Working on planes? Even in business class, it’s the worst

May 6, 2026 — 5:00am

If you got paid for good intentions I would make a motza on long-haul flights. Finally, I always think to myself, a good 14-hour stretch with no distractions, no kids yelling at me, no email or social media, no meals to prepare, just a writing table and a laptop and a plug-in power supply.

Working on planes should be easy when you put it like that. So many of the disruptions of modern life have been forcibly removed. This should be the ideal working environment.

And so I carry my laptop on board, all fired up to smash out some content. I’ll write the stories that I won’t have time to work on when I’m travelling. I’ll edit the videos I’ve been meaning to put together for my Instagram account. I’ll respond to all the emails I’ve been ignoring for weeks and set them all up as drafts, ready to whiz off into cyberspace the minute I’m connected to the internet again.

So I sit down, make myself comfortable. I can’t have my tray table down until the plane has taken off and is well into its ascent, so the only thing to do really is scan through the onboard entertainment and try to find a movie or a TV show to watch, or maybe listen to a podcast or some music and kill time.

And then something weird happens and it’s four or five hours later and I’ve done absolutely nothing.

This is how it goes on planes. I want to work. I need to work. But, damn, it’s hard to find the motivation to actually get anything done.

Clearly, the conditions aren’t as optimal as I have painted them. You might be free of many of the classic distractions of modern life at 40,000 feet, but instead you’re wedged into a small seat with no elbow and shoulder room, with a tiny tray table that could be pitched towards your face at any moment, trying to concentrate while people talk and babies wail and the plane shudders and nice people keep handing you drinks.

How are you supposed to get anything done? And you might say, well, you need to be in business class. But I’ve been in business class and I’ve got even less work done because the table is bigger and the seat is bigger and the wailing babies are further away, but the TV screen is also enormous and the drinks are even better and if you’re not lying flat for every moment possible, then what are you even doing in the pointy end?

News came out last week that Boeing is designing phone booth-style work pods that airlines could choose to incorporate into their cabin designs in the future. These private, sound-proofed stand-up booths would allow passengers to make and take video and phone calls using the high-speed internet everyone now expects planes to have, and possibly even tap away on their laptops to fire off emails without having to be wedged into a seat with old mate next to you watching on.

Boeing, of course, is touting this as a good thing, though it doesn’t spark any joy in me. For starters, what are the chances you will actually get to use one? I’ve lined up to use the toilet on planes and people take forever in there. What makes anyone think passengers are going to hurry through their video call, or bashing out their emails, purely so someone else can jump in?

I never do anywhere near as much as I plan to. But those good intentions must count for something.

I also don’t want to work standing up, which in one of these booths, at least based on the design, you’d have to. I know some people do this by choice, walking on treadmills or just standing there at high desks because it helps with … something, I don’t know. But I’m not one of those people.

I’m very good at blocking out noise and can work in a cafe or a noisy room with very few issues. But I can’t stand up and type. It feels weird.

Anyway, back to planes. The Boeing work stations are not going to help me, and I don’t think they will help many people. Most confidential video calls could just as easily be an email, so I don’t see the point. These booths are far more likely to be clogged with people calling their families or just grabbing a little “me time” in a soundproof stall.

I do get work done on planes, eventually, once I’ve exhausted the airline’s supply of Jason Bourne movies and Missions Impossible, and I’ve had a few glasses of wine with the first meal and a little snooze in my seat. I write stories and edit videos, many of which require extra work once I’m back at ground level and pondering how I came up with this stuff, but at least it’s there. It’s a start.

I even send emails if the Wi-Fi is free and I really need to get in touch with someone.

I never do anywhere near as much as I plan to. But those good intentions must count for something.