Qantas new PE seats

[nlagalle]

Qantas has unveiled the new PE seats for the A350… I think they look pretty good!

First look: Qantas A350 premium economy

More legroom leads the ‘sweet spot’ play for Qantas’ non-stop flights to London and New York.

www.executivetraveller.com

 

[encryptededdy]

No A/C power is an interesting choice, but I suppose I don't mind as long as those USB-C ports are at least 60W.

Glad they're going to 40" seat pitch, which is more than most western carriers. Having flowing CX PE on the A350, IMO 2-4-2 is still a bit on the narrow side on the A350. I believe this makes the seats themselves narrower than 2-3-2 on the 787.

I hope the "wellbeing zone" has plenty of bathrooms, since bathroom access is one of the most annoying parts of the current 787 PE.

A groove on the tablet for phones/tablets is good, but I much prefer a mount on the back of the seat for personal devices, like e.g. Cathay economy. The current PE seat's "tablet ledge" isn't great either.

 

[ADFlyMore]

Looks good. Like the idea of a wellbeing zone! Current configs mainly for economy have always been ridiculous small and always having to do the awkward shuffle as you are either in the way of the cabin crew of another passenger is trying to walk past.

 

[nlagalle]

No A/C power is an interesting choice, but I suppose I don't mind as long as those USB-C ports are at least 60W

By 2025 everything will be USB-C so really no need for 240v..

 

[sap1l]

A groove on the tablet for phones/tablets is good, but I much prefer a mount on the back of the seat for personal devices, like e.g. Cathay economy. The current PE seat's "tablet ledge" isn't great either.

I agree, I think a mount on the back will have a tablet/phone at eye level, which is a lot more comfortable than tray table height.

The current PE ledge is very fiddly, but I found the location perfect for watching movies on my iPad.

Side note: I’m one of those weirdos who likes foot nets, so I’m a bit sad that they’re doing away with that.

 

[eminere]

Links to the media release and images from Qantas News Room.

 

[jetset]

I like the wings and more legroom but not sold on the low phone ledge. It would be better if there was a way to mount these devices up higher in front of the IFE.

Lack of A/C charging is interesting, I am fully on board with USB-C and it will be much easier carrying just the cable than the A/C adapter as well.

 

[Jean Prouvaire]

I wonder if they gave any thought to allowing passengers to connect their mobile devices to the inflight entertainment screen via USB-C/HDMI/DisplayPort (or even wireless casting). That way people would have been able to view their own media on a larger screen without having to worry about positioning their devices at a comfortable viewing angle.

 

[Daver6]

No A/C power is an interesting choice, but I suppose I don't mind as long as those USB-C ports are at least 60W.

Glad they're going to 40" seat pitch, which is more than most western carriers. Having flowing CX PE on the A350, IMO 2-4-2 is still a bit on the narrow side on the A350. I believe this makes the seats themselves narrower than 2-3-2 on the 787.

I hope the "wellbeing zone" has plenty of bathrooms, since bathroom access is one of the most annoying parts of the current 787 PE.

A groove on the tablet for phones/tablets is good, but I much prefer a mount on the back of the seat for personal devices, like e.g. Cathay economy. The current PE seat's "tablet ledge" isn't great either.

I think ET reports combined output of the two ports per seat will be 60W

 

[sap1l]

I think ET reports combined output of the two ports per seat will be 60W

Oof, combined output will be a bit more annoying. Charging a tablet and a phone will be fine, but 60W is not enough to charge my laptop + any other device.

 

[Daver6]

Oof, combined output will be a bit more annoying. Charging a tablet and a phone will be fine, but 60W is not enough to charge my laptop + any other device.

Agree. Or your laptop will charge slowly. I don't actually seeing it being a major issue though. You have 20 hours or so to get everything charged up.

 

[sap1l]

Agree. Or your laptop will charge slowly. I don't actually seeing it being a major issue though. You have 20 hours or so to get everything charged up.

Yeah that's fair. 20 hours will be more than enough to rotate the charging of all devices!

 

[Lynda2475]

I wonder if they gave any thought to allowing passengers to connect their mobile devices to the inflight entertainment screen via USB-C/HDMI/DisplayPort (or even wireless casting). That way people would have been able to view their own media on a larger screen without having to worry about positioning their devices at a comfortable viewing angle.

