789/388 Broken Business Suites Rife - PAX Involuntary moved

[offshore171]

It's not a lie at all. There are numerous broken seats currently in the 787 fleet.
Even some of the aircraft have around 5 broken J seats at any one time.

True. I've actually had one fail, mid-flight during a 13 hour sector.

However it failed in the fully reclined position. Reported it to crew, they unsuccessfully has a go at fixing/resetting it. Ultimately they couldn't rectify it, and a pax can't stay in such a seat for safety reasons, so they moved me to another seat.

As there were no other seats free in the cabin, they actually had to evict a deadheading crew member who was required to move to economy.

Bit of a difficult situation all round, but confirms that these seat mechanisms definitely do play up.

 

[Guvner]

It's not a lie at all. There are numerous broken seats currently in the 787 fleet.
Even some of the aircraft have around 5 broken J seats at any one time.

I hope whomever makes the seats doesn't make the engines.

Electrically/electronically controlled seats have been around for over 30 years. The technology is hardly cutting edge and should not be prone to such anecdotally high failure rates.

 

[docjames]

Why are the seats broken frequently now - I don't recall this as a significant issue BC (before COVID)?

They wouldn't be misleading them at all. Just becuase it seems that the seat has reclined, doesn't mean it's been an automatic recline. It would've been a seat with nil electricics, and as posted above would've been a manual recline.
The situation is so dire that Qantas have temporarily suspended selling 1-2 seats in J on every 787 flight just to accommodate for the broken seats.

 

[dajop]

As there were no other seats free in the cabin, they actually had to evict a deadheading crew member who was required to move to economy.

Was this for the remainder of the flight or just for landing?

 

[TheInsider]

Why are the seats broken frequently now - I don't recall this as a significant issue BC (before COVID)?

Spare parts basically.

 

[NM]

Spare parts basically.

Maybe they can retro-fit the Skybeds from some parked 744s

Or buy back from Dreamtime seats

 

[Quickstatus]

Skybeds

Sacrè bleu

They were also prone to failure especially the droopy S-B II

 

[RichardMEL]

aside re broken J seats, it's interesting that the newest AY seats which don't recline at all are a big plus because they have no moving parts to fail (and are lighter). I've not been in one, but everyone raves about these seats that really work and are comfortable.

it doesn't surprise me that the QF seats would fail because they do contain a bit of gear.

(and now I worry for my upcoming ULH QF 787 flights lol)

 

[Princess Fiona]

aside re broken J seats, it's interesting that the newest AY seats which don't recline at all are a big plus because they have no moving parts to fail (and are lighter). I've not been in one, but everyone raves about these seats that really work and are comfortable.

it doesn't surprise me that the QF seats would fail because they do contain a bit of gear.

(and now I worry for my upcoming ULH QF 787 flights lol)

There’s one mechanically operated part to the new AY seats. The part directly under the seat is powered to move into horizontal mode.
The remaining moving part is just a part of the ottoman which is flipped up by a handle and can be placed this way throughout the flight including take off and landing.

 

[justinbrett]

I've had the opposite problem, 4F on a 737 (SYD-MEL), seat could not stay upright - had no choice but to recline. Completely full flight, I was worried they were going to offload me (I was late to board so was only discovered just before pushback).

FA told the CM, who asked me if I was OK to sit there (reclining was fine with me!) and off we went.

I fear a different crew may have offloaded me.

 

[offshore171]

Was this for the remainder of the flight or just for landing?

Remainder of the flight. Seat was stuck in flatbed position, and unable to be raised.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I’m with TheInsider here. There may be the odd occasion where a P1 has been given a seat. But in other cases it will likely be staff who are willing to accept the limitations of having their seat manually reclined. Those staff would know not to ask more than once for a member of the crew to do an adjustment. There are also safety implications to this. An off duty cabin crew member may be able to manually readjust the seat in the event of an emergency, whereas a regular passenger would not.

 

[jb747]

True. I've actually had one fail, mid-flight during a 13 hour sector.

That‘s often an indicator that the seat has found your (or the previous occupant’s) phone.

 

[Hvr]

That‘s often an indicator that the seat has found your (or the previous occupant’s) phone.

So is there a search for the reason why the seat has failed?
I ask because there are often messages onboard that if you drop your phone, don't move the seat.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/aircraft-travel-lithium-batteries-cell-phones-1.4625164

https://www.escape.com.au/travel-advice/dangerous-reason-why-passengers-must-tell-cabin-crew-if-they-lose-their-phone/news-story/ec3db2bfae66acd7ed726e109467aef3

 

[Quickstatus]

there are often messages onboard that if you drop your phone

Yes happened to me on one occasion. Luckily the CC was able to get it out without too much fuss.

 

[love_the_life]

We had the opposite (almost) when checking in at SIN for QF2 last year - we were in F and seated on opposite sides of the plane. Agent asked if I wanted to move to sit behind MrLtL - luckily I heard her mention (quietly) that the seat mechanism for the suggested seat was broken. She couched it as 'the staff will move the seat for you' and when I pressed her admitted it was broken. Stayed in my original seat.

 

[AIRwin]

We had the opposite (almost) when checking in at SIN for QF2 last year - we were in F and seated on opposite sides of the plane. Agent asked if I wanted to move to sit behind MrLtL - luckily I heard her mention (quietly) that the seat mechanism for the suggested seat was broken. She couched it as 'the staff will move the seat for you' and when I pressed her admitted it was broken. Stayed in my original seat.

Did the broken seat end up being occupied?

 

[TheInsider]

I’m with TheInsider here. There may be the odd occasion where a P1 has been given a seat. But in other cases it will likely be staff who are willing to accept the limitations of having their seat manually reclined. Those staff would know not to ask more than once for a member of the crew to do an adjustment. There are also safety implications to this. An off duty cabin crew member may be able to manually readjust the seat in the event of an emergency, whereas a regular passenger would not.

The other side of it is that they have accepted broken seat compensation (which is now the same as downgraded compensation). QF have changed it recently, and depending on the sector, it can be quite generous (compared to what is used to be).

 

[MEL_Traveller]

The other side of it is that they have accepted broken seat compensation (which is now the same as downgraded compensation). QF have changed it recently, and depending on the sector, it can be quite generous (compared to what is used to be).

Oh… that’s good news in general. Do you have an example of the new downgrade compensation? It used to be that a business class downgrade to economy LAX-SYD would return very little to the customer, around $600.

 

[TheInsider]

Oh… that’s good news in general. Do you have an example of the new downgrade compensation? It used to be that a business class downgrade to economy LAX-SYD would return very little to the customer, around $600.

Depends on flight times and cabins, but ranges from 50%-100% of the base fare for that sector - plus a voucher around $100-$500