Recently in Cabin Info/Review Category

Poor Qantas Group. Someone, PR or reviewer, tries to make a joke but only ends up praising Virgin Australia. First there was Jetstar and seat colours and now it is espresso.

The Sun-Herald review of Qantas' (over-hyped) 747 service to Perth concludes:

Sky Report's only black mark was our flight attendant's (albeit gentle) mocking when we put in our coffee order as "a long black".

"A long black. Would you like a twist with that?" he quipped with a friendly smile.

It took us a while to puzzle it out. Then we realised: there was no espresso on board, as many international services do have in business class these days.

This might be a largely international configuration. But there are still some things you can't get when you're not leaving Australian airspace.

Clearly Virgin Australia has not flown the Sun-Herald's reporter in its trans-con business class. In that cabin there would be no "albeit gentle mocking" from the cabin crew if asked for a long black.

The cabin crew would bring it out.

After all, Virgin Australia's A330s flying between Sydney and Perth have an espresso machine on board:
It is too easy to further pick apart that review.

The Sun-Herald reviewer champions the 747 being "substantially faster than the Airbus Qantas has most commonly used on the route". The 747 is so faster, the writer says, that despite an hour delay at Sydney, the flight arrived only 15 minutes late. But ah the wonders of schedule padding in which airlines include extra time in the block time so a minor disruption will still allow an aircraft to arrive on time.

For normal operations, Qantas's schedule shows the 747 Sydney-Perth flight is 15 minutes faster than on an A330-200 (the 747-400 typically cruises around 913 km/h while the A330-200 cruises at 880 km/h). But in the scheme of a 5 hour block flight, 15 minutes does not seem that substantial.

V Australia this morning joins 42 airlines around the world considering their next steps after the Federal Aviation Administration issued an airworthiness directive overnight for airlines to determine if their passenger seats meet safety specifications and, if not, to bring them up to standard or replace them within 2-6 years.

The Bvlgari amenity kit (nice, but necessary on a 3 or 4 hour flight?) came in a compact black case featuring a magnetic holder. Inside were Bvlgari-branded lotion and cologne, a toothbrush with Colgate toothpaste, earplugs, and then a large and soft sleep mask with an adjustable velcro closure--no more awkward lines on your hair and face from where elastic bands were. I did not see any passengers on my flight use the pillow and blanket, the latter of which was a soft fleece and perhaps thin, but the cabin was warm enough.

This edition of quirky news is courtesy of Jetstar's press release today announcing its new a la carte fare structure. Commenting on the ability to pick an assortment of offerings, the release quotes Jetstar chief executive Bruce Buchanan saying: "You can choose almost everything but the seat colour."

It was a spin on Henry Ford's classic statement about offering cars in any colour as long as it's black, but the joke is on Jetstar.

Virgin Australia's new economy cabin (above on the 737, below on the A330) offers passengers three seat colour choices--gray, purple, and red. It was a decision that was very intentional, the airline's creative director Hans Hulsbosch told me at the start of the month.

"The reason why I did is that with most airlines, economy class is economy class, is cattle class," Hulsbosch says. "If you go on the aircraft of our competitor's, it's the same chairs all the way around. I wanted to make every customer feel special. I did that through colour and design. I wanted to give a feeling of 'Hey, I'm special. They're treating me special because they've given me a special colour.'"

Although Virgin Atlantic's economy cabin features sets of seats in different colours, no airline to Virgin's knowledge has given each seat a random colour. "It's the first time in the world that anyone has ever addressed to make that economy passenger feel special. No one has ever bothered."

Jetstar may end up swallowing Buchanan's quote if Hulsbosch's prediction on individuality in economy class comes true: "You wait. They're all going to follow."

Air New Zealand is planning for its four-tiered "Seats to Suit" product and fare structure to serve as the model of its integrated product offering with trans-Tasman joint-venture partner Virgin Australia.

Jetstar passengers will be sure to notice a cabin retrofit the carrier will begin later this year.

The carrier plans to retrofit half of its A320 fleet with B/E Aerospace's Pinnacle seat, as we reported earlier today. The Pinnacle seat has relocated the "literature pocket" (where the in-flight magazine, safety card, and air sickness bag are typically stored) to the top of the seat, freeing up more leg room. All Nippon Airways features a similar type of seat (left).

