Virgin Australia to Reconfigure 737 Fleet - Spend $110M

[Must...Fly!]

A wise $ business decision given what economy X is doing.

Only issue is it's often full on transcon so if platinum you end up in a normal seat. But good news overall

 

[pauly7]

Only issue is it's often full on transcon so if platinum you end up in a normal seat. But good news overall

Not making money, remove / reduce.

Yes agree of course means less for Virgin Plats but they are not the priority here.

 

[Must...Fly!]

Not making money, remove / reduce.

Yes agree of course means less for Virgin Plats but they are not the priority here.

No issue with that. Just pointing it out.

 

[jase05]

Happy that the Y only birds will get J installed.
Hopefully they can send the A320’s off to Siberia too

 

[Saab34]

I will say that Virgin do a good job when it comes to showcasing the product. See the difference on how VA vs Rex market the product. Goes a long way to define the brand.

 

[Must...Fly!]

I will say that Virgin do a good job when it comes to showcasing the product. See the difference on how VA vs Rex market the product. Goes a long way to define the brand.

Rex shot looks like it was done on a smartphone between flights. Paper cups even. Yikes.

 

[Bagpuss]

A wise $ business decision given what economy X is doing.

I suspect the real reason to remove one row of economy X is so all aircraft have the exact same configuration. This overcomes the issues with the ex Silkair aircraft which have 1 row less. There would still be four rows of economy x on -8 -800’s 2 at front and 2 exit row seating. Don’t see it as an issue, I don’t remember not being in row 3.

 

[bullerdude]

I hope they come up with something clever as a new cabin divider rather than install a minimal sky divider that doesn’t really provide any separation. The exisiting wall divider has always been a great difference from QF and made the business chain feel like an actual cabin.

 

[AIRwin]

The exisiting wall divider has always been a great difference from QF and made the business chain feel like an actual cabin.

Even with the purple perspex?

 

[ANstar]

Even with the purple perspex?

Yep

 

[bullerdude]

Even with the purple perspex?

Yep!

It’s practical as it always the flight attendants to see through and it goes with the brand, so I’ve alway felt it worked well.

What they needed was better seats, which they are finally getting! No they won’t be a leap forward compared to qantas seats that have been around for ages, but VA were never going to spend big.

The new seats should be pretty good for most of their domestic flights, and much better than the old ones.

 

[Digicola]

A new cabin divider will be fitted to the Max’s and ex-MI planes and eventually retrofitted to the other aircraft.

I don’t understand why people expect the new divider to be anything other than a wing made out of the cheapest lightweight material they can find that’ll extend maybe 10cm down from the luggage racks.

 

[Saab34]

Boeing do have this new sky interior single curtain which probably would be better in regards to privacy for the J area.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

A new cabin divider will be fitted to the Max’s and ex-MI planes and eventually retrofitted to the other aircraft.

Yes, but that won’t fix the seat, lack of legroom, and useless leg rest It’s a premium economy product, not business.

Which is probably how they should sell it, as it would compete directly with jetstar, and most premium economies don’t come with lounge access, which VA doesn’t offer.

 

[Maccaj73]

Thanks for the report! I don’t think the Max is going to solve any of the seat issues. I flew on the new seats last week… they are a little softer, and the tray table is better, but no change to legroom or recline. No cabin divider on the new interior planes, although that might change with the max? The leg rest was useless… came up, and out, by no more than a couple of centimetres. No one used them.

Printed menu is nice!

Agree it’s a very mediocre upgrade. The economy seats are the same ones Tigerair had on the 737s. Max or not I would not fly CNS-HND on a 737 and for Virgin to not have even worked our lounge access is a joke yet they still think they can charge top dollar for J class, amateur hour at VA like usual…..

 

[Saab34]

If they rename it ‘Premium Economy’ or something they will likely need to kiss goodbye a whole pile of Biz contracts they hold which require a J cabin.

 

[BNEFlyer]

Agree it’s a very mediocre upgrade. The economy seats are the same ones Tigerair had on the 737s. Max or not I would not fly CNS-HND on a 737 and for Virgin to not have even worked our lounge access is a joke yet they still think they can charge top dollar for J class, amateur hour at VA like usual…..

The new Y seats are totally different to the current Y seats, which is what Tiger had on 737's because they were VA aircraft transferred to Tiger.

 

[BNEFlyer]

Yes, but that won’t fix the seat, lack of legroom, and useless leg rest It’s a premium economy product, not business.

Which is probably how they should sell it, as it would compete directly with jetstar, and most premium economies don’t come with lounge access, which VA doesn’t offer.

What's wrong with the seat? And what lack of legroom?

 

[Harrison_133]

Regulatory issues I guess?

 

[BNEFlyer]

It's disappointing that row 5 will no longer be Economy X. That plus the new divider will apparently allow VA to install up to two extra regular Y rows.