Larger J and W cabins

A few months ago VS announced that they were going to be making the J and W cabins larger on the 747 A/C can anyone remember when they said this was going to happen?

I think it was rumoured to be happening from Sept this year at the same time as the new PE seating was being fitted.

I think we have 3 346's still to be re-fitted and then the 5 343's. Once these are completed the 744's will get their much needed TLC.

The quicker those nasty PE seats go the better....

[Neil]

Here is the topic that discussed it all.

Neil

According to the crew on VS 45 the other week the extra Upper Class seats are going to be upstairs with ALL of PE downstairs on the 747 - 400 [:#]

Originally posted by andrew.m.wright
According to the crew on VS 45 the other week the extra Upper Class seats are going to be upstairs with ALL of PE downstairs on the 747 - 400 [:#]

Please tell me you're joking [:0]

THE best thing about flying PE is that it is in the bubble

Originally posted by andrew.m.wright
According to the crew on VS 45 the other week the extra Upper Class seats are going to be upstairs with ALL of PE downstairs on the 747 - 400 [:#]

I hope that VS staff who read this will feed back ... paying 1600 quid for a PE seat and sitting next to the galley downstairs on a 747 on a night flight is downright insulting. The noise, the light, the loos that are so far back, the lack of service compared to upstairs ... I really hate (did you guess) those seats. That and the fact they'll be 8 across if all downstairs like the old 742s. Only a major cabin refit to make it more amenable would allow this to work.

[:(!]

Originally posted by Treelo

Originally posted by andrew.m.wright
According to the crew on VS 45 the other week the extra Upper Class seats are going to be upstairs with ALL of PE downstairs on the 747 - 400 [:#]

Please tell me you're joking [:0]

THE best thing about flying PE is that it is in the bubble

Make the most of it ... The FSM seemed pretty sure of her facts

This is my understanding as well. As I typically fly on B744 routes once this change has happened choosing VS will be difficult as the downstairs PE cabin is horrible.

Originally posted by slinky09
I hope that VS staff who read this will feed back ... paying 1600 quid for a PE seat and sitting next to the galley downstairs on a 747 on a night flight is downright insulting. The noise, the light, the loos that are so far back, the lack of service compared to upstairs ... I really hate (did you guess) those seats. That and the fact they'll be 8 across if all downstairs like the old 742s. Only a major cabin refit to make it more amenable would allow this to work.

Well, how about this - put some lavs in opposite the galley. The J cabin never has enough lavs in any case, so maybe put in one or two largish J lavs (with room to change, and maybe windows), and a couple of dedicated W lavs.

This will mean that the L2 door is kept clear during boarding, as it will be a "double bulkhead" effectively, easing boardinfg flow and keeping disruption of customers to a minimum, as there will be no-one sat in those seats.

Maybe even consider only seating 2-3-2 in W in the new 744 config, to keep the cabin similar to the Airbus fleet - then there's consistency in the products. Don't forget, the new W seats are quite a bit wider anyway, so maybe 2-4-2 is a tight squeeze even on the 744.

Several airlines have premium cabins between the 2 and 3 doors on the 744, it's forward of most of the engine noise, and with a decent width aisle, it doesn't feel cramped at all.

Cheers,
Mike

Get rid of seats for extra lavs!!!! I'd believe that when i see it.

Granted, if the move is made ("W" on main deck), a cabin re-think is required!!

There has been no official word from vs on the location of the new seats yet, its just what we think will happen. The prob with downstairs service is that we have to do Y as well as PE so there are no dedicated crew there, however when all seats are downstairs then we will have a PE galley and PE crew so that will improve things alot. The service will also run better with the whole PE cabin together - no more running up and down the stairs for premium meals, glasss, menus etc! Also think Y will bennifit from being a smaller cabin as it appears more managable with 100 less seats. Think the re-fits will start soon but not sure why the 600s are not finished yet!

I can't see VS putting in 2-3-2 on a 744 as that would mean quite a lot of wasted space and hence revenue (and since when has VS been worried about brand consistency;))

As others have said, without the bubble 744 PE will have lost one of its biggest attractions[:(]

VS.

Due to the Disability Discrimination Act there will still have to be UC seats on the lower deck, so that might effect the design.

[honey lamb]

Originally posted by AlanA
Due to the Disability Discrimination Act there will still have to be UC seats on the lower deck, so that might effect the design.

IIRC, the original discussion was around extending the number of UC seats which would mean that the bubble as well as the existing main deck would be UC. I may be wrong here but I thought it was only LHR planes that were involved

[Bazz]

So it looks like VS may have underestimated the demand for J out of LGW when they reduced the number of J seats during the UCS refit? Or perhaps it is simply that the UCS has proven much more popular than the old Recaro seats, supply and demand, etc., etc.

Originally posted by andrew.m.wright
According to the crew on VS 45 the other week the extra Upper Class seats are going to be upstairs with ALL of PE downstairs on the 747 - 400 [:#]

That makes a lot of sense as UC should be seperated from PE for boarding etc -