Originally Posted by ELY001

Josh,

As mentioned by me earlier, EL AL could easily fill an A380 on high density routes to JFK and EWR and even to BKK. The NY routes are EL AL's "bread and butter" routes and having the largest and most luxurious aircraft on that route would give EL AL the clear advantage from a passenger standpoint as well as an operational/economical standpoint since the A380 boast significantly lower seat/mile costs than the 744 and 748. I don't see how or why it would be "more difficult" going from an all Boeing fleet to one that is mixed. Once EL AL gets rid of the 744's they will have to introduce a new fleet type (assuming they don't make the 777's their exclusive long haul a/c) which requires crew and maintenance training regardless whether the plane is the 748 or A380. Many airlines, including Lufthansa which you mentioned, have both Boeing and Airbus models and operate them with relative ease.

As far as installing new "F" and "C" seats I agree. They really need to update their product. I personally think EL AL should dump "F" and opt for a "C" class along the lines of CO's BusinessFirst product. Given that a substantial portion of EL AL's "C" class pax get to sit in Business Class as a result of upgrading and bidding and the same situation persists in "F" class, all points of the fact that LY should focus on just 2 classes of service; C and Y, both of which should have upgraded seating and advanced IFE systems.