Business Class Discussion - Seats/IFE/General Thoughts etc

[MichaelD]

Maybe I have just been unlucky to be on QF400 three times this year!!!

I take it you mean QF400, the 0600 MEL-SYD service which lately has been a 737-400.

Been on that quite a bit myself this year as I often need to make early connections in SYD.
To be honest, I'm usually asleep before the plane even takes off, so I'll have to try and stay awake next time to find out if they are indeed surly at that time of morning! (As opposed to being on their best behaviour on Friday evenings.)

 

[TonyHancock]

I take it you mean QF400, the 0600 MEL-SYD service which lately has been a 737-400.

Is there another QF400?

I have another two of these already booked for this year. .....one of them in Y......and unfortunately more to come.

You have my sympathy if you are doing this flight regularly.

 

[jakeseven7]

All J and fwiw all connecting to or from international flights from SYD. 5 out of 6 fails on priority boarding. 3 out of 6 734 flights, so rubbish seats. Surly crew on 4 out of 6. Food was pretty much irrelevant to me as was IFE. On such short flights and after/before international long haul I'm really not bothered by either. I do, however, appreciate that others do want a decent feed and IFE.

Maybe I have just been unlucky to be on QF400 three times this year!!! As I posted, I don't fly domestically that much, and don't see myself as a particularly frequent flyer, but the VA/DJ experience has been consistently better, from priority boarding, through seat comfort, and definitely to crew.

I did fly QF in Y to AKL and the crew and service was much better than the QF domestic J service I have received this year.

I'd have to disagree respectfully, as another poster has commented, QF staff have really lifted their game over the last year - I haven't had a grumpy QF crew member for.... actually I can't remember how long. They really seem to be revelling in the face of the compeitition and QF (the company) seem to be supporting the staff by providing decent hard product and real improvements in catering that I agree with as well. QF food is also healthier than Virgin in general too which is important for me. I also know for a fact that the QF staff love the training centre at QF - they always talk about it and I beleive it is paying back now.

On the other side of the fence I am seeing more and more not 'surly' but more 'pissy' or 'precious' Virgin staff who almost seem to resent their 'new brand' and the increased service levels required. Sometimes I get the feeling they think they are too good to perform the increased service. I travel ALOT with Virgin and actually know some frontline staff very well. They feel a bit pissed off that they have got paid the same to do a 'whole lot more work' - words from their mouths. So Virgin management don't seem to have sold the 'big picture' very well. I have seen a few move across to Qantas for better training (they talk about the QF centre as well!) and better pay. I now actually see one of my old faves at Virgin now a CSM at QF and really doing well.

Combine this with the fact that Virgin is making the staff live's harder with cough food, cough/missing IFE, cough IT systems, a very average new hard product (thats hard literally and figuratively!!) and a WONDERFUL marketing campaign that misleads everyone. Thus from talking and seeing the Virgin staff i feel bad for them because they cop all the bad decisions that Virgin is making. QF on the other hand really seems to have eaten some humble pie after last year and is supporting its staff (about time!). And you can REALLY tell.

 

[lovestotravel]

From another thread

And just how long is it supposed to take for these plans to be put into action? IFE is a joke, it was released nearly 1YEAR AGO, we have a new exciting IFE SOON. Seriously, Waht would be described as soon. J class is a multitude of inconsistancey, meal service is hit and miss, standard of product recieved is so inconsistant, that it turns you away simply because you have no expectation of what you will get, could be brilliant, could be cough.
Virgin are floundering, and the sooner they choose their path and follow that, the better.

IFE - A "trial" in the middle of the year, which will go for a few months, so at least another year before WiFi will be wide-spread

It's going to be years before anything decent is actually happening with VA and IFE/WiFi

Virgin Australia selects BoardConnect to keep IFE costs down | APEX Editor's Blog

Virgin Australia’s agreement with Lufthansa Systems to trial its BoardConnect streaming IFE solution from mid-2012 on a single Boeing 737-800 comes at a critical time for the carrier as it looks to transition from its low-cost carrier ‘LCC’ origins to a full-service airline, but keeping costs in check to give an advantage over competitor Qantas. Despite the carrier rolling out new lounges and business at the end of its recent financial year, Virgin Australia’s cost base increased only 2.4%, below the inflation rate of 3.0%. BoardConnect will give the airline access to traditional IFE content without the costs and weight of an embedded system. Lufthansa Systems chief information officer Dr Jörg Liebe estimates BoardConnect on an A320 or 737 will save an airline 50% in costs and 500kg in weight over a legacy solution.

