QF to operate A330 200 AKL-LAX... what the?

[And5678]

Please forgive me, but I visited QF Buzz, and although very lite on discussion (... me wonders why? :rolleyes:), there is a thread raising the possibility of the A330 200 operating the AKL - LAX sector sometime next year.

Are they freakin serious! Where do I start? Any thoughts...

[happydriver]

And5678...

Not sure what your concern is.
Care to elaborate?

HD:ok:

[lowerlobe]

I have not done an AKL/LAX for many years but if memory serves me the flight time does not require the company to provide a horizontal crew rest for cabin crew.
Whereas the 747-400 does have one fitted as standard.The cabin crew rest on the mini flying croissant is fine if you are less than 150 cm tall.

The tech crew rest on the other hand is opulent by comparison to the one on the 400 and especially to the tech crew rest on the 767.

The galley(s) also are a little (:yuk: ) light on forethought as far as cabin crew are concerned.
They were never designed for that type of sector especially the daylight one from AKL/LAX.The aircraft was meant for domestic operations...

Any other questions happy driver?

[stubby jumbo]

.......no need to panic the JIT CONNEECT base will be taking this one ( if indeed it ever eventuates!!??)

I thought all the A-330-200's were with Geoff Star?

Believe this when you see it . There is no plan. This is how it may look.

Some dude will walk out of a hangar one day and say:
"mmmmmm can that French thing make it AKL-LAX. ...
............ OK .....stick it on ."

This is called Strategic Planning #101 -Qantas style.

[Back Seat Driver]

As the QF332 EBA-EBD are now operated by J*, perhaps the rumour would be referring to the brand spanker 200's coming from Airbus to join the Mainline fleet. Assuming QF have done their homework and let FLT OPS and Engineering order the aeroplane configuration, rather than the clueless accountants, (as in the past), maybe this time we will get the right aircraft for the job. ie. A long range A332 will easily do LAX-AKL with a full load (about 80 pax less than a 744) and use a hell of a lot less fuel. Sounds like people with a bit of nous might finally be getting a say.
ps. 330-200 with centre tanks can go a long long way. previous delivery flights did Factory to MEL non-stop (no pax of course)

[twiggs]

The only negative thing about the 333/332 compared to the 744/743 would be the slower cruise speed/longer flight time.

[lowerlobe]

Quote from Twiggs...putting forward the company viewpoint...

"The only negative thing about the 333/332 compared to the 744/743 would be the slower cruise speed/longer flight time'

......Apart from a few other negative points like the galley design and lack of adequate crew rest but then they are only a concern if you are cabin crew !!!!!!

If you work in the office they don't seem like negative points at all....

FOT

[Going Boeing]

BSD

Your seat figures are slightly erroneous. The two class B744's being used on the route have a 56J/356Y configuration. The new A332's will have a 36J/199Y config which is 177 seats less - a significant reduction. The A332 will be operating 3 of the 7 services per week freeing up a B744 to do 2 additional BNE-LAX and 1 SYD-LAX service per week. :)

[Capt Kremin]

Some here seem be confusing the -200s now being operated by J* to the 6 new ones to be delivered to QF in the next year or so. Full International layout. They also plan to operate them direct to Mumbai and MEL-PVG-MEL.

[Back Seat Driver]

GB, Apologies. Though I seem to remember some Pacific config 744 roundabout 380 seat totals though the 743 seat a lot more. Stand corrected. TAH

[speedbirdhouse]

Buying a longrange aircraft and configuring it so it can do such ops ???

Who'd of thought QF beancounters would be able to come up with that stroke of genius.:ugh:

[lowerlobe]

"Buying a longrange aircraft and configuring it so it can do such ops"

Speedy..Sorry to be a cynic but.......

After more than 30 years with the company I'll believe it when I see it!!!!

It might be capable of flying that distance but when it comes to taking out seats so that the galley's are suitable I doubt it.They will try and fit as many seats as possible in the thing.