Moving the literature pocket up "allows for the provision of a removable in-flight entertainment bracket which will hold our planned IFE system (iPad)", a spokeswoman says. See the end of this post for a video demonstration of how passengers will easily be able to view content on their iPad IFE.

The retrofit will be applied to half of the carrier's A320 fleet, all 6 of its A321 aircraft, and all future narrow-body deliveries. The retrofit will see the A320 fleet have a standardized configuration of 180 seats (three more seats than on some aircraft) while the A321 fleet will have six additional seats installed, bringing its total capacity to 220 seats. For all the details, see here.

Virgin Blue's (Australia's?) first Sky Interior Boeing 737 aircraft, VH-YFC, entered commercial service this weekend and photos are already coming in.

Photos of the all-economy 180 seat aircraft depict a simple and nondescript gray and black leather interior, a sharp departure from the carrier's current bright blue and red seats. Even the carrier's forthcoming A330 aircraft has hints of colours. The seats have sculpted sides and adjustable head rests.

The aircraft reportedly does not have any IFE system installed, yet.

It was curious to read a press release extolling how V Australia has topped Roy Morgan Research's latest Airline Satisfaction Report. The survey found V Australia passengers are 91% "very" or "fairly" satisfied, which is ahead of stalwarts like Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Cathay Pacific, and, yes, Qantas.

One must assume those are V Australia passengers and not Etihad passengers codesharing on V Australia. The latter, it is understood, are not pleased to find themselves on V Australia.

To V Australia and management's credit, it has had an Etihad flight attendant accompany V Australia flights to and from Abu Dhabi while the flight and partnership kicks off. But the product differences between Etihad and V Australia are causing headaches.

First, there is no first. V Australia does not offer first class, forcing Etihad first class passengers into V Australia's business class that, unlike Etihad business, has a seat in the middle. Etihad's staggered seating in business offers more privacy than V Australia's seats in a row. Indeed, V Australia's seats are remnants of the previous management that wanted an economical business class.

Then there are the lack of perks. For customers in the pointy end, V Australia has no offers limo transfer service only for full-fare business passengers, unlike Etihad. In the back of the cabin in economy, V Australia does not offer in-seat power, unlike Etihad.

It is inevitable V Australia's premium cabin will have to be upgraded to align itself better with Etihad, Asian partners, and future partners beyond Delta. (Ironically, Delta features the Virgin Atlantic-like business class suite V Australia wanted but did not purchase for its 777s due to Virgin Atlantic suing the manufacturer, Contour, over allegedly breaking the patent and selling a knock-off version to airlines including Delta.)

Having secured a strong customer base and now being profitable, it seems logical for V Australia to be able to upgrade its product and increase fares and yields in the process.

The question for V Australia is when aircraft can be taken out of their tight schedule and when, amidst change programmes and the carrier already tightening up on spending, there will be capital to make such investments.

Update - comment from V Australia:
V Australia does offer a complimentary limousine service to eligible International Business Guests, including all Etihad codeshare Guests. To request their limousine transfers Etihad codeshare Guests can call Etihad, or they can call our V Australia Guest Contact Centre directly (Australia: 13 82 87; UAE: 8000 170 050; UK: 0843 104 7777; Other International: +61 7 3333 6888). More information can be found on our website at http://www.vaustralia.com.au/in-flight-services/international-business/limo-serv ice/index.htm

With Virgin Blue announcing more details of its domestic A330 service offering, it is evident the carrier is back to where it is trying to depart from: stuck in the middle between Qantas.

Before John Borghetti joined as the carrier's chief executive, the middle market position Virgin embraced and others derided was Virgin offering more than Qantas low-cost subsidiary Jetstar but less than full-service Qantas.

Now Borghetti's Virgin, and its ex-Emirates A330s in particular, finds itself stuck between Qantas. But not intentionally.

Virgin expected its A330 to be better than Qantas' offering on the domestic transcon. And indeed it is better than the aircraft Qantas had mainly been using: the 767 and domestic A330-200 (see above charts).

But Qantas changed the market by deploying international aircraft with better seats that Virgin's ex-Emirates A330s do not--presently--rival, a point Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce made clear in February: "Our competitors can simply not match the service that Qantas offers, particularly the Skybeds."

