CX Economy Seating.

[whiskeytangofox]

Sorry if I'm posting in the wrong place, but here goes.

Recently flew CX due company business. Interesting to see the style of seat in Economy.
Base of seat can slide forward, with some reclining in the seat back insert, yet the seat back remains upright.
Also saw a V formation of seating in business.
My question is, how has this style of (economy) seating been received by the public.
Personally I'm not a big fan.

Regards

WTF.
:confused::confused:

[slipslopslut]

Receiced very poorly for the most part.
Punters don't like the EY, particularly for a long haul product.

The J class V is being redone to face the other way-ie. outwards

Cabin crew find it difficult to serve to-overall a shambles.
Yet another CX attempt that failed miserably all to try and squueze another seat or two.

DISGRACEFUL:mad:

[betpump5]

The Cathay representative (s) who "Tried" and "Tested" the economy seat should be fired.

Without doubt the most uncomfortable seat in a long haul airline. An embarassment.

[geh065]

The Cathay representative (s) who "Tried" and "Tested" the economy seat should be fired.

I thought she was?

[CodyBlade]

actually the wish-bone config has its fans and detractors.Some love it, others feel a bit ill sitting 45 degrees to the long. axis.

For me it's Ok -love the privacy.

[FIRESYSOK]

It's actually a frightening experience- riding in the economy seat. I had never felt claustrophobic, ever in my life, until then.

[geh065]

It is all changing soon anyway isn't it?

[Ex Cathedra]

Probably. Business is for sure.

The same old CX song: Spend a dollar to save a nickel.

[sinkingship]

Flatbed 2, coming soon!

[ALPHA FLOOR]

Hope no significant changes to EY, I think they are fantastic as far as EY is concerned - much more personal space than before and unaffected by the seat in front of you...

AFL

[BusyB]

Alpha Floor,
As long as you are less than 5'11" tall:mad:

[HKPAX]

My tupporth is that the old reclining seats were perfect: all CX had to do was disable / forbid them from reclining on daytime flights less than four hours.

[SloppyJoe]

Quotes from a site that reviews airlines.

AKL-AMS, AMS-HKG-AKL. As many reviewers have written, the hardshell seats in economy are ridiculous! I'm not tall but my legs were touching the seat in front when in reclined position. Not that pleasant on reasonably long flights. Food and Inflight Entertainment okay. Flights were cheap as booked 7 months in advance.

Economy seats really not up to Long Haul for comfort. Video selection makes up for this to some extent but cabin crew are now of the kind that would never have been hired by CX 20 years ago. Political correctness now dictates that most crew are hired in Hong Kong, not across Asia - a pity.

CGK-SIN-JFK. The check-in staff were nice, though in-flight staff weren't as responsive as they should be. The food was tasteless and seat was so uncomfortable. Good thing was the entertainment was quite up-to-date.

PVG-HKG-BKK, very disappointed about Cathay Pacific this time, seats are hard and uncomfortable, food very simple, no second round drink service! Return flight HKG-PVG codeshare with DragonAir, delayed for 1 hr, much better service than Cathay Pacific.

Are Cathy Pacific standards slipping? Two recent flights suggest they are - YVR to JFK return. Check in at each location fine, but food onboard, outbound from YVR was barely edible. Returning from JFK to YVR food inedible. Service below what one expects of this airline. Seats uncomfortable and cabin out of JFK not very clean.

LHR-HKG-BNE Economy Class, B747 LHR to HKG, Crew pleasant and service good. A choice of meals for Dinner, light meal also good and AVOD entertainment great. The economy seats are a bit uncomfortable but better than seats of A330 on HKG-BNE leg.

MEL-HKG-LHR return. Online check in easy and bag drop with no queue. It was great not to have the seat in front reclining into your face and I felt that I had more personal space than on some airlines. However the non reclining seats come at a price and that of course means comfort, and coupled with the fact that the seat designer must have been an alien with no understanding of the human body shape left me feeling crippled at the end of the flight. But I would fly Cathay Pacific again but please get some better seats and larger and better meals would be nice also.

FRA-CEB-FRA. Check-In fast and friendly, FRA-HKG-CEB with B747. Nice service, food good. Entertainment very good, but change the seats - they are terrible for longhaul flights. CEB-HKG A330 friendly crew. Meal service fast and good. Old seats, but better than the B747. HKG-FRA B747 and same problem with the seats. Friendly crew and food served very quick. IFE very good.

JFK-HKG return B777-300ER. Check in a breeze at Kennedy, friendly staff. Boarding a bit chaotic. Seats a big disappointment. Certainly doesn't allow for comfortable sleep if you're tall. Luckily, IFE was fantastic. Food was pretty lousy compared to other 4 and 5-star airlines. FAs friendly though. Overall, worth the money if you take advantage of a good deal but nowhere near as comfortable and enjoyable as I've had with ANA or Air New Zealand.

BNE-HKG-ICN Economy Class A330-300. Cabin clean and tidy, crew pleasant and reasonably attentive during the BNE-HKG leg. Dinner + Light refreshment - both meals well presented and a choice of main course offered. AVOD onboard was excellent. I would normally recommend Cathay Pacific - except for one major minus in my opinion. The new non-reclining shell type economy seat is a complete abomination. HK -ICN was an older variant of the A330 with older reclining seats - 100% better than the new economy seat that Cathay promotes as a new and better offer.

