789/388 Broken Business Suites Rife - PAX Involuntary moved

[kpro]

On the outside they might look the same, but the internals are different with the 787. They have less and different parts to make it lighter.

Are you saying the 787/A380 seats are lighter or the older A330 seats?

Noting that the core platform and manufacturer are the same (Thompson Vantage XL) and the seats are in use at multiple airlines, I would've thought the mechanism is common for manufacturing efficiencies and spare parts production.

 

[drron]

Doing a little research Thompson seating announced that it was having major supply chain issues towards the end of 2021, It had laid off more than half it's workforce during the pandemic. It is also owned by the Chinese with supply of some critical items tied up in China's problems. So as was said before in this thread this has led to premium seating problems around the world. This time nothing to do with QF maintenance.

As an iside I met and had a long talk with James Thomson on the balcony on deck 7 of the Prince Albert 11 which became the Silver Explorer. This was late Northern summer of 2010 off Svalbard. He was the founder and brains behind there premium seats products. A delightful,humble Northern Irishman. He sold his shares in 2014 and taken over by the Chinese in 2017.

 

[milehighclub]

Doing a little research Thompson seating announced that it was having major supply chain issues towards the end of 2021

100% this is the reason. It has been an issue of parts.

It’s also just not the seats, there are a number of parts with a back log. But it is slowly starting to improve.

 

[Lynda2475]

Unlikely. It’s otherwise known as ‘Emerald City’… I don’t think you can select seats here in advance of T-80 unless you are WP or higher

Last year i could 10 months out no problem.

 

[serfty]

From seat maps on my upcoming A380 flights I'm wondering if rows 11 and 12 might be blocked for P1 until T-80.

That was the case even before COVID. Didn't worry me, especially with the skybeds as I preferred rows 13 and 12 window seats (for the storage).

 

[Batterytraveller]

Interesting: so low-tech can have its benefits apparently!

Feel like Finnair may be on to something with their almost mechanism free j seats.

 

[Quickstatus]

It’s also just not the seats, there are a number of parts with a back log

So why does QF sell broken seats at the same price as unbroken seats? Or why sell them at all?

 

[RichardMEL]

The 787 seats are definitely a modification (or so called evolution) of the original A330 J suite - they fixed/changed a few things (eg: the privacy divider in the middle seats can be taken down) and there were definitely some ther changes. Nothing major, as they look pretty much the same, but a few lessons I think were learned from the A330 and applied to the 787's.

Post automatically merged: Feb 12, 2023

From seat maps on my upcoming A380 flights I'm wondering if rows 11 and 12 might be blocked for P1 until T-80.

Yes, they could definitely be.

And/or just full

 

[dairyfloss]

Last year i could 10 months out no problem.

I’m glad it’s been fixed, then… Just teasing; I rarely fly on the big birds, these days.

 

[kpro]

The 787 seats are definitely a modification (or so called evolution) of the original A330 J suite - they fixed/changed a few things (eg: the privacy divider in the middle seats can be taken down) and there were definitely some ther changes.

I feel like they're all mostly aesthetic though. Colour scheme here, non motorised privacy divider there.

The base seat frame and mechanism itself is still the Vantage XL I can find at least 8 airlines these days who are using these seats, all with a slightly different look. Given it's popularity, I do wonder if any other airlines are having similar issues.

Off topic but, IMO the QF version is probably one of the nicer looking versions of the seat.

 

[TheInsider]

So why does QF sell broken seats at the same price as unbroken seats? Or why sell them at all?

They aren't. They have reduced the selling inventory by 1-3 seats per flight.

 

[Spacetravel]

A friend who was coming to meet me had this occur today. They were on the a330 QF81, J, bronze, reward seat. Was moved to QF1 first class. They said they had conflicting stories from the call centre vs airport and took a while to get answers but the outcome of first on a380 is a pretty good deal.

 

[eminere]

A friend who was coming to meet me had this occur today. They were on the a330 QF81, J, bronze, reward seat. Was moved to QF1 first class. They said they had conflicting stories from the call centre vs airport and took a while to get answers but the outcome of first on a380 is a pretty good deal.

