delete

FIN 853 seat 1D deflated half way through YYZ-SFO, walking up the UA GS occupant.

SD tried to say AC was still the best, in THIS context :rolleyes:

They were out of the real compensation forms, but it was definitely logged.

I've experienced seat deflations on 2 of the last 4 flights over the pacific since February. Not sure about other passengers on the same flight - I question how many of them aren't even aware their seats had deflated. It is a serious problem and another unnecessary worry while flying !

delete

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.

a "fix" might seem to work for 10min, an hour, or a couple hours. but the pump shuts back off. I assume it shuts down because of an internal maximum duty cycle/protection circuit to prevent the motor from damage/overheating.

delete

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.

delete

Apologies if I missed this (I went back through your last few posts in this thread but didn't see anything), but there were no working lavatories on an 8 hour flight? How's that possible?

@marchelli
Respectfully, no.
Perhaps the comments should be included in this thread.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-...-board-35.html

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.

@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.

Despite the SD asking AC not to fly the plane, they did so with half the bathrooms in both J and Y inoperable. Due to the reduced functionality and turbulence that made it impossible to stand in line to wait for it to become available, I was never able to use it during the flight. Everyone in J was complaining and the SD had to personally apologize to everyone in J as we were waiting to deplane.

Well at least AC made it like an outdoor park setting...

park bench, check
random poop on the ground, check!