FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Deflategate; new executive pods deflating in-flight
Old Mar 27, 2019, 1:23 pm
  #1513  
24left
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Originally Posted by marchelli
Spoke with an SD friend of mine today who said that she is always able to fix the seat by using the under seat toggle switch to turn the seat off. Specifically she said, “you need to leave it off for a minimum of 10 minutes to allow it to reset fully”. Haven’t tried this yet, but she said it works every time for her. Perhaps someone who files wide body J more than I do could give this a shot.
@marchelli
Respectfully, no.
Perhaps the comments should be included in this thread.

Weird or just plain incorrect things FAs/SDs have said while on board

Originally Posted by expert7700
neither the power reset nor the rondelle reset are capable of repairing a physical puncture in the air mattress.

punctures/defects in the seams are the ONLY reason these seats are deflating. they do not deflate on their own, nor is there a "rock hard bench" setting 50 levels below the minimum setting on the 'softer, firmer' scale.

.........
And when explaining the puncture in the bladder to SDs and FAs on many recent flights, it seems cabin crew have received different information as to the issue with the seats. What seems to be evident is that many have no idea what the cause of the deflating is, so I make sure to educate them.

On those occasions where a SD has spoken with the maintenance guys, they may be told the technical details. Otherwise, to many, it's just a deflated balloon. All that matters to them at that point is does the J pax need to be moved to another seat and is another seat available.

@expert7700 I have saved a copy of your post and the next time a SD says "I was not aware", I will encourage them to become aware.

Originally Posted by jmottle
Another update on my end. Went into the Concierge office on my last trip and explained the issue. They did not seem too impressed how the overall situation was being handled. They were unaware of the seat issues as well. I also replied back to the standard $500 voucher email indicating I was not happy and asked for a call back and at least an acknowledgement of what I sent them and not the same BS boilerplate. These two actions netted two things. From the concierge complaint side I got a voicemail from a VIP/Global Concierge rep to discuss. I have yet however to speak with him live. I also got a reply back from the Customer Relations Executive Center with an increase to the compensation $XXXX, but I still feel it's borderline a slap in the face given the situation, the fact I had no lavatory for 8 hours and how much I paid for that J ticket. Regardless here is the letter I received:

Thank you for your email, which was passed along to us in Customer Relations. I am very sorry you have experienced multiple broken seats and washrooms while traveling in the business class cabin, the latest being on our flight from XXXX

Unfortunately, this has been a recurring issue from the manufacture, even when new seats are installed. The cushions leaking on the Super Diamond seats is happening on the B787 and B777 aircraft. A solution for this issue was expected from the cushion manufacturer in December 2018, but due to some certification issues (Boeing and Government), the availability of the solution has been delayed to April 2019.

The available options we have right now are to replace seats, which we do at every opportunity and to have the cabin crew reset the seat. We know a comfortable seat makes a journey more pleasant, and I regret we continue to disappoint on this matter.

As a gesture of goodwill, I have provided an eCoupon below, which I hope is helpful on a future flight.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you for your loyalty to Air Canada, as your business has been very important to us
.
@jmottle
I am glad to hear that the hassle of chasing after management and the people at the Exec Centre worked out for you this time. Perhaps my advice was helpful.

And along with my own email (as posted upthread) and yours, I will also use them as references - not just for future stay-flats but for educating cabin crew.

*****

We all know airlines need to differentiate their premium cabins and some airlines do it with better or different offerings for meal service and amenities, and unique custom-designed seats (e.g. SQ, QR, UA and possibly AC).

I and others have posted about the seats we've flown on other airlines, with actual lie flats, and bonus - they do not deflate........because they do not inflate.

I have no idea who at AC and Boeing thought inflating mechanism in an aircraft seat was a good idea, nor do I know how it was tested. (although some time in the past 2 years, I posted upthread the video of the engineer discussing the seats).

What we here all know is the seat is flawed and it fails to perform as promised.

And indeed @skybluesea reminded us in his post upthread, AC does charge a premium of $300+ for these seats on transcon wide body flights. Perhaps that is how the $300 "compensation" for transcon stay-flat was determined.

That math does not work when you're in pancake-mode for 15 hours to HKG.


In the end, I wonder if AC has learned anything from this issue as it relates to dealing with the poor customer experience as well as training their crews accurately on this issue. It would all make an interesting business school case study.

AC is lucky that only a small percent of its J pax are aware of the problem, and more so all those who have flown across the Pacific in a stay-flat but didn't know the seats are not supposed to be like that. What AC may not yet know is whether any of those who have cut-back their AC J 787/777 flying, or who fly other airlines instead or more often on the longer routes, is having any effect on revenue.

Now that AC is buried under the mess that is Boeing's MAX aircraft, the deflated seats just aren't that important now.

Last edited by 24left; Mar 27, 2019 at 2:08 pm
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