[cokecropduster]

The new 200's will have stronger floors that are able to take the Skybed...

[Keg]

PAF, that's the domestic business class you're talking about on the A332. The international config on the A333 is the same as the config on the 744. Skybed and all the other mod cons. The difference, as someone else pointed out, is that we're finally getting the 'right' config on an aeroplane that can actually fly the distance!

[rescue 1]

I heard that the plan was to use the A330 for maintenance coverage rather than the B743 via HNL at times...

[sydney s/h]

They will have to change the layout for the A330-200's as they currently dont have the stowage for a second service. You can only run one main meal service out of the galleys. There is no room for any other meal carts.

[roamingwolf]

sydney s/h

wot you mean take seats out so the galley is big enough.that'll be the day.that means someone has to make a decision that cuts revenue and i reckon everyone is too scared about their jobs to make a call like that.

[I'm Driving]

Could QF fit more seats in the 744 or 743, if they didn't need bigger galleys for two services? So what is the difference on the 332?

[roamingwolf]

Could QF fit more seats in the 744 or 743, if they didn't need bigger galleys for two services? So what is the difference on the 332?

mate why don't we need 2 meals services and then some?

[priapism]

Did Mel-Hkg J class on the 330 international . Very nice - Skybeds fitted and -SHOCK/HORROR - the inflight entertainment was working fine!!!

[sydney s/h]

roaming,

if you ever did the PER flights on the -200 you'll remember that the galleys were chock-a-block with the food for 1 service. NO storage whatsoever for a single other item.

I personally could give a #### if they didn't change it...just mentioning the potential probs if they try taking that aircraft to a place where more than 1 meal is required!

And hey... the fact that they are giving the NRT's back to LH couldnt be due to complaints.. could it? How did we get them to start with? ;) Ohh... less money..blah blah

They are still in our pattern books for July so they aren't heading your way just yet!

[theheadmaster]

Sydney s/h and wolf. You make reference to the current SHORT HAUL A332 when making your comments. The A332s that will be doing these services will be configured for long haul operations. It will be similar to the current A333, except, of course, the aircraft is physically shorter.

[roamingwolf]

sdney
mate i was going with you on that but i reckon they will never order bigger galleys because that means they will have less backsides because less seats and that means less money.

with nrt's i reckon thery are giving them back to l/h for a roster to pi$$ s/h off so they can get the s/h union to accept lower conditions.pal they are working one side against the other.

i'm over this company so much it's not funny.i just go to work do my job and go home to the handbrake and the ankle biters.if ops call,mate i'm not home.if they catch me and ask for a favour guess wot my answer is.

[roamingwolf]

headmaster
mate i will believe it when i see it and by the way the 300 is not much better as far as we are concerned.there is the crew rest as well.

the nigels crew rest is a beaut but ours suck.even the lisa seat at r1 is a shot duck.

[mrpaxing]

be no overhead or under floor crew rest on the new 332 for cabin crew (tod lax - akl 14+ hours ). the suites for the pilots remain i suppose. what are the resident union guys do about it???????????. :ugh:

[Buster Hyman]

A332 AKL-LAX...Luxury! If they bring back the Connie, then you'll learn about working for a living Lowerlobe!!!!:E

[noip]

Ahhhh, the Connie .... Canton Island ... takes me back (OK, I did it on a C130) - Garbags full of lobsters .. etc etc

It's called thread drift ... live with it!


N

[sydney s/h]

Buster,

no different from doing a BOM-SYD on the -300. Thats a 13hr odd duty and there's 4 economy seats in the middle of the aircraft next to the dunnies for the crew rest.

[samford]

Syd s/h

We do not have NRT past July 9 - which is one day before the L/H bid period commences. Hence, we have lost them - at least for July and hopefully longer.

Afterall, we are short haul - anyone who wants l/h should be on the transfer list or if casual, move to AKL/LHR.

