Originally Posted by
bocastephen
NH will be using the 777 on this route until a 787 "becomes available" - translation, easily the rest of 2012 and maybe into 2013 before a 787 is on this route on a regular basis.
Having said that, I think most of us would jump at the chance to take a NH 777 with an available Premium Economy cabin over the old, ratty UA 777 that continues to fly this route.
I believe there have been reliable reports that the target date to change to 787 is October 31 or somewhere thereabouts. So not too far off, even with some allowance for slippage.
But here's the thing - isn't the 777 that NH has on this route a pretty crappy one anyway? No lie flat, basically their "Barcolounger" equivalent. So only real difference from UA is the service.
Any when they do switch to the 787, that means ANA is flying FEWER seats on that route than the 777 they have now. Let's not forget that the 787 is NOT an A380.
So it doesn't seem like an existential threat to UA's route here. Maybe if they added a 787 daily to their existing 777 that would have an impact.
Originally Posted by
convert
Has any flow on UA sea-nrt ever since Ana started flying? I am curious the load factors. Also now that Ichiro is gone, maybe they are all flying to New York
Not sure of the loads, but one thing is for sure - if you're looking for award seats SFO-NRT, you'll get LOADS of availability on SEA-NRT popping up. So that can't be a good sign. Personally I don't want to gamble on the 777s. If that route was all converted 777s it would be a great alternative to the hard-to-book SFO-NRT 747 flight.
But an ANA 787 routing via SEA would be better still!