QRC3288

Obviously a lot goes into aircraft interior design. It is very closely managed by the carrier taking delivery (CX, in this case). As you will see, you can't just NOT have the seats in the layout CX has, or at least if they did it would be quite inefficient. So this speaks to a bigger point: CX definitely miffed up the design itself, and then didn't want to / see the need to change despite the A359 having these two seats. My guess is a drastic change would've been required.

Take Qatar, for example, the other carrier whose A350 I've flown. Completely different interior despite also having a reverse herringbone deaign. Differences vs CX include no door 2 galley, bathrooms near the door 2 position not door 1, etc. It is definitely better designed.

CX deserves some serious criticism here. It seems like a small point but it is either ignorance or arrogance that led them to make the same mistake twice.

You can kinda see what they're doing...they've got a somewhat standardized layout across 77G, 33K, 33E, 35G and now 35J. These are all their longhaul configs which don't have F. It goes forward galley has two lavs, forward J section, then rear galley between J cabins, one bathroom near rear galley area, followed by J minicabin.

There are two key differences for the 77G, and A350, both which lead to seat problems. In 77G, that awful seat is 20G. That's because, like the A350, the lavatory isn't actually situated in the galley but rather it opens to the aisle. 20G is a do not sit seat (and is usually held for ID pax on the 77G as well), because of the lav traffic, and the lav is still situated in FRONT of the seat slightly. The biggest issue here is the lav has an outward swinging door which comes awfully close (but doesn't actually impede) the 20G seat area.

But the A350 "upps" this game. That's because not only is one lav in the cabin and opens to the aisle like 77G, but BOTH forward lavs are. And the A350 aircraft body is narower. AND....the dumb part....the forward lavs are situated nearly flush with the seats 11D and G. No offset like 77G. CX "rectified" this with the curtain. I guess this helps a little, but it's bad. Without extreme care from the lav pax, passengers in 11D/G will have their space intruded upon by folks entering/exiting the lav over and over. Or they'll have the curtain pushed into their seat. Not to mention, upon exiting the lav you are starting right at that passenger. It's weird.

I hope this helps explain. It's really a terrible design. Might seem like a small thing but it's quite a disgrace for an airline that considers itself a world leader.

There was also a rumor outstanding....I heard it both from the airframer and a few pilots....that CX insisted on quite a customized and expensive interior design for J, which is the design we have today. I don't know this to be fact. But it would sure be ironic if CX's inferior J design is indeed a more customized / expensive version than just choosing a more off the shelf layout.

IlI' also add crews seem to have extreme animosity for the CX A350 galley, although I don't understand their argument fully. Worth looking into. Crew proactively have told me on board, on numerous occasions, how the plane is the least desirable for them to fly. CX management might take the view "what the hell are crew doing saying this to passengers". But I run a business too. It's worth investigating the source of the problem instead of just blaming the front lines. All together, it seems to me CX really didn't do a great job designing this one. And then doubled down with A351.