While San Francisco-based Virgin America will use BoardConnect to stream to passengers’ personal electronic devices as well as seat-back monitors at every seat, Virgin Australia only plans to stream to PEDs and possibly a small number of airline-supplied tablets, primarily for business class. Hollywood has approved early window content for airline-supplied devices, but not for passenger PEDs.
A spokeswoman says the trial “allows us to fully assess the system and hopefully roll it out across the 737 fleet”.
Virgin Australia expects to have 71 737s in operation by mid-2012, although the solution would be limited to new aircraft and not ones due for immediate lease returns.
For domestic flights Virgin had offered a live television streaming service for a fee, but with unsatisfactory take up rates.
Its long-haul 777s will keep the Red system based on Panasonic infrastructure, which Virgin Australia’s A330s are expected to adopt too. BoardConnect may be extended to the carrier’s Embraer 190 fleet, but not its ATR 72 turboprop fleet.

The bulk of the airline’s 737 trunk routes are under three hours in duration, and the spokeswoman says installation of in seat power for economy class “may come in subsequent phases”.

Virgin Australia has billed this as its “first phase” of IFE plans. Its newest 737s have SwiftBroadband, but the carrier is understood to favour a Ka solution for connectivity needs.

 

[777]

IFE - A "trial" in the middle of the year, which will go for a few months, so at least another year before WiFi will be wide-spread

That seems to contradict this which was published in the last 24 hours:

Virgin Australia also promises that "by the end of 2012" you'll be able to stream entertainment to the Tabs -- or your own laptop, tablet or smartphone -- on board the 737s (not the E-190s) over wi-fi.This will include support for iPads and iPhones using a special app for the streaming inflight service, as well as Windows and Mac notebooks.CEO John Borghetti gave us further detail on the rollout when we spoke to him about the airline's plans: "It's coming along well. We're still planning to have a trial aircraft in the second half of the year.""Then immediately after that, subject to there not being any technical hiccups -- which we don't expect, to be frank -- we'll start rolling it out well and truly before the end of the year, and we'll do it very quickly."Borghetti explains that installing the Lufthansa BoardConnect wireless streaming technology isn't especially time-consuming."To fit an aircraft, you can do it overnight and it only takes two to three nights. So when the aircraft's parked at night you do the work, and within two or three nights you've done an aeroplane. So effectively you can move very quickly and do the whole fleet.

http://www.ausbt.com.au/virgin-aust...&utm_medium=flipper&utm_campaign=home-flipper

 

[Justchecking]

The key disclaimer there is - subject to technical hiccups - since when does a technology implementation not have technical hiccups? I'd respectfully suggest that in real world terms a full rollout will take longer than year end.

 

[pat25d]

Some of the complaints in here wouldn't be out of place next to the crackpots on Virgin's Facebook page

 

[777]

The key disclaimer there is - subject to technical hiccups - since when does a technology implementation not have technical hiccups? I'd respectfully suggest that in real world terms a full rollout will take longer than year end.

It may do. However there is a clear timetable and we can wait and see if they meet it rather than simply making up own and then complaining about it.

FWIW i would think that this system should be easier to fit and roll out quickly because it relies on very limited intervention in the cabin and has been demonstrated elsewhere but Murphy's law is pretty comprehensive in these circumstances.

If i recall correctly one of the delays with this IFE system was actually caused by boeing temporarily suspending certifying wifi for use in new build (BSI) jets due a testing problem with coughpit monitors. If it wasn't for that we may have actually seen this a little sooner.

