I have decided to stop looking forward to the Virgin 787s...

Just for a change I was looking at BA for my next NYC trip in December. Although I travel a reasonable amount, it is rarely at the front on the plane unless I am upgrading myself with miles. My Virgin AU status will have expired by December and I have to conclude that's it’s unlikely I will make AU again, especially now VS have dropped the Sydney flight, and I'm not sure I can be bothered to chase the tier points anymore. Mounting European travel means I really ought to try a stint of BA loyalty. Sadly though my best intentions fell by the wayside as alas I was subdued by the temptation and snagged a seat in First to JFK with BA Avios. So that gets me no closer to moving off Executive Club Blue, but will be "interesting" and on a good old 747.... amd compare the Club House to the Concorde Room... but anyway to get back on topic...

So before I fell into temptation, there I was happily picking nice new(ish)787 flights to EWR on BA in Economy, but then I read the reviews... Nine across is tight, and I think we are all going to miss the a340s and a330s with their spacious 8 across when they are gone. Hopefully upper will be an improvement over the disastrous UCDS in the a330s, but in the rest of the plane I have a nasty suspicion the 787 will be one to avoid Airline economics alas means tighter cabins, and I'm just not sure bigger windows and plastic wings makes up for losing the feeling in your arms! I really do hope I'm proved wrong in this

Agree entirely David.
3-3-3 will never be as attractive as 2-4-2 to me, and slightly bigger windows won't entice me to book in the slightest. Unfortunately, it's a sign of the times and all service providers are looking to reduce cost base and maximise revenue so basically, we're stuck with it.

Just wait a few years.... 3-4-3 on the 777 will be industry standard. The A380 may even go 3-5-3.

[mitchja]

Don't forget though that there is a difference between the cabin width of each aircraft types.

They are all not the same:

B747 ~6.10M
B777 ~5.86M
B787 ~5.47M
A333/A340 ~5.28M

All Boeing cabins are wider than Airbus cabins.

Yes. So we are talking about an extra seat (in the 787) in 19cm of extra width compared with the 330/340. My bum is bigger than that

The 787 has been roundly critiqued across the board for its lack of space in economy

Thomas Cook fit 3-3-3 in economy in a A330, Virgin are positively generous with the 2-4-2 arrangement.

Sadly 3-3-3 is the norm for economy these days and the 787 was designed with this in mind.

Thomas Cook fit 3-3-3 in economy in a A330, Virgin are positively generous with the 2-4-2 arrangement.

Sadly 3-3-3 is the norm for economy these days and the 787 was designed with this in mind.

actually no. Boeing's recommended configuration is 2-4-2. So far only ANA and JAL use this config.
3-3-3 is the high density configuration which the other carriers use....and positively sucks.

Thomas Cook fit 3-3-3 in economy in a A330, Virgin are positively generous with the 2-4-2 arrangement.

Sadly 3-3-3 is the norm for economy these days and the 787 was designed with this in mind.

At least one Thomas Cook A330 (G-CHTZ) is 2-4-2 and I believe they will all be refurbished soon to the same standard.

Having flown with Norwegian LGW-LAX on the 787 I have to agree. While the width is perfectly acceptable for a low cost carrier like DY (and a lot better than 8 abreast 767/9 abreast A330) I would be very disappointed with it on BA/VS. The seat itself is only a little narrower than one on a 747 but the big difference is the seats are much closer together, and the arm rests are narrower. The narrow aisles also made it harder that it should be for me (tall and skinny) to walk down normally without brushing past elbows/feet.

There are rumours BA are going to improve their economy cabin when they get their 787-9's as a result of bad feedback on the '8's'. I've heard ones suggesting narrower aisles and slightly wider seats (partially solves half the problem) or going 8 abreast (solves both problems but it would be a bold move).