Lots of "broken" seats on A330 last night??

Hi,
Apologies if this has already been answered somewhere...

Just flew in this morning from MCO to LGW (VS28) on one of the new A330's, sorry didn't get the reg! There was about 60 or 70 economy seats that were closed off with laminated placards saying "do not use" cable tied to them. Mostly the sets of two's on either side of the aircraft. Various rumors going around from the crew (not sure if even they knew the real reason themselves) ranged from the seats having the wrong bolts so not secured to the floor properly (?!) or the seat belts didn't work...

Any body have any ideas on what's going on with them? I'm guessing a lot of pax were bumped off on to another flight, or has this been a known issue for some time?

Cheers,
Dan

Hmmm. 'Out of order/security risk/reserved for crew use only' descriptions given to the forward PE toilet. Crew having rest in 3 PE rows(complete with blankets and pillows) 3 hrs into a MCO/MAN flight because there is no crew rest area. Now 'broken' Y seats. Surely the 330 acquisition isn't turning into a pig in a poke. :0

What's wrong with the crew having a rest if there are spare rows? Lots of airlines use seats for crew to have their break in. When I flew Malaysian the crew used the two seats at the very back of E-Zone for their break both ways.

Same on a flight to MCO a few years back - one of the flight deck crew was watching the films at the back of PE!

Same on a flight to MCO a few years back - one of the flight deck crew was watching the films at the back of PE!

What a result y) firstly the IFE was working, secondly they actually managed to watch a film on it!

Definitely wasn't for crew rest as there were loads of them taken out of action (mentioned 60 odd seats in crew PA), scattered randomly all over the economy section but mainly the sets of 2's. Every other "not broken" seat was filled. Very odd...

What's wrong with the crew having a rest if there are spare rows? Lots of airlines use seats for crew to have their break in. When I flew Malaysian the crew used the two seats at the very back of E-Zone for their break both ways.

Hold up virginboy, don't be so defensive :0 . The thrust of my argument is that there is no dedicated crew rest zone, NOT the fact that they were resting .

What's wrong with the crew having a rest if there are spare rows? Lots of airlines use seats for crew to have their break in. When I flew Malaysian the crew used the two seats at the very back of E-Zone for their break both ways.

Funny VB that you mention this- there is a big thread on a.net about this, as SQ crews are now having to undertake crew rest in Y...lots of people commenting about how poor it is for the image of the airline.

I don't have a problem with it, its quite common on airlines such as DL.

[The thrust of my argument is that there is no dedicated crew rest zone, NOT the fact that they were resting .

Well thats because VS decided not to select that 'option' at the factory. It is as simple as that. As VB points out it is common place, personally I Wouldn't be surprised if VS did what DL did on their 764s and NZ on their 763s, they basically put up a wall over the A+C seats for two rows with a door in. Inside 'the box' where four seats for crew rest. Means that crew can rest without prying eyes and in near on darkness.

Okay crew rest apart, why so many seats out of action?

Possibly related to the seat issue mentioned here?

forum/index.php?f=23&t=269711&rb_v=viewtopic

Possibly related to the seat issue mentioned here?

forum/index.php?f=23&t=269711&rb_v=viewtopic

Thats very unlikely as I don't think the VS A330 is one of the affected plane types plus how would an airline know which seats would / would not pass the flame test. In any case there is no bar on an airline flying a plane with those seats ion - they have 2 years to replace them.

More likely something to do with the IFE or (not to be alarmist) a problem with the O2 masks in those seats.

Could it be that by the sounds of it, a light load, they wanted to keep the Pax in one area?