 

[MarkD]

Some of the complaints in here wouldn't be out of place next to the crackpots on Virgin's Facebook page

And some of the fanboys should open their other eye and look around

 

[markis10]

Is there another QF400?

I have another two of these already booked for this year. .....one of them in Y......and unfortunately more to come.

You have my sympathy if you are doing this flight regularly.

Poor things, catching the dreaded 6AM flight, try 5AM if its summer in BNE LOL :mrgreen:

 

[lovestotravel]

And some of the fanboys should open their other eye and look around

Indeed!

!!!

 

[lovestotravel]

That seems to contradict this which was published in the last 24 hours:



Virgin Australia starts testing Samsung Galaxy Android tablets - Flights | hotels | frequent flyer | business class - Australian Business Traveller[/FONT][/COLOR]

Ah well the later article would be more accurate

So end of 2012 is the deadline for the start of the rollout, with 12-18 months for all 737's to be fitted.

So we are looking at around September 2013 to April 2014 before it's all finished..

 

[TonyHancock]

Poor things, catching the dreaded 6AM flight, try 5AM if its summer in BNE LOL :mrgreen:

We are sensitive and delicate down here in MEL!!

 

[markis10]

We are sensitive and delicate down here in MEL!!

And I bet you are not wearing shorts and a polo shirt as you type that , there are some things I don't miss from when I lived at Melrose Drive Tullamarine!

 

[maninblack]

That seems to contradict this which was published in the last 24 hours:



Virgin Australia starts testing Samsung Galaxy Android tablets - Flights | hotels | frequent flyer | business class - Australian Business Traveller[/FONT][/COLOR]

BYO device = LCC

 

[777]

BYO device = LCC

As in Lufthansa who developed the technology?

 

[lovestotravel]

BYO device = LCC

While I fully agree, the article above said:

"For domestic flights Virgin had offered a live television streaming service for a fee, but with unsatisfactory take up rates."

Now, the main reason for this would be the lack of quality programming, and then the advertisements that run through Foxtel...

If it was a proper IFE solution, like "Red" then I am sure the take-up rate would have been far higher.....

Business class should have full IFE.... Now it's hard to compare how popular it would be as only very limited flights have AVOD IFE in Australia... So I will compare it to flights I have taken on Air NZ between MEL and AKL and MEL and CHC

In either the business/front section of the plane, which is usually full of men in suits.....

Pretty much every single one of them watches the seatback/fold out IFE......

They don't use their own device.

Again, no point arguing about it, Virgin has gone down the WiFi/Tablet path and Qantas is slowing going down the full AVOD IFE path.

 

[Fruitcake]

Again, no point arguing about it, Virgin has gone down the WiFi/Tablet path and Qantas is slowing going down the full AVOD IFE path.

Except in (at least) the 767s, which are a very large portion of the 'golden triangle' fleet. Assuming a positive outcome from the current trial, they'll be getting the same BoardConnect system that DJ has announced they're adopting.

As for the older 737-800s, I haven't seen anything that indicates whether they're going to fit the fixed IFE that's in the newest BFI aircraft, or go with BoardConnect.

 

[lovestotravel]

As in Lufthansa who developed the technology?

This is relevant how ?

They are a business (both the airline and other divisions they have) and have developed a solution that airlines want to purchase, and it has nothing to do with Lufthansa itself and I put Lufthansa in a similar category to Qantas, they are not market leading....

Also, a few years ago Lufthansa started to refit a batch of the 744's with AVOD, that previously had nothing at all

Virgin America has AVOD since day 1 on all aircraft and WiFi and is currently increasing the speed of their WiFi! They would be what I call market leaders!

 

[lovestotravel]

Except in (at least) the 767s, which are a very large portion of the 'golden triangle' fleet. Assuming a positive outcome from the current trial, they'll be getting the same BoardConnect system that DJ has announced they're adopting.

As for the older 737-800s, I haven't seen anything that indicates whether they're going to fit the fixed IFE that's in the newest BFI aircraft, or go with BoardConnect.

WiFi will be fitted to most aircraft and AVOD for all new aircraft deliveries.

The 787's will be interesting.... As mostly they are for JQ......