[Bolty McBolt]

First 2 A330-200s to be delivered are to be painted Jetstar colours with similiar seating to the current A330-200 but with a different galleys.
The following four A330-200 to be paint QF colours with sky beds IFE etc
I have enquired at both camps whom is going to LAX, QF or JQ and they both seem to think its them and are making provisions to do so

[sydney s/h]

Samford,

great! I dont do regionals anyway, but glad to see one less in the pattern books.

If i wanted to go LH i would have taken one of the many opportunities i have had.

[OBNO]

Hey you cabin crew,what's all this about the crew rest. You're there to work not sleep!;)

[roamingwolf]

no different from doing a BOM-SYD on the -300.....

Yeah but on the akl/lax/akl trips you have to put up with kiwi's :E

[sydney s/h]

yeah i hear ya re the kiwi's, but seriously, do i have to even explain the Indian's???? wanting wanting wanting.....C'mon roaming for f#cks sake!!!

[chemical alli]

A330-2,s akl-lax-akl cant wait for that one ! Hope the cc get use to cleaning vomit, Have you ever ridden down the back in a 330 ? Yaws & corkscrews her ass off.plus guess the old lax superstars of A chks will fix all the defects. My mistake only six licenced engineers in base.guess those terminal legends will be back working nightshift before too long.
At least they have seen the light and returned the 744 to the land of the rising sun

[samford]

Have to agree with you midnight. The original Adecco crew were worth defending, but in recent years the standards seemed to have slipped. Although now I'm in short haul I notice it too has been blessed with some shockers - in the form of MAM.... so both divisions have been let down terribly.

[squawk6969]

Chemical Ali

I agree the scarebus feels like a "light twin" compared to the Boeing, so imagine if the A380 is like that.......twice the chunder from down under:}

SQ

[roamingwolf]

sydney s/h

mate don't take this so seriously or you'll have a stroke son.i was just having a quiet shot at our rels over the pond.

if you reckon a bom/syd is the pits you should have seen the old ath trips.some of them would have the brasco out of order before we'd even got off the ground.

you would bloody swear that they had stood up with one leg on the bowl and the other on the sink and sprayed all over the mirror.if chem ali thinks le bus are bad he wasn't around to see some dope putting suger in a baby bottle filled with coke and hand it to their kid in the good old days.

the indians are a handful but you've just got to be tough with them or they'd run all over you.keep a handful of playing cards and walking johnny and you've got them covered.

the greeks on the other hand mixed with the yugo's on their way to belgrade were a sight.

[Bolty McBolt]

Hope the cc get use to cleaning vomit, Have you ever ridden down the back in a 330 ?

Have to agree with you Ali
I have never changed so many seat covers the Chunder Bus or Vomit Commet.
With only a couple of spare seat covers on board (not that the lazy CC would know where they are) I am sure demand for clean covers will out strip supply :yuk: :yuk:

[roamingwolf]

hey bolty read my last post the airtruck is nothing but maybe your right and the new crew wouldn't have a clue.

ahh i miss the old days when the ginger beer knew all the low bars in a slip.

[Bolty McBolt]

ahh i miss the old days when the ginger beer knew all the low bars in a slip

You are obviously not speaking up.
There is a long list in the office of two bit sleazy dives for imbibing of mind altering intoxicants at every station I have been to :D

[sydney s/h]

Roaming,

i was only messing around. Trust me...there isnt a serious bone in this body.

Now....to something more important. I have to crack a cold one..or two...or three and watch the blues smash the maroons!

[chemical alli]

blues lost fyi.and I agree with bolty if the crew only asked they would recieve.the old classic boys and girls knew the sleazy nightlife spots.the 330 crews seem more concerned with running off to the hotel and getting their beauty sleep.But hey i guess when long sectors and minimum slips what else can they do,a little more conversation and a smile wouldnt go astray.some of these long haul cc are cast from stone.

back to thread ,the 330 doesnt work well on any qf route wrong type

[chemical alli]

roaming
flew the rome sector on a 743 once and yes have to agree y class with italians and every other denomination of europe inbreeding was the pits.

still at least the cc could escape down the galley floor to the containerised crew rest. enjoy the 3 seats of luxury that passes for a crew rest on the 330?

