Upper Class on the Dreamliner; A missed opportunity?

Being only a avery occasional VS flyer; I wondered why VS had not taken the opportunity to redesign its upper class with the Dreamliner.
The present design is one reason I don't strive to fly with VS.
The main problem I find is the seats angled away from the window and the fact that transition from chair to bed is cumcersome.
The market leaders like CX and New Aa have a 1:2:1 layout with the chai/beds angled in the opposite direction
How do regular v S flyers find it competes with the competition?

They've kept with the design as VS are scared of the reaction to a new design, for example the "dream suite" really didn't go down well. So they have mixed them both together using there best attributes and VS IMO have created a solid UC base. I'm still yet to fly on the 787 but hopefully next year will be the time. Also most people agree that the herringbone layout is a bit weird but unless you have First you have to be in fairly close quarters as airlines can't afford to run it otherwise as UC are VS premium passengers. The layout in every airline will be different. Look at BA, some seats you have to sit backwards so I never complain at the layout VS use

Ultimately VS is in a financial turnaround period. It was structurally loss making and not healthy before DL came along.

Therefore the money or appetite probably weren't there to innovate drastically on the 787.

I have not flown the 787 yet but I thought it had an updated seat (not based on the 330 seat) but on the current seat ?

[Darren Wheeler]

They could have completely redesigned the whole suite...

...but then it would have to go through a lengthy and expensive certification programme. The 787 suite is already in use with Air New Zealand so the certification has already been completed.

In what way is the new suite different (evolved?!) from the original?

Assuming Virgin have gone with the exact same seat as ANZ (assume they have to avoid re-certification costs) / bar minor changes needed for a possibly different IFE system. The changes are fairly small.

The "wall" between the A & G seats is more curved, on the top and on the bit that faces the back of the G seat (possibly reducing duvet storage space slightly). Other than that it looks very similar to the original Upper Class product. I would assume Virgin [& ANZ] have learnt from any lessons on materials used in the original seat and updated them where need be to be more hard-wearing / resistant to red nail varnish marks in the case of VS.

There is one less seat at the bar than on an A340. Aisles should be wider as the 787 is 15" wider than an A340, with the same 3 abreast seating. No toilet at the front of the cabin like on the A340, so you have to hope they put a curtain across between the forward 2 of the 4 toilets between PE & UC. Also, if the seat map is to be believed (hmm, it is the VS website...) no snooze zone on a 787 in Upper either.

A few points from me after a few days of reflection
The curved wall is aesthetically more pleasing but I do feel it impedes slightly on the aisle which I don't know why but I just expected it to be wider ,I don't know the tech spec but it didn't feel any wider than the aisle on an A333 to me but maybe it's just me .
The bar area was a bit of an awkward space I felt to be honest and unless you were sat on a stool I always felt I was kind of in the way .
Back to the suite I'm not the most observant of people but there doesn't ( to me anyway ) seem to be many changes ,the most obvious one I thought was the light above the drinks tray which isn't a lamp that sticks out above it anymore
The IFE is also a lot better touchscreen wise than the A333 in terms of responsiveness

I agree with the OP, theoretically a very similar seat could have been designed that faced the windows, the so called reverse herringbone. I said early on that VS missed an opportunity here to do that and to further differentiate. It would have created more private suites and stopped the crane-the-neck syndrome.

As to the seat vs bed, I still favour the VS approach to others having sampled many, when done well both the seat and the bed are better than the competition.