Qantaslink 717 upgrade.

[Icarus2001]

QantasLink upgrade: Boeing 717s get new seats, but more of them - Flights | hotels | frequent flyer | business class - Australian Business Traveller (http://www.ausbt.com.au/qantaslink-upgrade-boeing-717s-get-new-seats-but-more-of-them)

717 refurb - goodbye to Row 1 being one of the best Y seats in QF (http://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/qantas-frequent-flyer-program/717-refurb-goodbye-row-1-a-42859.html)

QantasLink will upgrade and reconfigure the interiors of its B717 fleet and build additional capacity to provide an enhanced customer experience.


New ergonomically-designed seats will provide customers with increased levels of comfort featuring:

•A top-mounted magazine box to maximise legroom;
•An additional seat pocket ideal for the storage of personal electronic devices;
•An adjustable headrest; and
•A sliding tray table.

The installation of the new seats, combined with a reconfiguration of storage space, has enabled QantasLink to increase capacity on board the B717s and provide at the same time, an enhanced customer experience. The refresh will also see the cabin furnishings replaced with an interior colour scheme consistent with Qantas’ contemporary styling onboard Qantas mainline B738 aircraft.


The first refurbished B717 is expected to enter service in late November 2012.QantasLink looks forward to sharing further details on the route allocation of the B717 in the near future.


Does anyone here know what a misdirection is? It is what a magician uses to distract the viewer so that his "trick" is not visible. He or she draws your attention to their left hand so that you will not notice what their right hand is doing.

Qantaslink is spruiking the new more comfortable seats on the 717 to ENHANCE THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE. However they did not mention that they will shoehorn TEN more seats on the aircraft giving a total of 125 pax.

As an added ENHANCEMENT there will only be TWO toilets available.

The previous ENHANCEMENT was to drop cabin crew numbers from four down to three last year. This was to ENHANCE safety as well. Safety is first priority for them, second is obviously the customer experience.

To further ENHANCE the CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE they have decided not to distract the passengers with trivial things like IFE, audio or iPad or personal video players. Not to worry, with the line for the toilet you will not get any time to watch a movie anyway.

[F.Nose]

The rear trolly stowage lockers will be removed to and replaced with seats. The last row of passengers sitting against the toilet bulk head will certainly get an ENHANCED EXPERIENCE every time the toilet doors open. :uhoh:

[grrowler]

The rear trolly stowage lockers will be removed
Where will they stow the trolls?;)

[Denzeldude]

Maybe you should go to the toilet before you board.

People don't pay for cabin service or more toilets, they pay for cheap fares. That's the way of the beast these days.

However, 10 more seats and a reduction in leg room does seriously detract from passenger satisfaction and may be a consideration when they book their next flight, if they are the ones paying for it.

[Beg Tibs]

Goodnight 738 east coast services to Cairns !

[yowieII]

Wasn't that the original Jstar config? Jetlink....

[Capt Claret]

Cleaners have been saying for some months that the 717 is to replace the 738, on some services. However, their story had J class seating too. :sad:

[Angle of Attack]

Maybe it's in preparation to launch Jetstar Lite.

[Southern handler]

Experience Jstar's new seats (being my first J flight for a year or so so they may have been in there for a while) and they had the seat with a "top" pocket and made the seat a lot more comfortable with more leg room as a consequence, if these are the seats they are using it will be a very good move

[jetjive]

Talking about enhanced customer experience.. So the galleys will all be configured to the front of the aircraft so when all the frequent flyers get allocated the "premium seats" at row 1, they will have the aural pleasure of listening to galley fm the whole way not to mention the slamming of cupboards and trolleys...

[Barry Mundy]

5 more coming from Sth America ive been in informed in 2013 for more East Coast services.

[travelator]

I think that I would prefer galley FM over the aural and aromatic delights that the "premium" seats currently receive from the doomed toilet.

Icarus, what other QANASLink services have IFE?

[armchair quarterback]

doesnt matter what seats they are, 2 extra rows would make around a 26" pitch, that should impress the pilbara clientele. Poor flighties will cop the brunt of it as per usual

[ITCZ]

Whaddaya mean "no inflight entertainment" on QLink B717?