[roamingwolf]

chemali said..

some of these long haul cc are cast from stone.

Your right mate the new qualities the company looks for in cc are indifference and lack of personality.they have to show medical proof they have had a charisma by-pass before they get a shot at a interview.
existing crew are being weeded out and if you have a sense of humour or personality you cop a clause 11.

but mate when i was doing romes and athens etc..we never had an underfloor crew rest then.we had 6 seats at r2 but the saving grace was the sportsmans bar under the rear galley.

cc rest on le truck is a joke but if it wasn't for a commissioner back in the late 70's the company would not have put any crew rest on the 747's then at all.i reckon the company still wouldn't have any crew rest if they weren't made to.in fact one clown who posts here and works in the office reckons the jump seats are ok..yeah right

FOT

[mrpaxing]

sportsmans bar on the classic, lots of memories there.not only the drinks but the girls............... 6 crew rest seats outside the galley at R2. front 2 seats for the fsd/chief steward. and as airchef you feed them first. and dont you forget that. memory lane, now back to the 332. as i said before, i hope the union guys will fight for a descent underfloor or over head crew rest.TOD from lax to akl around 15 hourws on the croissant:yuk:

[chemical alli]

I love how the travelling pax think that techies/cc dont deserve a break or crew rest area.lets just compare apples to oranges,i work in an office anytime i like i can disappear down stairs for a break or quick cig.friendly chats at the water cooler, and if i feel like pissing off early to the pub no worries .
crew stuck in aluminium or glare toothpaste tube ,cant escape and oh lets not forget,even if sitting in crew rest seat,still get asked q&a,had an email with some great photos of crew rests but deleted.anyone see same ?

had a great time once in the old lower lobe,cold beers and even colder cc ,bring back the piano bar i say

[ditzyboy]

With only a couple of spare seat covers on board (not that the lazy CC would know where they are)

There is a pack of around three of them strewn around the forward right outboard o/head at the front of Y/aft of J. Usually found underneath 3 million headrest covers, 9000 sick bags, 2000 Duty Free brochures and IFE guides from months ago. Perhaps if the lazy cleaners didn't do so much dumping of cr@p then the remotely engaged cabin crew remaining (yes there are many!) may look for them knowing it wont take years to find them and pick up all the junk that falls to the floor in your search for them?

But then how would the cleaners feel about us doing their work? How would the cabin crew community feel about us demonstrating another task we can do for no extra money, whilst also doing some else out of a job?

I thought you pilots and engineers were all about maintainence of conditions and protection other workgroups? :confused:

(above said tounge-in-cheek so don't get too worked up over it...)

[chemical alli]

But then how would the cleaners feel about us doing their work? How would the cabin crew community feel about us demonstrating another task we can do for no extra money, whilst also doing some else out of a job?

I guess we forgot,How would the slf feel about sitting in his/her own vomit for remainder of flight

said with tongue in cheek and head in bucket

[lowerlobe]

Chemical alli

I understand that you may have been joking with your post but in 30 years I have never seen a pax forced to sit in their own mess for any length of time.This is even when the mess is self inflicted.

I have never seen any crew too lazy to get a clean seat cover.In fact I hace seen them use the CC rest seat covers when they have run out of new ones.This is hardly the act of crew too lazy to look for them.

I have also had to fix a seat that the ground engineer told me could not be fixed.I was told that they did not have time and for me to move the pax to another seat.I had the pax moved to another seat for takeoff and when I went to look at the seat after takeoff it took me all of 2 minutes to fix without any tools.

There will always be people in any area of life that could not be bothered to do the job that they are paid to do.