That is a shockingly good outcome.

 

[drron]

A friend who was coming to meet me had this occur today. They were on the a330 QF81, J, bronze, reward seat. Was moved to QF1 first class. They said they had conflicting stories from the call centre vs airport and took a while to get answers but the outcome of first on a380 is a pretty good deal.

So they do know how to treat their bronze members well.

 

[jb747]

Same assumptions here. If someone else is reclining In the broken seat then it's not broken.

Ah, no. What often happens with the electronic adjustments is that they'll work in one direction, but not in another. So, if you recline, then that may be a one way journey. I once weakened and allowed an upgrade to stay in a broken seat. She just had to test it before departure. Didn't end well.

 

[Spacetravel]

While not the exact issue of the thread, this seat will likely contribute to a future person being bumped. I just got off QF82 SIN > SYD yesterday seated in J, and found my seat was in a pretty bad way. It wasn't "broken" but the support had started to go, when I would lean my weight into it it would droop back, also the panel at the footwell/ IFE was coming lose and dangling. I let the crew know who said would report to maintenance.

 

[jpp42]

A friend who was coming to meet me had this occur today. They were on the a330 QF81, J, bronze, reward seat. Was moved to QF1 first class. They said they had conflicting stories from the call centre vs airport and took a while to get answers but the outcome of first on a380 is a pretty good deal.

A bit behind here, but surprised it turned out this way. I was one time on an A330 SYD-PER J award seat (as WP), upon boarding the person in front of me got the red light and an "very sorry Mr Johnson but your seat is broken and we've had to move you to another." Then, *I* got the red light too, they had moved me to said damaged seat! It wouldn't recline at all, but I guess was still considered safe to use in the upright position. It was clear that flying on a reward seat, I was bumped in favour of Mr. Johnson who presumably was on a paid fare. I did complain later and got some points back - it was a daytime flight so I wasn't overly inconvenienced but it was certainly a good reminder of where the priorites lie.

At any rate as a Bronze, reward seat, it's quite lucky they didn't upgrade a paid J pax before you, but maybe they just couldn't be bothered changing two people?

 

[jb747]

A bit behind here, but surprised it turned out this way. I was one time on an A330 SYD-PER J award seat (as WP), upon boarding the person in front of me got the red light and an "very sorry Mr Johnson but your seat is broken and we've had to move you to another." Then, *I* got the red light too, they had moved me to said damaged seat! It wouldn't recline at all, but I guess was still considered safe to use in the upright position. It was clear that flying on a reward seat, I was bumped in favour of Mr. Johnson who presumably was on a paid fare.

That’s a bit strange. Normally if a seat is ”broken”, it will not be available to any commercial passengers. It may, at the Captain’s discretion, be used for staff, but even then I restricted it to people who actually wouldn’t fiddle with it (i.e. engineers or crew only).

 

[TheInsider]

That’s a bit strange. Normally if a seat is ”broken”, it will not be available to any commercial passengers. It may, at the Captain’s discretion, be used for staff, but even then I restricted it to people who actually wouldn’t fiddle with it (i.e. engineers or crew only).

Internationally no, domestic they are a little more relaxed on it.
There are no compensation rates set for domestic unfortunately, only international.

 

[Peasant]

A bit behind here, but surprised it turned out this way. I was one time on an A330 SYD-PER J award seat (as WP), upon boarding the person in front of me got the red light and an "very sorry Mr Johnson but your seat is broken and we've had to move you to another." Then, *I* got the red light too, they had moved me to said damaged seat! It wouldn't recline at all, but I guess was still considered safe to use in the upright position. It was clear that flying on a reward seat, I was bumped in favour of Mr. Johnson who presumably was on a paid fare. I did complain later and got some points back - it was a daytime flight so I wasn't overly inconvenienced but it was certainly a good reminder of where the priorites lie.

At any rate as a Bronze, reward seat, it's quite lucky they didn't upgrade a paid J pax before you, but maybe they just couldn't be bothered changing two people?

If the name above hasn’t been screened, and it is who I think it is, it is a well-known Perth mining executive who is CL. I see him often on SYD-PER.