Qantas reducing J cabin capacity for sale?

[Josh]

Hi all,

I'm scheduled to fly on QF64 JNB-SYD on 23 April in Y, hoping for an upgrade.
However, in talking to a friend at QF, they noted that there is only 24 of 42 J seats available for sale. (Note - I'm not talking about sold seats, but total capacity available for sale). So for some reason, they're holding this back. Currently there's 0 availability in J, but the seat map shows about 22 seats allocated (so this correlates with the total capacity).
I'm wondering if anyone can provide any insight into why QF aren't selling these seats, and, if it's likely that they'll be opened up in the future (so we may therefore be in line for an upgrade).

Thanks,

Josh

 

[justinbrett]

Hi all,

I'm scheduled to fly on QF64 JNB-SYD on 23 April in Y, hoping for an upgrade.
However, in talking to a friend at QF, they noted that there is only 24 of 42 J seats available for sale. (Note - I'm not talking about sold seats, but total capacity available for sale). So for some reason, they're holding this back. Currently there's 0 availability in J, but the seat map shows about 22 seats allocated (so this correlates with the total capacity).
I'm wondering if anyone can provide any insight into why QF aren't selling these seats, and, if it's likely that they'll be opened up in the future (so we may therefore be in line for an upgrade).

Thanks,

Josh

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but your flight will likely be cancelled.

It's not J that's down to zero - it's all booking classes. This is usually the first step of a cancellation. It's not necessarily a fait accompli but it's pretty likely.

 

[encryptededdy]

Maybe they're thinking of swapping the 787 out for an A330-300, which only has 28 J seats? Minus a few more for crew rest for such a long journey since the A333 doesn't have a crew rest.

Note: I don't actually know if the A333 can fly this range. I assume it can given they were thinking of using them for BNE to SFO.

 

[Josh]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but your flight will likely be cancelled.

It's not J that's down to zero - it's all booking classes. This is usually the first step of a cancellation. It's not necessarily a fait accompli but it's pretty likely.

Thanks for the response, but I don't think so? Both Y and Y+ have the standard capacity (166 and 28), and they're completely full. It's just J that they've reduced from 42 to 24. I don't think QF would be cancelling it?

 

[Josh]

Maybe they're thinking of swapping the 787 out for an A330-300, which only has 28 J seats? Minus a few more for crew rest for such a long journey since the A333 doesn't have a crew rest.

Note: I don't actually know if the A333 can fly this range. I assume it can given they were thinking of using them for BNE to SFO.

Hmm, possible, but the 330 doesn't have premium, as I understand? They'd have a whole cabin of very unhappy customers who bought premium who now have to travel in Y....?

 

[justinbrett]

Thanks for the response, but I don't think so? Both Y and Y+ have the standard capacity (166 and 28), and they're completely full. It's just J that they've reduced from 42 to 24. I don't think QF would be cancelling it?

Trust me, I know a zero-ed flight when I see one. Plenty of threads on here about this.

Y is not full according to the seat map.

As I said, it's not definitely going to lead to cancellation - perhaps they are looking at aircraft change etc. But usually it means cancellation.

 

[encryptededdy]

@justinbrett is probably right here, but I wonder why they would zero out an almost full flight? I assume the seat map in Expert Flyer is generally reliable in this instance? Unless they're really sure they can squeeze these pax onto other flights...

 

[justinbrett]

@justinbrett is probably right here, but I wonder why they would zero out an almost full flight? I assume the seat map in Expert Flyer is generally reliable in this instance? Unless they're really sure they can squeeze these pax onto other flights...

Not everything is a business decision. Might just not have enough aircraft that day due to maintenance.

 

[HS-TQE]

Maybe they're thinking of swapping the 787 out for an A330-300, which only has 28 J seats? Minus a few more for crew rest for such a long journey since the A333 doesn't have a crew rest.

Note: I don't actually know if the A333 can fly this range. I assume it can given they were thinking of using them for BNE to SFO.

Possible, but unlikely. I believe the A330s in question are slowly being phased in for double-daily BNE-LAX (in absence of BNE-SFO flights). Although, SFO may leave an opening for UA, UA isn't likely to enter BNE anytime soon.

 

[williamsf1]

the flight is full in Y ... and oversold in PY ...so the J block will be to cover the PY oversell

 

[Josh]

@justinbrett is probably right here, but I wonder why they would zero out an almost full flight? I assume the seat map in Expert Flyer is generally reliable in this instance? Unless they're really sure they can squeeze these pax onto other flights...

Yes, I'm asking the same question - the flights are practically full. It could be a business decision based on other factors, of course. But the fact it's full doesn't line up with the other "zeroing" scenarios I'm reading in other threads.

the flight is full in Y ... and oversold in PY ...so the J block will be to cover the PY oversell

@williamsf1 - where did you get the info that PY is oversold? However, I find it unrealistic that it would be oversold by 18 seats, requiring that many seats be block from J?

 

[encryptededdy]

Hmm, possible, but the 330 doesn't have premium, as I understand?

Yeah, that's true. I suppose the only reason I'd see them switching to an A333 is that my understanding is Qantas is very short of 787s to operate its longer routes, especially considering they just announced a new MEL to DFW 787 route etc., so they're willing to kick people out of Y+ to free up a 787??? Maybe?

 

[williamsf1]

@williamsf1 - where did you get the info that PY is oversold? However, I find it unrealistic that it would be oversold by 18 seats, requiring that many seats be block from J?

Your friend at QF should be able to confirm you will also notice that the flight is fully sold out online...

 

[Josh]

Your friend at QF should be able to confirm you will also notice that the flight is fully sold out online...

I think my QF friend can only tell the capacity via their staff travel website, so it's not access to the full details in the reservation system.

 

[Guvner]

QF have cancelled some Sunday QF63 services, so this may be related?

 

[dajop]

Trust me, I know a zero-ed flight when I see one. Plenty of threads on here about this.

Y is not full according to the seat map.

As I said, it's not definitely going to lead to cancellation - perhaps they are looking at aircraft change etc. But usually it means cancellation.

View attachment 273906

I'm not entirely convinced that this is likely to be cancelled. Usually both directions are zeroed out. In this instance the inbound QF63 on that day is open for booking still:

 

[dajop]

Note: I don't actually know if the A333 can fly this range. I assume it can given they were thinking of using them for BNE to SFO.

It's not just the range, but the ETOPS certification. I'm not sure what QF's A330s are certified to, but I did find an article that it is or could be certified up to 240 mins. Which would make the route longer than the great circle (need to avoid the dark patches), and probably longer than BNE-SFO.

 

[Mattg]

the flight is full in Y ... and oversold in PY ...so the J block will be to cover the PY oversell

I think this is the most likely explanation.

If this is correct, it actually bodes well for the OP to get their upgrade as QF will need to upgrade people anyway.

 

[ANstar]

Most of the flights around that date are pretty chockers. School hols prob doesn't help.

 

[williamsf1]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but your flight will likely be cancelled.

It's not J that's down to zero - it's all booking classes. This is usually the first step of a cancellation. It's not necessarily a fait accompli but it's pretty likely.

This flight is full ..... The outbound QF63 is still on sale .... If 64 was going to be canceled.... the QF63 would also be gone