Originally Posted by
thomwithanh
I appologize if this seems trivial, but I haven't been able to find an answer to this anywhere.
The 744 fleet is currently configured with a smallish J cabin, economy "Seat Plus" on the upper deck, and regular economy in the rest of the plane. Was there ever a time when the 744 had a full 3 class configuration (F in the nose, J right behind it and upstairs and standard economy?)
Yes, you are correct : a refurbishment of the B744 AF fleet has started. Originally these planes were supposed to leave the fleet (and some are already gone), but 7 will stay longer in the fleet, justifying their refurbishment. It was clearly needed as the interior was showing its age, with J seats still being in NEV1 or 2 version, outdated IFE and no PTV in lower deck Y (except the last 3 frames received by AF).
For J seats, I believe it will be the NEV4 version to be installed. So this is still behind some competitors but will be a great improvement compared to the current situation. The difference in seats for J class will be minimal as they only loose 4 seats (from 40 to 36) and interestingly go to a 2-2-2 config for the rear J cabin (there was a recent thread on FT about this).
The former configuration you mentioned (F in the nose, J right behind it and upstairs and standard Y) did exist but was replaced by the current one (J in the nose and just behind, Y everywhere else, including UD but the latter being a kind of Y+) when NEV J seats were introduced, so about 10 years ago.