[chemical alli]

lower,if you read my post you would see i support you guys,and yes it was tongue in cheek,just a question how did you sign an airworthiness seat item off.becareful maint inflight is a dodgy issue

[Buster Hyman]

Lobee...I was thinking along the same lines there. In the Litigatious world we live in, that's a risky manouvre! If anything were to go wrong... Going above & beyond IS commendable:D, but there are limits.:=

[speedbirdhouse]

Historically CSM training classes included an aircraft walk around that gave instruction on how to [temporally] fix broken seat recliners and carry out other passenger service type engineering fixes.

The objective wasn't to do engineers out of a job but rather to give operating crew the skills to fix things when engineers aren't available.

I wouldn't worry now though. From now on it'll be the blind leading the blind..........:eek:

[lowerlobe]

chemical alli & Buster..
I wasn't going "Above and Beyond" ..I was just doing my job.The fix was in no way an airworthiness or safety related issue at all.It was simply a comfort issue and the aircraft was full.The pax was refusing to sit there and the engineer did not want to delay the aircraft because of this so it was pushed onto my plate and I had to make a decision.

As Speedbird said we were (in the old days at least) shown how to fix certain things and it was expected.

My point was that there are individuals in any profession that are not willing to do what they are paid to do.My comments were not meant to be inflammatory but CC would never be too lazy not to find another seat cover as Bolty suggested.This is just an indication that not all of us just sit back and watch events.

[roamingwolf]

boys and girls
it's not the one who hurled that i feel sorry for it's the poor sod sitting next to the goose who has been drinking to much juice.

[Bolty McBolt]

With only a couple of spare seat covers on board (not that the lazy CC would know where they are)

To be honest I was trawling to wind up a few CC with the above comment and I am sure CC like Lobe Ditzy Speedbird Roaming all know where spare seat covers are but in my defence , do the majority of the CC whom operate the A330 routes have any idea. In my experience the answer is a solid NO.
Many A330 flights appear to operated with an experienced CSM and half a dozen CC with 12 months experience or less on board. Anyway this is thread drift.

A330 are bound for LAX not sure what livery the aircraft will be sporting but its penned to happen

FOG

NB It has been over a dozen years since I last had a drink with CC on a slip, is it you guys are now to tight to go out for a drink or just anti social ? :ok:

[chemical alli]

it may feel like a dozen years bolty since crew would entertain the poor sod gingerbeer,personally speedbird crew always enjoyed a night on the tiles,and old ansett crew were always throwing partys.the q crew seem to be like getting pommies to wash to shout a beer.The 330 is a dog and as a great cricketer used an annalogy once.cant bat, cant bowl, cant do anything rite

[speedbirdhouse]

12 years eh, Bolty??

If my memory serves me correctly those were the days of easy[er] sectors, long slips, exotic destinations and more hands on deck to help spread the workload.

These days you'll find that the priority for most longhaul cabin crew is sleep........ It's not personal:ok:

[Bolty McBolt]

Chemical Speedbird
I should have clarified my comment.
Its been 12 years since I have had a drink with a QF CC

I have had drinks with EK BA LH KLM QR JQ etc etc within recent times. It has never struck me as tiredness that separated the different brand crews from QF.
Its called Tude !!!!

[chemical alli]

would you want to drink with auz mainline crew bolty? as you say tude and more tude.the lhr based crew seem alright,just wish they wouldnt take makeup hints from hello magazine or jordan,i think its every gingerbeers job to invite crew to a sleazy waterhole of no morale in all ports.put up the first round and laugh when they disappear,when its their shout.
back to thread i am still informed by the syd cousins that the 330 is still stuck in syd with a fuel problem,guess when the hyundai of the sky breaks, she breaks big time

[chemical alli]

dont know whether i would like to be sitting on an A330 to lax,if another erroneous cargo smoke indication presented itself.the pond is wide and deep

[lowerlobe]

chemical ali...

You would certainly be hoping it is a false indication wouldn't you?