Thus Virgin returns to the middle: ahead of some Qantas aircraft (767, A330-200 domestic) but behind others (international A330-200, A330-300, 747). (Note that Qantas has the wow factor of deploying its 747 on the route, but the flight is based on aircraft utilization, hence the awkward 10:10 am Sydney departure and 1:05 pm Perth arrival that does not permit a half workday in either city. The 747 is a gimmick to attract attention to Qantas' presence on the transcon market.)

What is worth contemplating is how long this order will remain the status quo.

Virgin's next two A330s--fresh from Airbus--reportedly won't feature a middle seat, but it is likely those aircraft will be used internationally. As for the current pair of A330s, those are understood to be earmarked for an eventual cabin upgrade.

Depending how recovery continues and where fuel prices go, Qantas may need to recall its international fleet, giving Virgin top dog status unless Qantas makes adjustments to its transcon cabin.

The full details of Virgin Blue's domestic A330 services, to commence 26 May on Sydney-Perth, were released today, and the result is lackluster and throws the premium service ball back in Qantas' court.

Virgin Blue will operate the ex-Emirates A330-200 in Emirates' exact configuration: 27 business seats in a 2-3-2 configuration (there's one row of 2-2-2) and 251 economy seats in a 2-4-2 configuration. (Although the business seats were announced in February, Virgin Blue declined to specify the configuration.)

Chatter of Virgin Blue surpassing Qantas by not having middle seats in business, having meals in all cabins, and new IFE all did not eventuate. It was this one-upping that led Qantas to preemptively one-up Virgin's one-up by flooding the Perth market with additional seats and better aircraft, namely international aircraft with lie-flat seats and greater pitch.

With Virgin not delivering a wow factor, this is Qantas' chance to consolidate a schizophrenic operation that uses domestic and international A330s, 767s, and even the odd 747. That scheduling pattern is Qantas' major downside as in business class some A330s do not have a middle seat, 747s do, and 767s are aging. International A330-200 aircraft and that odd 747 have lie-flat beds that are far greater value than a recliner seat. Passengers or corporate travel managers do not want to chase Qantas' schedule for aircraft type.

The best case scenario, and thus pie in the sky, would be for Qantas to serve the transcon market with a single premium fleet as American Airlines and United Airlines do between New York and Los Angeles and San Francisco. AA has a dedicated 767-200 fleet while United has a dedicated 757 fleet, leaving no doubt what product passengers will experience. One answer for Qantas could be to keep on the transcon route international A330s that have a product superior to Virgin's, which in turn is better than Qantas' domestic A330-200 product.

Economy class fares much better on Qantas' A330s, which offer free meals (Virgin, for now, does not) and Panasonic's newest IFE system, the eX2. Virgin's A330 currently has the Panasonic's 2000-eX Hybrid IFE system installed, according to Flightglobal's ACAS database (although Virgin could upgrade the IFE). Virgin Blue will, however, offer 32" of seat pitch, one inch more than on Qantas. Virgin will also offer a direct entry lounge at Sydney airport.

But all of that needs to be put in the context of price. When John Borghetti announced Virgin Blue would acquire A330s, he made it clear the aircraft brought greater economics. So far it looks like those economics in business class are in favour of higher yields, not lower ticket prices: For business, Qantas today charges $2,890 for a sample round trip while Virgin is $92, or 3%, cheaper at $2,798 (that includes, for now, limo transfer at Sydney). Those fares are for regular web bookings and no doubt Virgin's sales team will be pushing discounts for corporate contracts.

In economy class, Virgin is offering introductory $139 one-way fares, beating not only Qantas ($245) and Jetstar ($206) but closing in on Tiger (when looking at Melbourne offerings where the cat is $99-189). It remains to be seen where regular fares will fall, but it seems likely Virgin will beat Qantas. By how much will decide if Virgin's product shortfalls are an even trade-off.

Qantas has more frequency and a better frequent flyer programme (although Virgin is looking to catch up there), but neither side can declare itself the winner in the market. Improvements could be made, or maybe they'll both stay the same.

Virgin Blue's 737 victor uniform yankee received a lot of attention for its AFL promotional livery, but its interior is more fascinating.

Where a PTV should be is a nice big gray plastic cover to hide the hole behind (above). How is this plastic fantastic?

The cover's proportions are much more rectangular than square, the traditional shape of PTVs. It is also quite large and takes up almost all of the upper seatback.

What this easily points to is affirmation of the talk of Virgin Blue installing on its 737s the Panasonic Red IFE system, which is currently in use on Virgin America and V Australia.