Originally Posted by
Adam Smith
Take a look at LH's 333s, for instance, since there's an easy direct comparison. They have 3 layouts - 8F 30J, 8F 42J, and 42J. On all of those aircraft, the J/F seating extends well past doors 2. AC has 32 J seats on the 333, all forward of doors 2.
LH is starting to be a bit of a mess in J. They are adding 787's with a different J seat and they just announced the purchase of former Philippine Airlines A350's with a 3rd J seat type. If the 777X ever come online, LH will have 4 different types of J seats in their fleet.
AC has a very competitive J class hard product. As others have pointed out, minus the door, the seat is essentially the same as BA's new J seat. BA has a long way to go to get these seats on all of their aircraft. It seems unlikely that the J cabins will be refurbished anytime soon, especially in light of the A330's just being refurbished (and a bunch still to go).
The Rouge A321 refurbishment is likely a clue as to how the mainline A321's will be addressed when time, fleet planning, and CapEx allows. They may be around a while before they are redone. What is more interesting is at what point does AC pull the trigger on an LR/XLR order and whether those aircraft are equipped with a proper J seat or not.