Virgin 737 MAX lie-flat seats?

[Lucass]

Does anyone think there is still a possibility that VA could put lie flat business seats on their 737 max 8s for mel/syd to perth and new international routes. I know the previus CEO was contemplating this pre-covid, I wonder if it's still a possibility. Something like the examples below would be awesome to see on VA...

 

[Simon Overall]

Does anyone think there is still a possibility that VA could put lie flat business seats on their 737 max 8s for mel/syd to perth and new international routes. I know the previus CEO was contemplating this pre-covid, I wonder if it's still a possibility. Something like the examples below would be awesome to see on VA...
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No.

There's been no further suggestion of that.

 

[elanshin]

No. VA isn't about to put something in as a value carrier that QF isn't even introducing today.

 

[HS-TQE]

No.

As mentioned many times, Virgin are not a full service carrier.

They are a self described "value carrier", which is basically LCC Plus with a Business J Recliner Cabin and FF program attached.

 

[cove]

We really dislike the 737 product for coast to coast travel. It feel cheap and nasty even in business class for both Virgin and Qantas when you get seats in front of you recline. Seats in row one often have limited overhead bin space.
Five hours on a 737 is not a delight getting back to Perth from Sydney.

 

[pauly7]

Five hours on a 737 is not a delight getting back to Perth from Sydney.

It’s not a delight it’s wonderful

 

[HS-TQE]

No. VA isn't about to put something in as a value carrier that QF isn't even introducing today.

Also to add QF are refurbishing 42 of the younger 737s with similar seats to VA, the QF 737s with in-built IFE installed will be removed in the refurb, replaced with the wireless IFE system.

If QF are refurbing their 737s with seats similar to their A220 or their A321XLR Domestic/Short International Configuration, there's little to no chance of a "lie flat" on any Australian registered 737 (let alone VA!) for the foreseeable future.

 

[Scarlett]

No

 

[Saab34]

Negative. It’s more about cram cram cram these days.

The question will be, how far can they push the envelope to squeeze in as many Y seats as possible whilst still committing to 8 J seats.

 

[mannej]

Also to add QF are refurbishing 42 of the younger 737s with similar seats to VA, the QF 737s with in-built IFE installed will be removed in the refurb, replaced with the wireless IFE system.

If QF are refurbing their 737s with seats similar to their A220 or their A321XLR Domestic/Short International Configuration, there's little to no chance of a "lie flat" on any Australian registered 737 (let alone VA!) for the foreseeable future.

Off topic I know, but don’t these 737’s already have the Q-Streaming already installed?

 

[kangarooflyer88]

To be honest, I suspect there is a higher chance Qantas' luxury airline, JétStar will launch such a product on their narrow body Airbus' than Virgin Australia. As others point out, for any of that to make sense, they would need to be attracting the premium traveller, and nothing about Virgin screams Premium. The other thing to consider is the amount of room such a seat takes up, no doubt considerably more than the First class seats Virgin uses. That means they would be displacing quite a few rows of economy they likely would be able to fill on a normal day.

 

[Lucass]

Negative. It’s more about cram cram cram these days.

The question will be, how far can they push the envelope to squeeze in as many Y seats as possible whilst still committing to 8 J seats.

I wonder if the MAX 10 will have more J seats or still just the 8?

 

[HS-TQE]

If VA does take the MAX 10 it'll probably be just the 8 Recliner J seats plus cramming in the slimline seats in Y (with a few rows of EconomyX), Budget Carrier style.

 

[HS-TQE]

Off topic I know, but don’t these 737’s already have the Q-Streaming already installed?

The QF 737s without seatback IFE already has Q-Streaming.
The QF 737s with seatback IFE will be getting them removed in the refurb with Q-Streaming replacing the seatback IFE.