Virgin Australia to Reconfigure 737 Fleet - Spend $110M

[simmomelb]

Regardless, it is a VERY minimal cost option to add in the 'rope' divider. Total no brainer.

Such things do not need to be special Boeing parts I feel sure.

Even the air divider is a 3rd party product.
I get the feeling they have no intention of adding it for the time being.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Regardless, it is a VERY minimal cost option to add in the 'rope' divider. Total no brainer.

Such things do not need to be special Boeing parts I feel sure.

Maybe not Boeing parts, but they’d need to be certified by the relevant regulators.

But that being said, you have a choice of carrier in most cases.

You can pay $359 for the major trunk routes for premium economy on VA and have pax come up front for the WC, or pay $500 on QF and don’t!

 

[Saab34]

While something like a rope would still need to go via a CASA process, a couple years is a bit of a stretch, perhaps a year tops.

 

[jase05]

You can pay $359 for the major trunk routes for premium economy on VA and have pax come up front for the WC, or pay $500 on QF and don’t!

Recent flights I’ve seen far more pax on QF use the forward loos than on my VA flights. Plenty of VA staff do the right thing and are proactive in policing the insurgents

 

[HS-TQE]

It did take some time for CASA to certify the doors on VA's Long Haul J on their 77Ws, so I wouldn't be surprised if CASA had some (limited) involvement with the now infamous 'divider'.

Also CASA is "alleged to be the reason" why there are no full dividers on the Domestic (Short International) 737s those days, i.e "for safety reasons" whereas other carriers overseas fly 737/A320s on domestic and their short haul international runs with full dividers without issues.

 

[A321]

IWX row 3, enough room to play a game of footy here.

 

[Digicola]

View attachment 418778
IWX row 3, enough room to play a game of footy here.

Or install a small divider with a purple plexiglass screen and a magnetic rope. That would be a novel idea.

 

[Harrison_133]

Or install a small divider with a purple plexiglass screen and a magnetic rope. That would be a novel idea.

The ex-Silk aircraft pictured above are the exception. Row 3 on the new configuration is much further forward and restricts the ability to have the full length divider.

 

[xt_20]

I did 4 sectors recently on VA's B738s in Y. Only 1 was a refurbished aircraft (31 rows). Did not feel any difference at all between them. The refurb'd aircraft has USB charging ports which only worked intermittedly.