Crew good and efficient but not like the Cathay of a few years back. A330 Hong Kong to Seoul old. Seats in economy appalling. Can't recline but just sink into the floor. Had a terrible flight with the seat Sydney to Hong Kong. I would never choose Cathay in economy again on a long haul flight in their A330.

Ok these are just the bad reviews but there were not many good ones most were like these.

Why not put theses seats into flights under 4 hours and get something that reclines on long flights, would be awesome for that as it is annoying having a seat in your face when the flight is short and not worth sleeping on.

[HandyAndy]

Sloppy, I know the sites to which you refer and generally, pax post there after "perceived" bad experiences. They usually don't post when things go well.

As a consistent CX pax, I have posted on such sites when service has been great which is more often than the reverse.

The EY seats are OK and not having the seat back in front reclining into ones space more than makes up for the hard cushion. I just stick an extra pillow under my bum and be done with it. I'm not there for any more than 12 hours or so.

Personally I like the existing J config as I generally fly alone but I suppose it could do with a revamp.

If it is any consolation I have just done 2 trips with BA LHR/MIA in PE (the J fares are crazy on this route - the PE fare is almost the same as J LHR/HKG with CX) and whilst the crew were fine and the seats OK, a small box with a roll/sandwich and a biscuit for the second meal service is completely unacceptable :(.

WW and CX MPC (to let them know how the competition are doing) have e-mails on their way.

[SloppyJoe]

Yeah I like J in CX. Totally agree BA food is utter c**p, fly with them quite a bit on 2 1/2 hour flights and 3 hour ones and you are right, a really bad sandwich is all you get. At least on CX going somewhere like BKK in economy you get sort of a meal. But having flown lots on long flights in the new ey seats they are horrible, once got a crew seat in the back but one pax did not show up so got their seat, after 3 hours wished I still had the crew seat as then at least you can put a pillow on the slide and rest your head on it rather than just reclining (what a joke) in those awful seats and your head ending up further forward than your body compared to before the recline button was pushed.

[BusyB]

AZTEC,
I'm 6'2' and they are awful on longhaul.:{

[geh065]

I've heard that it is all changing apart from first class. EY reviews are not good and hence the change.

[The Wraith]

The CX EY seats are simply dreadful. The idea is very good but the reality is far from it. They are hard as rock and after about an hour gets very painful. Also, when "reclined", ie slouched into a heap, a gap appears at the rear of the cushion and the base of your spine falls into it which is also very painful after a while.
I think it is disgraceful that this is the best an airline as successful as CX can come up with. I flew BA to London recently and even though their seats are older they were way softer and more comfortable.
Why can't CX just for once get someone WHO HAS A CLUE and doesn't sit in a dark cubicle eating noodles and playing computer solitaire to select and trial some quality seats and pay their worth before fitting them across the fleet? It would be cheaper in the long run because they would last 10 years instead of 24 months.
When you consider some of the clowns who pass for management and committees here it really does become evident that Cathay would make money in spite of itself.
:ugh:

[The Wraith]

The CX EY seats are simply dreadful. The idea is very good but the reality is far from it. They are hard as rock and after about an hour gets very painful. Also, when "reclined", ie slouched into a heap, a gap appears at the rear of the cushion and the base of your spine falls into it which is also very painful after a while.
I think it is disgraceful that this is the best an airline as successful as CX can come up with. I flew BA to London recently and even though their seats are older they were way softer and more comfortable.
Why can't CX just for once get someone WHO HAS A CLUE and doesn't sit in a dark cubicle eating noodles and playing computer solitaire to select and trial some quality seats and pay their worth before fitting them across the fleet? It would be cheaper in the long run because they would last 10 years instead of 24 months.
When you consider some of the clowns who pass for management and committees here it really does become evident that Cathay would make money in spite of itself.
:ugh:

[FR8R H8R]

I found them to be reasonably comfortable on a 6 hour sector. Anything is better than the worn out A330s. Not having the pax in front take away any of my precious space was priceless.

[VR-HFX]

I once agreed to DT back from LHR on one of those torture benches as a favour to the harrassed check-in staff...never again...my hemmers have never recovered:ok:

'Arrive in Better Shape' was dropped for obvious reasons.

[nitpicker330]

Even in the J class flat bed/seats you get a sore Bum/Hip after a couple of hours.

Please, oh please could we put some cheap Foam in the damn seat cushions!!

[spleener]

EY seats are MOSTLY dreadful. You get wot you pay for.
Try this instead!Italian firm unveils stand-up airline seat - Travolution.co.uk (http://www.travolution.co.uk/articles/2010/09/10/3925/italian-firm-unveils-stand-up-airline-seat.html)

[LGB_SLF]

I flew LAX - HKG (B744) a couple of years ago, and while I liked the idea that I didn't have someone reclined into my knees for 12+ hours, it got tough during the wee hours to find a comfortable sleeping position. I'm 6'0" and it got cramped after a while. BUT, the pax in the row in front of me wasn't reclined into my face.

