YEG - Edmonton Int Airport - Page 439

MalcolmTucker · #**8761** Posted **Sep 15, 2013, 4:49 AM**

With low pitch, what starts to matter is seat design. If they cheap out and are still using older thick style seats, comfort is going to be pretty awful. As a tall person, I know that WestJet 32 inch isn't nearly as comfortable as Air Canada 32 inch. With better seat design you can drop an inch or two without a loss of legroom, or so says Air Canada. Lufthansa seems to be leading the way with this, and since with similar pitch AC beats WJ hansdown for comfort, I am prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt before I switch my booking preferences.

They all beat Air Transat's 31 inch old seat cabin hands down anyways.

LO 044 · #**8762** Posted **Sep 16, 2013, 1:52 PM**

^Interesting you mention Lufthansa. I have not flown any long haul LH aircraft but the seat quality of their short haul fleet is poor in my opinion. At least the 319/320/321 family anyways. I find the cushioning on the seats is very thin and it basically feels like you're sitting on plywood.

I too find AC's 320 seats more comfortable than WS's 737 seats but i agree with most that it has nothing to do with the aircraft but the aircraft operator. Again, i would take WS and AC seats over LH seats.

On a separate note, does anyone know how WS's in-flight entertainment changeover is going? I haven't heard much about this. Are the ipads a success or a failure or...?

Bigtime · #**8763** Posted **Sep 16, 2013, 1:57 PM**

The ipads were always meant to be a temporary measure on the new frames with no built in IFE, until the new system gets rolled out. Haven't heard anything on that lately.

Rocket252 · #**8764** Posted **Sep 16, 2013, 2:28 PM**

Any word on the Asian Route and when it will be announced? I would think that if they are planning a summer 2014 launch it would be announced pretty soon?

Coldrsx · #**8765** Posted **Sep 16, 2013, 2:30 PM**

Are we thinking Korean Air or Air China?

cyeg66 · #**8766** Posted **Sep 16, 2013, 2:49 PM**

Asiana, perhaps? Thinking *Alliance. Dunno. I'm clueless.

Rocket252 · #**8767** Posted **Sep 16, 2013, 2:50 PM**

Air China would make the most sense from a business and personal perspective.

They should be able to fill a plane (777 or 747) between two cities

Bigtime · #**8768** Posted **Sep 16, 2013, 2:50 PM**

Air China is *Alliance too, hope something comes of this rumour soon.

lubicon · #**8769** Posted **Sep 16, 2013, 6:23 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LO 044;6268731
[B

On a separate note, does anyone know how WS's in-flight entertainment changeover is going?[/B] I haven't heard much about this. Are the ipads a success or a failure or...?

From what I heave heard, their current provider has apparently come up with some improvements/changes that are being investigated by WS.

Cage · #**8770** Posted **Sep 16, 2013, 7:51 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LO 044

On a separate note, does anyone know how WS's in-flight entertainment changeover is going? I haven't heard much about this. Are the ipads a success or a failure or...?

My sources (independant of WS) suggest the IFE next generation program should be called Project Goldilocks; they are trying lots of solutions but nothing fits their demanding requirements (some are to hard, some are too soft, none are quite right).

Current interim tablet solution has a very low pickup rate. The low pickup rate actually helps WS mask another design flaw of the tablet solution. The design flaw with the tablet solution is that each tablet only has 6 hours of battery life with video constantly running. The tablet's cannot be charged on the ground. While the aircraft has power the recharge stations cannot be connected into GPU (ground power unit available while the airplane is at gate with engines and APU turned off). This means the tablet that is used for YVR-HNL cannot be used for the first half of HNL-YVR while the unit is recharging. The only solution is to set tablet useage at <50% of available capacity or you risk the negative customer experience of losing tablet power mid way through the movie.

Streaming video through WIFI and onboard servers has mixed results for the airline industry. If the streaming video is a hit with passengers, a huge server farm is required onboard to service all the requests. Result is the system is constantly uneconomical state. AC Rouge has streaming video on their first two 763s they employed over the summer. Unconfirmed reports have hinted the go forward plan for AC Rouge is Panasonic seatback IFE for the future fleet.

Another problem for the "Bring Your Own Device" solutions is the subsequent customer demand for inseat power. Once the aircraft is configured for inseat power, the fuel cost advantages of WIFI/streaming video disappear.

Internet enabled aircraft are good only for fleets that will stay within one national geopraphic region. E.g. WS or AC flleets typically deal with 2 national regions on an given flight and there is no solution available today that will allow for a single unified solution. LH is going to trial a true international solution but its a big $$$ bet that might not prove sucessful.

