Originally Posted by
JustSomeGuy1978
The A350-1000 seats 350-410 pax (per Airbus) and a range of ~9000NM. The 777-8 is projected to have a seating capacity of 395 pax (again per Boeing) and a range of ~8745 NM. So seating wise the two aircraft are very similar, the 350 ekes out a few hundred more NM.
We're not talking about dozens of extra seats on the 777X compared to the 350 and remember the aircraft these would be replacing in the fleet are the 300-450 seat 777 aircraft. And the 787 fleet already has the 255-322 seats covered and can hit all but the airline's most distant destinations.
787-8:C20W21Y214
787-9: C30W21Y247
A330-300:C32W24Y241
777-200LR: C40W24Y236
787-10: C42W28Y262
777-300ER: C40W24Y336
777-300ER(HD): C28W24Y398
A350-1000: C42-46W24Y316 or C42-46W32Y298
Business class layout varies depending on Lav and galley config
It complement 787-10 well in terms of capacity + a longer range for different missions.
AC has expressed interest to expand premium cabin capacity (e.g. more preferred seats and PEY) The A350 cross section is more efficient for such config, they can both fit 1-2-1 and 2-4-2 in business class and PEY respectively, it's losing only 1 seat per row instead of 2 for PEY heavy config. Unless AC wants to be the industry leader to put a 3-3-3 PEY config on the 777, it's not gaining anything for that extra few inches over the A350 where 2-4-2 is generally accepted, albeit a very few airlines went to extra mile to a put 2-3-2 config on the A350.
They have also suggested the 450-seats 777 is difficult to fill year-round. It's great to have a sub-fleet of densely configured 77W for the summer TATL or winter Cancun flights, but outside of those peak seasonal windows, they are just flying with empty economy class seats (or sold by heavy discounted tickets) with few higher margin premium seats to offer.
If CASM is all airlines care about, they will all be operating 850 seats A380. CASM means nothing if you can't fill them.
Also, range means nothing if you can't profitably operate such a route. A345 and 77L can fly to Europe the wrong way around with ease, but I doubt people will pay for the scenic ride. (Although I probably would).
YYZ-SYD sounds good on paper but it cost significantly more to operate than YYZ-YVR-SYD, and I doubt many people are willing to pay a premium for a non-stop flight that also allow AC to maintain the same profit.
There are very few possible routes AC can fly that are beyond the range of A350-1000