To their credit, CX had very attentive Cabin Crew on that leg and on the return leg to LAX, and the IFE helped a lot. Meal service was stellar in comparison to US domestic fare.

I give CX credit for thinking outside the box, and it was a vacation trip, so my mindset throughout was to stay mellow and enjoy the whole thing.

:bored:

[onealpha]

Definately a bad design! The worse is the fixed part that is supposedly there to support your lower back. It's ok for an hour or so but not on a 10 hr + flight! Your basically forced to stay in one position!!! :mad:

[Dan Winterland]

If you're over 6' tall, they're murder!

[bubble.head]

I found this accidentally while browsing the net..

http://4.bp.********.com/_PpiuL1xREts/TKBu2sBjmDI/AAAAAAAAFuY/gC-BY6HNRXQ/s1600/best-of-chive-331.jpg

Guess it wasn't tailored for the larger population of the world.:}

[Saturn]

I personally think we need an entire makeover. The Y class and J class seats are not keeping up with the rest of the industry ie; Air New Zeland and Emirates. We will have to compete on a grander scale in the very near future.
Our service while good, is getting behind as well. The ammenities kit is embarrsing, use to be good but now just really cheap. I think uniforms, paint job, interiors and service need a makover. We are one of Asias top airlines but it's getting tough out there. Our aircraft are old and we need more new ones. I say we take some of Japan airlines aircraft, not just freighters! We can hire some of there pilot's and use the aircraft as a stop gap until we get new ones. I think they are in better condition anyway. Our interiors are getting really ratty and our passengers are complaining a lot, you can see it and feel it. When I go to work I sort of cringe. The meals are crap too. Those beautiful Asian girls are what keeps the people coming back. Just my two cents.

[HKPAX]

Saturn, a very good thing about Caffy is that when you add up the total number of landings, and the total number of take-offs, the result is evenly divisible by two.

[routetuner]

saturn- that's about what your comments are a cheap 2 cents! Learn to spell too you dim wit!

[Night Watch]

routetuner

Learn how to use punctuation, you dimwit!

[Helol]

I was/am a fan of Cathay, having flown with them a few times but this was more than 10 yrs ago.

However, I'm due to fly again with them next month to LHR-HKG then onto BKI with DragonAir, having made a decision to fly specifically with them again due to being more than happy with them on previous flights.

A couple of niggling concerns though:

Are these new fandangled shell seats still in situ on the LHR-HKG flight 254? As I'm only 5 ft and a bit, I'm hoping they will have little impact on my comfort, so perhaps on this occasion it's an advantage to be a shortarse...? I'm flying cattle class.

As someone rightly says, reviews are quite often written by those with something negative to say, but it doesn't stop me from noticing all the negative comments and thinking that Cathy doesn't seem to be quite the marvellous airline I flew with years ago.

I'm afraid I'm looking forward to this flight with some trepidation - surely their service hasn't declined as much as some people claim?

I remember being impressed with Dragonair a few years ago too, hopefully they will be as good now as they were then.

[spannersatcx]

I was speaking to a Captain the other day from another airline that flys the flag! He's 6ft plus and he said he never had a problem with the seat, in fact he said is was quite comfortable, he also said he wished the service on his airline was as good as Cathy's (whoever she is?):rolleyes: He went to AKL via HKG from LHR.

[Sue Ridgepipe]

I reckon the seats are great. I don't find them any more uncomfortable than any other cattle class seats, and the best thing is you don't get your tv screen shoved in your face 2 seconds after takeoff.:ok:

[hongkongfooey]

Well, its academic what the posters here think, or what the CX spin doctors have put in the SCMP over the last couple of years, the passengers have spoken and the " back breaker " is on its way out, possibly to KA. I actually think they would be ok for regional flying.

[EXEZY]

I think it's about time the aircraft had a new paint scheme, the current one is looking really dated.

[onprofile]

That seat could be no more uncomfortable unless worn internally !

[hongkongfooey]

Those beautiful Asian girls are what keeps the people coming back. Just my two cents

Excuse me, when did your post shift to Air asia CC, coz you sure as HELL cannot be talking about CX :eek:

[HKPAX]

Me and Mrs choose BA cos of this

Keep the reclining seats: short haul, no reclining allowed. Long haul, reclining allowed after num nums. Problem fixed.

[boocs]

Cathay Pacific's old economy seats can't go soon enough | Plane Talking (http://blogs.crikey.com.au/planetalking/2012/02/14/murder-on-the-cathay-pacific-polar-express/)

b.

[boocs]

Flight test: Cathay Pacific economy class (http://www.theage.com.au/travel/flight-test-cathay-pacific-economy-class-20120216-1tazk.html)

b.

[broadband circuit]

I love the caption on the picture:

Cathay Pacific's A330 is not new but spotlessly clean.

Of course the interior is spotless, she flew from Japan where they are extremely diligent about the cabin preparation. Obviously she didn't get to see the outside - a very different story.

[Turbine Overheat]

It is a rather unfortunate surname for the reporter if she wished to be independent. One hopes that it is only a coincidence!