I find it hugely entertaining.

Its a DC-9-31 with bigger, newer engines and a pilot/automation/systems interface that leaves an A320 or B737 for dead.
Everything that old DC-9 pilots liked about that old bird were retained, and the things they didn't like are fixed.
Apart from two concessions to fly-by-wire (throttles and spoilers) there is a physical connection between the pilots hands and feet to every flying surface.
Rotate 20º nose up on takeoff and observe sustained rates of climb in the vicinity of 4000'/min.
The After Takeoff checklist is done above FL110 because there's no time to call it below A100.
Can maintain 320KIAS on profile at MLW in any tailwind to inside 20nm DTR then decelerate and meet any company stable approach criteria.
Tough as an old boot.
Easy to fly safely, difficult to fly well, but bloody rewarding when you do.

Those that complain about lack of IFE in a 717 are sitting in the wrong seats ;)

[Icarus2001]

Icarus, what other QANASLink services have IFE?

What other Qantaslink service uses a 125 seat jet and therefore has the capability to provide IFE?

[dizzylizzy]

Its used on relatively short sectors, if you're moaning for no IFE then I doubt you've been to Perth down the back on a 767. The routes its used on are where there is low or no comparable competition. #yawn.

[ditzyboy]

doesnt matter what seats they are, 2 extra rows would make around a 26" pitch,

Rubbish. Pitch is currently 32" forward of the overwing exits and 31" aft of the overwing exits. With an extra row forward and aft of the overwing exits and removal of the rear cart stowages pitch will be 30" - the same as the 73H fleet. The Boeing LOPA diagrams confirm this.

Many of the Impulse/QantasLink 717s were changed to the 125Y config in the month prior to the start of Jetstar. Honestly, in my experience not a single customer noticed or commented on the reduced pitch on the aircraft with slimline seats.

As an added ENHANCEMENT there will only be TWO toilets available.

While less toilets is never a fantastic move, the 717s will still have a higher toilet to customer ratio than the 737 fleet which operate on much longer sectors. Many of the 717s (5?) already have only two toilets.

[Icarus2001]

Its used on relatively short sectors,

Well Cairns - Darwin is around 2:35. Alice - Darwin is about 2:00. Alice - Perth is about 3:10. Perth - Broome is about 2:30.

the 717s will still have a higher toilet to customer ratio than the 737 fleet which operate on much longer sectors I guess you mean lower ratio? For example 1:3 is a lower ratio than 1:5.

738 with 180 pax has three toilets so a ratio of 1:60. 717 will be 1:62

Either way I think you have missed the original point. This increase in pax numbers with the consequential reduced seat pitch and less cabin crew and toilet is being sold as an ENHANCEMENT to the customer service experience. This is indefensible as a piece of logic. You are comparing absolute levels between fleets.

[1A_Please]

Either way I think you have missed the original point. This increase in pax numbers with the consequential reduced seat pitch and less cabin crew and toilet is being sold as an ENHANCEMENT to the customer service experience.

I think you may be right. Corporate spin has sold this as an enhancement when it is really a reconfiguration. QF is perfectly entitled to reconfigure their aircraft so they maximise profit and utility. It's unfortunate that marketing types have to sell these as enhancements to customer service when that was never really the consideration when these decisions were taken.

[man on the ground]

738 with 180 pax has three toilets so a ratio of 1:60. 717 will be 1:62

and isn't one of them for the 12 business seats?

so for cattle class, its 1 to 84

[HF3000]

Mainline B738 carries 156Y... 1:78

[RENURPP]

FFS get over the dunny issue. If you want less ppl /dunny you should travel first class on a Brasilia! They have 1/32 ppl!
You guys seem to forget the crew are human and produce waste as well, some more than others.:eek:

[topdrop]

1:3 is a lower ratio than 1:5
1:3 is 33.33%; 1:5 is 20%, thus 1:3 is a higher ratio.

[displaced gangster]

You guys seem to forget the crew are human and produce waist as well, some more than others.


I blame the high calorie food from the galley for the increase in my waist!

[mince]

Only on pprune can a discussion about a particular aeroplane's configuration deteriorate into a slanging match about ratios and queing for the dunny.

This is why I can't stand pilots....