A332 Envoy refurb progress

[PHL]

It looks like 279 came back from Mobile today after a week down there, and 280 went down today. That would leave 281 and 283, if I recall. The new ones being delivered (all 2 of them) this year should have the Envoy pods in them, right?

Is it still the plan to knock out these few remaining 332's with the Envoy refurbs, and then begin the 333's in next year's off season?

 

[birdstrike]

283 was delivered with the new seats. 281 is the only remaining a/c.

 

[USlurker]

Wasn't 282 the first one with the new pods and 283 was delivered with the old seats?

That is what was posted here, anyhow

 

[Whatnow?]

Wasn't 282 the first one with the new pods and 283 was delivered with the old seats?

That is what was posted here, anyhow

283 was delivered with the old seats....to this point only 282 had the new pods.

 

[gordo]

When will US update their seat maps and the envoy installation page???

 

[FutureUScapt]

It looks like 279 came back from Mobile today after a week down there, and 280 went down today. That would leave 281 and 283, if I recall. The new ones being delivered (all 2 of them) this year should have the Envoy pods in them, right?

And according to the original plan, 281 and 283 won't receive the new seats until after the summer (Oct 2010, IIRC)

Is it still the plan to knock out these few remaining 332's with the Envoy refurbs, and then begin the 333's in next year's off season?

Actually, the A333s are not scheduled to begin receiving the new seats until Fall 2011; I have no idea why it would take that much time to get the same seats tested/approved seeing as they are now already installed in the A332s.

 

[PHL]

And according to the original plan, 281 and 283 won't receive the new seats until after the summer (Oct 2010, IIRC)

Can someone shed light on why they would let 2 332's fly with the old seats and hold off on the installations an entire season? It took about a week for 279 to be completed, so what's the hold up? Are the seats not going to be ready (again) in time, or is the company really that cash strapped that they can't do them right now?

Actually, the A333s are not scheduled to begin receiving the new seats until Fall 2011; I have no idea why it would take that much time to get the same seats tested/approved seeing as they are now already installed in the A332s.

Is there some additional certification to be done since it's a -300? Is the distance between doors 1L and 2L longer than the same section on the -200? And, will they use the existing Sony Passport AVOD or re-outfit the entire plane (or just Envoy) with the Panasonic system?

 

[BoeingBoy]

Is there some additional certification to be done since it's a -300?

I don't think so. There's possibly an empty weight change since it's unlikely the "Pod" seat units weigh the same as the old Envoy seats and if they do put in the Panasonic IFE there may be some additional paperwork but that would be about it.

Is the distance between doors 1L and 2L longer than the same section on the -200?

Yes, part of the extra length of the -300 is between L1 & L2 and part is behind the wing. It'll be interesting to see what they do with Envoy on the -300. With the current configuration, it has 5 rows of 2x2x2 for 30 Envoy seats. 7 rows of 1x2x1 "Pod" seats only equals 28 Envoy seats while 8 rows = 32 Envoy seats.

Jim

 

[PHL]

It'll be interesting to see what they do with Envoy on the -300. With the current configuration, it has 5 rows of 2x2x2 for 30 Envoy seats. 7 rows of 1x2x1 "Pod" seats only equals 28 Envoy seats while 8 rows = 32 Envoy seats.

Do you think they can fit 7 rows in the space that 5 rows currently occupy? I realized that the space between 1L and the bulkhead behind the lie-flat row 1 gives some additional room when it's ultimately removed, but I can't imagine - even with that separating bulkhead removed - that they'll be able to fit more than 6 rows of pods, or 24 total seats between door sets 1 and 2.

 

[BoeingBoy]

The Pod seats require less pitch than the old Envoy seats, but I don't know if there's that much extra room either.

Jim

 

[FutureUScapt]

Do you think they can fit 7 rows in the space that 5 rows currently occupy? I realized that the space between 1L and the bulkhead behind the lie-flat row 1 gives some additional room when it's ultimately removed, but I can't imagine - even with that separating bulkhead removed - that they'll be able to fit more than 6 rows of pods, or 24 total seats between door sets 1 and 2.

Between the bulkhead and the 94" pitch that the seats in row 1 currently have, there ought to be room for 7 rows of the pods. To that point, the original plan (perhaps it has changed) was for the A333s to have a configuration of 28J, so presumably 7 rows in a 1x2x1 configuration.

And, will they use the existing Sony Passport AVOD or re-outfit the entire plane (or just Envoy) with the Panasonic system?

The entire plane will be refitted with the newer Panasonic system; it could be that they are waiting until they have time to refit the seats and entertainment system at the same time.

 

[PHL]

#280 went down to Mobile on 1/13 and doesn't appear to have moved since then (at least by doing a tail number ACARS search). 279 went down and had the Envoy seats refurb'd in a week. This one is going on 3. Not to mention a brand new airplane is being kept out of service.

What's the hold up?

 

[strangiatotheme]

A quick search on Sabre shows that 280 came back on the 27th and is currently outbound to Tel Aviv.

 

[PHL]

That is very interesting. Any reason why that wouldn't show up in the ACARS DB search by tail number(N280AY)? The last entry for it is still showing 1/13.

So now we wait for 281 and 283 a while, if I recall reading a while back.

P.S. Someone should tell the web folks to update the Envoy refurb progress page on USAirways.com. Not only do they show 0 A330-200's with the new Envoy seating, but they also only show 3 in the fleet. What a joke of an operation.

http://www.usairways.com/en-US/traveltools...ressreport.html

 

[USlurker]

That is very interesting. Any reason why that wouldn't show up in the ACARS DB search by tail number(N280AY)? The last entry for it is still showing 1/13. \

I'm guessing you use acarsd.org, which appears to be missing data. If you search libhomeradar.org, it shows that tail number returning 1/27 and doing MAN, CDG, MUC and now TLV.