USB-C or wireless casting from Phone/Tablet to the inbuilt screen makes sense. Fewer people are likley to be lugging a HDMI cable with them. But agree a way to hang your own tablet over the built screen would be good.

Not that I think I would ever bother with PE again on an overnight, you are still sitting up so sleep for us side sleepers isnt an option, may as well just suck it up back in Y if Im not going to sleep anyway. Of course would be looking to go J.

 

[sap1l]

USB-C or wireless casting from Phone/Tablet to the inbuilt screen makes sense. Fewer people are likley to be lugging a HDMI cable with them. But agree a way to hang your own tablet over the built screen would be good.

From the Y pictures it looks like they're pushing for the same mechanism as Y on the 787, where the tablet sits on a ledge just below the screen. I've found this a really awkward angle so I'm hoping that there's an alternative solution in Y+.

A decent solution (that is not the marketed "tray table ledge") may push me to Y+ on this flight, as I can get pretty good sleep in both Y/Y+.

 

[SeatBackForward]

By 2025 everything will be USB-C so really no need for 240v..

Except for that Toaster I used my QFF points on at the QFLoungeMall

Post automatically merged: Jun 16, 2023

They really ought to have just made these entire aircraft as premium only like SQ use for SIN<>JFK.

 

[dajop]

Not that I think I would ever bother with PE again on an overnight, you are still sitting up so sleep for us side sleepers isnt an option, may as well just suck it up back in Y if Im not going to sleep anyway. Of course would be looking to go J.

The thing about PE is the price multiple is way more than the extra space it gives/real estate it occupies That's why airlines love it I guess.

On the 787 it's 38" pitch vs 32" in economy. 7 across vs 9 across. So 5 rows of PE (35 seats) ~ 6 rows of Y (54 seats), means 54% extra space for PE. On the A350 ULR it will be 8 across/41" vs 9 across/33". So 8 rows PE (64 seats) ~ 10 rows of Y (90 seats), means 40% extra space for PE.

I'd be OK paying an extra for PE, based on the extra space I have. But picking random dates in August, both SQ and QF are about $2,500 in economy and $6,500 in PE. No thank you.

 

[elanshin]

I actually highly do not like the fact that they're removing standard power ports for a usb C charging plug. It potentially invites bad actors to be able to infect devices with very minor and hard to detect mods.

These sorts of devices are already on the market and is why security experts highly advise against plugging anything into a public charging usb port (or plugging in a usb device cable) that you don't trust.

This sort of thing will only increase in the future.

 

[downgraded]

I like the wings and more legroom but not sold on the low phone ledge. It would be better if there was a way to mount these devices up higher in front of the IFE.

Lack of A/C charging is interesting, I am fully on board with USB-C and it will be much easier carrying just the cable than the A/C adapter as well.

Will those wings be soft enough for headphones to rest against them without insufferable vibration?!

 

[Daver6]

I actually highly do not like the fact that they're removing standard power ports for a usb C charging plug. It potentially invites bad actors to be able to infect devices with very minor and hard to detect mods.

These sorts of devices are already on the market and is why security experts highly advise against plugging anything into a public charging usb port (or plugging in a usb device cable) that you don't trust.

This sort of thing will only increase in the future.

Firstly, if that's a concern, use a charging only/data blocker cable. Problem solved.

Secondly, I think that risk on an aircraft is minimal for a few reasons. It would be pretty difficult to fiddle with the port and not be seen to be doing something suspicious. It would be just as difficult to make it look like it hasn't been tampered with. Finally, it wouldn't be easy to exfiltrate any stolen data off an aircraft. It's a really difficult target for a bad actor. They'll go for a much easier option elsewhere.

 

[encryptededdy]

The only downside for me is I travel with one of these hybrid AC Adapter / Power banks, which can only be charged from AC power. They're useful since I can just plug them into the plane to power up, usually much faster than the inbuilt ports (try charging a 40Wh battery off your usual 5W USB-A port...). Unfortunately if I only have USB-C ports then I cannot use charge this.

I agree it's a very niche use case though.

The only other thing I can think of is support for more esoteric USB standards, for instance USB-PD PPS. My Samsung phone charges the fastest when the power supply supports PPS, but I suspect these seat chargers won't support that. To be fair, I have no need for maximum charging speed when on a ultra long haul flight.

Also, it looks like these seats may only have USB-C ports. Hopefully travellers travel with USB-C to USB-C cables, as I know some people who still only travel with USB-A to USB-C cables.