LucWise

Finally had an opportunity to fly on a Super 80 that has been reconfigured for Main Cabin Extra. A few notes...

- Row 7 no longer exists and the bulkhead is row 8. Based on my preferences, this would be the last row I would select in MCE because of the inability to stretch out legs.

- On my flight, MCE went from row 8 to row 15.

- My recent flights have had seat maps that start with row 8 and a few hours before departure the seat map inserted row 7. Today's flight did not do that so I moved my seat up with the gate agent.

- I found the extra legroom to be very nice and it seemed like the seats reclined further back as well, which was nice.

- Usually I take 20B as my preferred seat but from now I definitely would abandon that seat for a MCE seat closer to the front of the plane.

Here are some pics... I was seated in row 12.

brp

Thanks for the pics! The only concern I have about this is that it seems (according to information posted elsewhere), that some seatmaps starting at row 8 (in accordance with MCE changes) may not really be MCE as yet. So, it makes it hard to choose the MCE rows on those flights (as opposed to exit), just in case.

Cheers.

LucWise

Best bet in the short term is to do like I did today. Check the seat map while you are at the gate. If row 7 is still missing, I'd say there's a legit shot you've got an MCE aircraft. Another good reason to have ExpertFlyer

LucWise

Has anyone else experienced MCE on a Super 80? Seems to be pretty rare still in my experience.

Antarius

I did yesterday from DEN to DFW. Was in seat 9A. The extra pitch was nice and the seats seem to recline more than usual.

^ in my book.

SFO777

Of more personal interest is that an EXP sat in Y on DEN-DFW??
I've found this to be an easy UG (in spite of xDEN catering ), and almost always see at least a couple of empty seats in F on my flights.

ssafro1

Been on a few Super 80s with MCE.. DFW-ORD; ORD-DFW route

mvoight

Stupid question, but is this really the first thread on MCE seating on the MD80?

Psyclone*Jack

Also, beware. I had 8B held for a recent DFW - ORD flight (seat map showed it as bulkhead indicating MCE). When I checked in online I was moved back to row 23 middle seat, presumably because this was not in fact an MCE flight.

Called EXP desk and they had no answer but could clearly see that I was moved, said they had witnessed a few of these recently.

Fortunately the gate agent at DFW moved me back closer to the front, but no one had a. Good answer as to why this happened.

So it seems that if the bulkhead "moves" any seats held up there could get bumped.

JMN57

I think yes as until recently it wasn't clear that AA was going to MCE the MD80 given their limited life horizon.

IMO, I think AA has been trying to acquire a lot of business flyers & has succeeded with status matches. The upshot is that there's no way that those elites are going to get upgraded all the time so MCE is needed to keep them from leaking away. Therefore, they are MCE'ing the MD's.

Personally, I had two flights last week and went 50% (ORD-LGA last night I was at the top of the upgrade list & had 21B on a Non-MCE MD80). Short flight, free drinks, a snack - not the end of the world. Next week I have 5 segments and the three that are upgradeable - I have two RJ segments - have already been upgraded. Realistically, as an EXP, our upgrade %s are going to dip given the OK increased # of elites so if a particular segment needs to be in F, one might need to pay for it to ensure it. Hopefully, that segment is one where they are offering a good F fare. With MCE, the fallback is tolerable.

rikramer

uggh, i have a bunch of flights booked in seat 8A or 8B in what is showing as bulkhead seats. I don't really understand why they would move me though. Even if the plane turns out not to be MCE, would 8A and 8B still not exist?

Antarius

Thursday evening (5:55) flight from DEN to DFW. Quite a few EXP's in the back. UG list was 25 people long and standby list was full as well. I was #4 on the UG list and 1,2 and 3 cleared. I booked it < 2 weeks in advance though.

The Monday morning DFW --> DEN flight has cleared at the 100 hour mark so far.

FWAAA

I disagree. From the press release of March 1, 2012:

http://hub.aa.com/en/nr/pressrelease...in-cabin-extra

Similar language appears on aa.com in the description of MCE. Given the use of the words "all of its existing aircraft," I don't think there was never any doubt that the MD-80s would be reconfigured.

So why begin the reconfiguration with the 757s and then 763s and make the MD-80s wait until the first quarter of 2013? Simple. When MRTC was undone, management attempted to placate passengers by adding back just one row (of the two rows removed) to the MD-80s and the 738s. Thus, the MD-80s have still enjoyed MRTC in the rows forward of the exit rows (7-19). The row that was added back was aft of the exit rows, which is why the seat pitch is so tight back there.

Similar story with the 772 mini-cabin, which has enjoyed slightly better legroom since MRTC was repealed. Perhaps that's why the 772s will be the last fleet to be reconfigured.

netsc

I had MCE on the S80 last week from TUL-DFW. 8A was my choice. I enjoyed the extra recline and leg room. Was in Y because I was flying on an award. Would be okay with coach for some flights if they have MCE. I applauded the agents for keeping MCE for elites and those that paid for it. MCE section (8-15) was 1/2 full and there were those with middle seats at the back of the plane, including employees flying non-rev.

swag

MCE last night SLC-DFW.

Afraid that it was a phantom MCE or that there's be an equipment change, I had 20B until day of departure. The flight was maybe 25% full, and MCE was wide open. When I asked at the ticket counter if they could switch me to 9D, the agent said I'd have to do that at the kiosk. The very friendly agents were unsure if I'd need to pay for it as a GLD, so I filled them in on the details (free for GLD in 2013); the agent walked over to the kiosk and did it for me there, she said she wanted to see herself, it was new to them.

My observation once on board was that MCE does have extra room, but it's still less than I'm used to in row 20. Row 8 was empty, though, so I moved up to 8D (the old 7D) when the door closed so I could really stretch out. So I didn't actually fly in the new MCE seat.

Do MCE seats really have extra recline? My main goal for MCE is to be able to use a full sized laptop. With the old configuration, that pretty much requires exit or bulkhead if I'm behind a recliner. The MCE pitch isn't that much extra, so I'd worry any extra recline could consume the needed laptop space...