Originally Posted by
RALcobet
From my take, it was quite clear that the purpose of these new "Aria Studios" were to resolve a complain regarding the current non-flat regional "Fake-J", so we can expect almost all the A333s will be refitted.
But customers don't care if the plane is an A330, A321, B773, etc. - we care about whether or not we get regional J ("fake" J, as you call it, a term I mostly agree with as I despise the product). If CX is still flying around 773s, A321s and
some A333s with regional J, then there isn't really much resolution to the actual problem! Which are plane swaps and regional routes constantly switching which product you get.
When we stick numbers around it, I think this is really fluffy marketing and a bad showing by the One Mile guy, who's giving a v misleading impression.
CX presently has 76 planes of the types we're discussing (A333s, B773s, A321s):
-> 23x A333s in the fleet
with all flat J
-> 16x A333s in the fleet with
all regional J**
-> 4x A333s in the fleet with
some flat J / some regional J (the 33A config)
-> 16x A321s in the fleet with
all regional J (just better tech, but comfort wise I find it to be the
least comfort of all J configs fleetwide)
-> 17x B773s in the fleet with
all regional J
For me as a DM, we can say 27/76 of these plane types have a flat J config (it assumes I'll get the lie-flat section of 33A).
All that's happening here with this update from the perspective of "lie flat vs. regional", is just that 16 more (the ** above) are becoming lie flat configged. So instead of 27/76 (36% of relevant fleet), I'll have 43/76 of the above plane types (57% of the relevant fleet) with a flat J config.
It's hardly as exciting as the headlines seem with the numbers. For a non-DM (who can't guarantee themselves the lie-flat section of 33A), the numbers are 23/76 (30%) and 39/76 (51%), respectively. It's not really inspiring. If these assumptions are right (no A321, B773 conversions, and some A333s still with regional J), this problem isn't resolved at all.
Yes, it's true that the Aria Studio will be newer and swankier than lie-flat J. But that's not really what we're discussing here. I don't think I'm going out on a limb for those of CX regulars that we'd far prefer all lie-flat regionally than some of the birds having fancier in-seat tech, while half the regional fleet still has these uncomfortable "slider" things known as CX's subpar regional J.
Originally Posted by
RALcobet
There are a few very old A333s (like those 33A from KA) that simply won't be in the fleet for so long, so these will not be refitted as it doesn't make sense.
I think it's wishful thinking to hope CX dumps these planes before the A339s arrive - where would the capacity go?
They just brought them back online! While I do hope you're right, I'm not getting my hopes up that they'd be spending money for a 1-2 year lifespan. I'd think 2029 minimum.
Originally Posted by
RALcobet
My gut feeling is that for the same reason, the classic 773 will also not be refitted as these shouldn't be in the fleet for THAT long.
I believe this is mistaken, although I'd also like to agree with you. Both in-line with the A339 logic above, but worse: I've heard CX talk about these planes flying into 2029
and beyond. They're very profitable birds. There's nothing like them fleet wide (in part because of how darn dense they are).
Now, one point which is worth saying, that the A339 deliveries are all coming with the Aria Studio thing, so at least the ratios I post above will go up as those planes are delivered in the back half of this decade. But that's still waiting 2.5+ years.
->Anyway, all this whinging aside I've made my bed (what a pun) and don't expect a lie flat bed regionally on CX any time soon to be guaranteed. But I do think this marketing of theirs / One Mile guy is deceptive. From the way I see it, we'll still have a very large regional sub fleet with crappy J despite the introduction of Aria Studio.
I hope this all makes sense!