a computer tech Apple has been both my favourite computer company and also the bane of my existence.
especially recently with there anti-user stance on device ownership/repairability because it make my job harder.

many companies are like that.
the problem with apple is they not only have no excuse with how big they've gotten but especially since steve's passing they get all sanctimonious about being green when they don't do the most green things primarily because they only care about profit.

i just wish they were honest about there motivations, since they are not i take my jabs when i can get them
 
Just because business pax arrive slightly earlier than economy doesn’t mean they don’t also suffer from jet lag on TPACs...

Business class ensures travelers can get a good night's rest, wake up and go to work right away when they hit the ground.
 
  • Like
Reactions: NetMage
Maybe...
For predominately technical reasons: Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei, South Korea, Tokyo, Beijing, Israel
For predominately financial reasons: London, Singapore, Munich
 
  • Like
Reactions: JPack
No way Apple fills 50 business class seats every day. Not a chance. They may have a contract saying Apple can use up to 50 seats in an emergency but no way they have that many R&D folks going that often. I also question why Shanghai. That’s another flight away from Shenzhen where most of their products are made. SFO to Hong Kong would make more sense.

Why Shanghai?

Apple built two R&D centers there last year.
 
Try flying cattle class sometime. I am one of those people who supposedly do not exist according airlines: I got a blood clot in my leg on a flight in economy class, then it traveled to my lung and nearly killed me...

I am aware of these. PEs are killers. We had a couple of people traveling to China. When they got there one guy said he was going to get his bag and the other went to the bathroom. The guy going to get his bag had a PE and was dead by the time the other guy finished in the bathroom.
 
  • Like
Reactions: VulchR



Apple is United Airlines' biggest customer at the San Francisco International Airport, according to signs the airline has available that were shared on Twitter today.

According to United, Apple spends $150 million on airline tickets each year, and purchases 50 business class seats on flights to Shanghai every day.

appleairlineflightsunitedsfo.jpg

Apple has many suppliers in China, which explains why the company sends so many employees to the Shanghai Pudong Airport.

Apple spends $35 million each year on flights from SFO to Shanghai, which is the number one flight the company purchases. Other routes are also popular, with Apple employees flying between these top 10 locations frequently:

1. Shanghai (PVG)
2. Hong Kong (HKG)
3. Taipei (TPE)
4. London (LHR)
5. South Korea (ICN)
6. Singapore (SIN)
7. Munich (MUC)
8. Tokyo (HND)
9. Beijing (PEK)
10. Israel (TLV)

Apple has more than 130,000 employees across its retail and corporate locations, and its headquarters is located in Cupertino, California. The San Francisco International Airport, located in Millbrae, California, is the closest major airport for international flights.

This statistic accounts solely for the flights taken from SFO. Apple has campuses in other locations around the world, and the San Jose International Airport is also nearby, so this is likely just a fraction of the airline travel that Apple funds.

As The Verge's Nilay Patel points out, statistics like these are a reminder of the huge number of employees that Apple has working behind the scenes on the devices that we use every day.

Apple is by far the biggest United airline customer in the Bay Area, and its $150 million spending total far outranks Facebook, Roche, and Google, companies that each spend over $34 million on United flights annually.

Article Link: Apple Buys 50 Business Class Seats From San Francisco to Shanghai Every Day
So much for renewable energy. What's the carbon footprint of that much jet fuel? ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Neko1500 and Huck
What a strange thing to complain about. I get complaints of higher prices, lack of innovation or slow adoption with their products but complaining about one of the only companies trying hard to be environmentally conscious?


that’s like saying Al gore and leonardo cares about environment coz they make speech about it. they help build greener houses yet they themselves contributors so much to wasted energy.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.