aerobod

They have less padding in the backrest, but a bit more contouring. The bases though have similar padding to the old seats, this is the key custom adjustment to make them comfortable enough for the longest flights. If you compare the standard BL3520 with the WestJet one, the base has much better padding for a small weight penalty.

aerobod

That is the distribution box for the USB and 110V power for the seat triplet. As the seat supports are a bit offset, the person in the middle seat has an even amount of foot space centred on the seat, it is much better than the old Live TV box that was on the other side of the centre seat foot space, so you always had to sit with your legs to one side. The centre seat has similar foot space to the window seat due to the fuselage curve intruding on one side and the seat support slightly on the other side.

CanuckFlyHigh

Cool stat. Always appreciate your insight on here.

Error 601

Four more seats...

Does that mean the amazing 12F is going away or a 24F is being created?

aerobod

Row 11 A-F now have the 6 emergency row seats, no seats in row 12 are in the emergency exit row anymore. All seats from row 11 to 23 are now aligned on each side of the aircraft as is the row numbering. Seats in rows 1 to 10 are still slightly offset between left and right of the aisle due to the front bulkheads being offset by 8" or so, but row 1 is now a full row, making the seat numbering less confusing from the left side to the right side.

FlyerJ

Thanks Aerobod! Super informative.

A couple of questions:

• So, if I'm reading this correctly, the best legroom in non-exit / non-Plus seats on the 700 will now be starboard, rows 4 through 10?
• When will this be completed? (I have a long haul LIR-YYC on a 700 next winter. Plus and exit rows were all taken.)

I'm a 6'4" guy, so - to be frank - this thread really alarmed me. As a once long-term frequent flier with AC, their decisions re Rouge seat pitch essentially caused them to fire me as a customer. And what concerns me is that the Rouge seating story was told in an almost identical way to what WS seems to be saying now. Air Canada's claim about Rouge seating was - and still is - that "Our modern cabin interiors have low profile, slimline seats that give you more comfort and space". Which turned out to be a total, 100%, big, fat, pants-on-fire, absolute lie. My knees, femur, and back can attest to it. (After being Rouged, and after being told bluntly by an AC staffer that tall people had to pay extra for premium seating or J class if they didn't want to experience physical pain, I gave up my once-resolute loyalty to AC. Angrily.)

I'm somewhat scared, because that all sounds somewhat similar to the justification here, albeit with a slightly less awful seat pitch than Rouge. But Aerobod's great comments here do give me some hope, and I'm sure are much more truthful and genuine than Rouge's PR machine.

aerobod

Hi FlyerJ, yes your best bet non-plus non-emergency row seats are 4-10 DEF followed by 4-6 ABC. At least 32" pitch in all of those seats, possibly 33 or 34 (unfortunately I didn't have a tape measure with me, but the floor rails have 1" increments for lock down). The plan is to have all -700s that will be converted done before the summer, but there are a few lease return aircraft that will retain the old non-slimline seats and will still have 130 seats instead of 134, these aircraft will not have WestJet Connect, but will be indicated as having Live TV for IFEC.

dodgy

I'm very glad to hear the rows will be much closer in alignment. Right now they are almost a full row apart 10C beside 9D (never made any sense)

Symmetre

They're a lot more comfortable than they appear. My first experience with them was on an AA 319, and to be honest I wasn't too happy. Thankfully the seats that WS went with have much more padding in the seat. I'd say they're on par with the old seats in terms of overall comfort. I wouldn't want to fly to Japan in one, but YYZ-YVR is no problem at all.

Error 601

Is it reasonable to assume that these will all be "preferred seats" for which there is a premium at seat selection or check-in?

aerobod

We don't typically classify seats as "preferred" other than the emergency exit rows in the non-Plus seats. It makes things a lot more complicated operationally when equipment changes happen or we try to seat families together, for what would be a marginal amount of revenue.

Frequentlander

That had me nodding in agreement.

Altaflyer

We have long flights in this country....I wish the cramming of people into aircraft would stop. The Plus product is not something I will pay for due to the seat that is offered. They should consider how much dead real estate they are flying each day in their calculations. I'll pass judgement as I try the product. Will never even try Rouge!

Oh, and how about a total revamp of the food/beverage? Not much has changed since the beginning. We are paying so how about offering real wine and decent beer? (Oh yeah, I guess when they got rid of Big Rock beer Was a change)

CanuckFlyHigh

Aerobod, thanks so much for your tips on here. Looks like it will now be well worth it to pre-pay for row's 4-6, or 6-10 DEF, on long haul flights. Finally the 10000 seat selection certificates I have in my account will come in use.

Symmetre

+1