Finally WS requires a Supplemental Type Certificate for each fleet subtype. Any new solution will require a STC for the 736, 73G, 738, 737-7max, 737-8max.

rike5 · #**8771** Posted **Sep 16, 2013, 10:54 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LO 044

^Interesting you mention Lufthansa. I have not flown any long haul LH aircraft but the seat quality of their short haul fleet is poor in my opinion. At least the 319/320/321 family anyways. I find the cushioning on the seats is very thin and it basically feels like you're sitting on plywood.

I too find AC's 320 seats more comfortable than WS's 737 seats but i agree with most that it has nothing to do with the aircraft but the aircraft operator. Again, i would take WS and AC seats over LH seats.

On a separate note, does anyone know how WS's in-flight entertainment changeover is going? I haven't heard much about this. Are the ipads a success or a failure or...?

I flew recently on a Lufthansa a321-200 with their new thinner seats. I thought the comfort was fantastic relative to other airline chairs; they are very ergonomic and definetly make it feel like there is more leg room.

YYCspotter · #**8772** Posted **Sep 16, 2013, 11:52 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rocket252

Any word on the Asian Route and when it will be announced? I would think that if they are planning a summer 2014 launch it would be announced pretty soon?

correct. For a spring/summer 2014 launch, any new route would likely be announced in the next couple of months.

YegFan · #**8773** Posted **Sep 17, 2013, 12:44 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by rike5

I flew recently on a Lufthansa a321-200 with their new thinner seats. I thought the comfort was fantastic relative to other airline chairs; they are very ergonomic and definetly make it feel like their is more leg room.

I flew the LH A321 back in March. Seats weren't too bad actually.

also, I flew IAH-YEG on United. It was an A319 and it was fitted with the thinner seats. I found them ok as well.

Coldrsx · #**8774** Posted **Sep 17, 2013, 1:17 AM**

With Porters order of the C series, I assume we will see them out here soon enough.

EdmTrekker · #**8775** Posted **Sep 17, 2013, 1:47 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

With Porters order of the C series, I assume we will see them out here soon enough.

Delivery is years away....and are they approved to fly this new plane out of Billy Bishop? From BB it would be primarily business would it not versus the tourist trade. If so, is there the volume to support that flight? Tourists travel with lots of baggage and often connect from elsewhere. Porter does not operate from Pearson.

rike5 · #**8776** Posted **Sep 17, 2013, 3:25 AM**

Porter can't fly their C-Series planes out of Billy Bishop until they extend the runway. Obviously, both the jet planes and the runway extension have been met with extreme opposition because of BB's proximity to downtown.

I believe that the talk is the C-Series planes would be allowed if they performed under a certain decibel level (one of the features of the aircraft is that it's supposedly quieter). This determination was delayed until they could get more detailed specifications which requires mesuring during a flight test.

It just so happens that today the Bombardier CS-100 had its first flight so I assume that the issue will move along somewhat in the near future.

Bigtime · #**8777** Posted **Sep 17, 2013, 12:57 PM**

Did anyone watch a video of the CSeries takeoff? The thing was bloody quiet!

Nothing for those lakeside condo dwellers in YYZ to complain about.

EdmTrekker · #**8778** Posted **Sep 17, 2013, 1:21 PM**

I did and on YouTube. Given the only videos currently up on YT are from Bombrdier qnd each a short 1 min. clip of take of take off and landing it is hard to tell "just" how noisy. That said the plane looked amazing. The engines appear huge for such a small plane.

Cage · #**8779** Posted **Sep 17, 2013, 4:37 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by EdmTrekker

Delivery is years away....and are they approved to fly this new plane out of Billy Bishop? From BB it would be primarily business would it not versus the tourist trade. If so, is there the volume to support that flight? Tourists travel with lots of baggage and often connect from elsewhere. Porter does not operate from Pearson.

Delivery date of the CSeries to Porter is contigent upon the aircraft being certified to fly into Billy Bishop. This is not expected to happen until atleast 2018.

Also the passenger polls conducted by the Toronto Port Authority (they run Billy Bishop) indicate the majority of BB passengers are tourists, not people travelling on business. Most of the tourists are outbound (e.g. Toronto based people).

Coldrsx · #**8780** Posted **Sep 17, 2013, 4:47 PM**

BUT... the C-Series will allow Porter to establish new locations in the west and tie them in via Winnipeg or the like for time being no?