Are F seats being removed from A330s?

PHL

Veteran
Aug 20, 2002
1,658
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Someone posted this in Flyertalk, does anyone here have an answer?
After 2/1/03, it seems that F and I are zero''d out on any A330 flight. Could this mean:
1.) F seats are being removed in favor of another row or two of Envoy
2.) A330''s are being prepped for removal from the fleet in favor of more 767s
3.) F seats will stay, but be sold as Envoy plus and given to premium pax or those willing to pay a ''sleeper seat surcharge''?
 
Or does it mean more seats in coach? Eliminate the second section of Envoy so you board right into coach, and enlarge the forward section. Would make Enovy go down to around 22/24 seats and add about 6 to 8 rows of coach.
 
[P]
[BLOCKQUOTE][BR]----------------[BR]On 11/19/2002 8:06:35 AM Hope777 wrote:
[P]Or does it mean more seats in coach? Eliminate the second section of Envoy so you board right into coach, and enlarge the forward section. Would make Enovy go down to around 22/24 seats and add about 6 to 8 rows of coach.[/P]----------------[/BLOCKQUOTE]
[P][/P][BR][BR]I don't think US's A-330s need an additional 48 seats in Y....
 
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On 11/18/2002 11:49:05 PM PHL wrote:


Someone posted this in Flyertalk, does anyone here have an answer?

After 2/1/03, it seems that F and I are zero'd out on any A330 flight. Could this mean:

1.) F seats are being removed in favor of another row or two of Envoy
2.) A330's are being prepped for removal from the fleet in favor of more 767s
3.) F seats will stay, but be sold as Envoy "plus" and given to premium pax or those willing to pay a 'sleeper seat surcharge'?


Maybe they're prepping them for freight conversion before parking them in the desert.....
 
The product never made any sense. 6 chairs on 9 aircraft. A maximum of 54 seats a day, each way, on international services.
 
From what I understand, the First class seating was only there to allow Rakesh the reciprocal agreement with Air India for the one or two times per year he traveled back there. This is not meant as a joke or slur, it is supposed to be true. I have heard that Dave had a real problem with that, so maybe he is finally getting around to removing them.
 
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On 11/19/2002 4:01:03 PM autofixer wrote:

From what I understand, the First class seating was only there to allow Rakesh the reciprocal agreement with Air India for the one or two times per year he traveled back there. This is not meant as a joke or slur, it is supposed to be true. I have heard that Dave had a real problem with that, so maybe he is finally getting around to removing them.
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If this were true I would be appaled beyond words...... I'm defininitely not anti-business but some of the stuff that execs have been pulling lately at the companies they run are just so offensive it defies comprehension.
 
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On 11/19/2002 4:01:03 PM autofixer wrote:

From what I understand, the First class seating was only there to allow Rakesh the reciprocal agreement with Air India for the one or two times per year he traveled back there. This is not meant as a joke or slur, it is supposed to be true. I have heard that Dave had a real problem with that, so maybe he is finally getting around to removing them.
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Not true. To their credit in this particular instance, one of the stipulations of joining the oneworld alliance when US and AA were linked was having a three-class cabin across the Atlantic for uniformity purposes. The Air India rumor is just that, a rumor and a bad one at that.
 
From what I have been told....the f class on intl routes was unprofitable and too expensive to staff and equip. It is less expensive to close that cabin all together, no f/a, no meals, no china/glassware...etc....
 
This was sent out to all F/A's via CBS Mail this afternoon:

We have been advised by our Marketing department that based
on the popularity of Envoy Class, US Airways' business class
service to Europe, US Airways will meet customer demand for
more seats at business class fares by moving to a two-class
configuration. This change will be across its entire transatlantic
fleet and will be effective February 1, 2003. Inflight Services will
be meeting with key personnel to include flight attendant representatives
the first week of December to review our service standards and identify
any changes that may be necessary to our current procedures.

We will communicate any additional information, as it becomes available.

Sherry Hendry
Vice President - Inflight Services
 
geo1004, Call it what you want, but I got it 2nd hand from Dave. (At least it has a 50% chance of being the truth.) Consider this, if it were not true...it is just another blunder to add to the long list of management errrors at U.
 
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From what I understand, the First class seating was only there to allow Rakesh the reciprocal agreement with Air India for the one or two times per year he traveled back there. This is not meant as a joke or slur, it is supposed to be true. I have heard that Dave had a real problem with that, so maybe he is finally getting around to removing them.
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Not true. To their credit in this particular instance, one of the stipulations of joining the oneworld alliance when US and AA were linked was having a three-class cabin across the Atlantic for uniformity purposes. The Air India rumor is just that, a rumor and a bad one at that.

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To add fuel to the rumor - I thought that the F class was to bring US in alilgnment with UA and Star Alliance back in the UA merger discussions(circa 2000). I really don't believe the Rakesh rumor would be true. To be a World Class airline, you typically need 3 classes. Too bad that's only really effective on the flights longer than 7-8 hours. Some Eastern Europe or Asia flights would have probably gotten more revenue F pax since you could actually take advantage of the flat sleepers after the 2 hour meal and a movie.

2-class config is a popular and cheaper alternative that has been adopted by DL, CO and NW. Dave knows that the BizFirst product has been very effective with the CO crowd.

So, what happens on Feb 1?? Will all 54 seats just magically disappear?? Or, if you're a premium Envoy customer, will you get a seat up in row 1 while they still last.
 
According to what the company put out today in the USAirways Today, they will offer our Top Tier Flyers as well as our Top Accounts to use those six Flat Seats.