Wooe

Ugh!

It seems almost contrarian to see that international J service on the YVR-HKG on AC seems to be eroding whilst a new player (Oasis) is starting up in this market. I cannot but bemoan the fact that:

1. The cabins are indeed wearing out (as many having pointed out). My flight on AC007 2 weeks ago was missing the armrest that covers the slot where the meal tray comes out.

2. What happened to the Hagen Daaz ice cream bars?!?!

3. On my flight from AC 008 today/yesterday, I couldn't find my blue amenity kit. Why? T'is because the amenities now seem to come in a drab, wal-mart looking white plastic envelope.

4. The food... ah the food.... hmm.... not very good going to HKG; better on the way back.

Oh AC! Will you or won't you improve, nay, preserve the J product and perhaps slot in 777 service soon to this route?

Wooe

djjaguar64

Why beat the monkey over and over again ? This has been discussed ad nauseam in many onther posts.

Braindrain

The food on return flights from Asian destinations is always better.

mudd_stuffin

Can anyone clarify this for me:

An FA once told me that, at the end of each flight, there is a log of all the problems encountered on a flight (from malfunctioning light bulbs to malfunctioning audio). I thought they would record a "broken armrest" as part of this log. Is such a log still maintained?

This A340 appears to stay overnight in HK. Is it really that difficult to contract with HAECO (or whatever it is called now) to get someone to install an armrest???

Wooe

Hi,

To the FA's credit, they did call one of the service people right away to fix it but were given a blunt "No". I hope it was fixed in HKG.

Wooe

P.S. Is the new white, slim envelope the new J amenity kit?

taupo

Yes. Unlike your car that can use a generic part from your local Lordco or Napa parts store, aircraft have to use very specific parts from an approved manufacturer, stored by an approved warehouse in a approved conditions, the part has to be installed by an approved person, an entry has to be made in the approved log book, you get my drift!

Common sense would say that no it should not be difficult, however when it comes to aircraft, it is important to pay at least quadruple what you would pay for the equivalent auto part. One would like to think that for a non mechanical (I am referring to parts that have nothing to do with the aircraft's ability to fly), generic of the shelf parts would do the trick.

Any decent Magyver type of mechanic/home handyman should be able to gerry rig an armrest to make it usuable until the aircraft finds it's way to the maintenance yard, however you could imagine the outcry from TC.

mudd_stuffin

I never said that this was a mickey-mouse process. What you missed is my mention of HAECO.

If you are unfamiliar with HAECO (which is one of the world's leading aircraft maintenance companies), you should look a http://www.haeco.com/air_main.html.

I am pretty sure that HAECO should 1) store and use "very specific parts from an approved manufacturer", 2) store in "an approved warehouse in a approved conditions", and 3) have "approved persons" to install an armrest! All that is missing is a log book entry.

In fact, there have been times when an extra flight has been added between YVR-HKG for the maintenance of the A340 in HKG. See http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...e+yvr+hkg+june.

Andrew Yiu

OP stated this is for AC007 YVR-HKG so I am not sure why you would assume it wasn't fixed for the return flight.

Andrew Yiu

Those extra flights are going to SIN.

mudd_stuffin

I have no backup information on whether it was or it was not fixed while the aircraft was overnight in HKG, and unless you have information to the contrary, I, too, can question how you can assume it was done in HKG.

However, I do have doubts as to how quickly this can be done as:

1) Based on your suggestion that it can be fixed for the return flight, the fact that AC 7 could have a broken armrest is because that the armrest was broken on inbound AC 8 immediately preceding the OP's AC 7. Now, I am not a flight planner but I suppose that the OP's particular AC 7 could be using the AC in inbound AC 4 aircraft.

2) I, too, recently have been on a broken armrest flight in Y. This appears to be all too common of an occurrence. One of your colleagues (an FA) actually said to me "is this not embarrassing"...?

Thanks for clarifying that "those flights" went on to SIN, though you never questioned the posters re AC 17 as one of them explicitly stated that there is an approved A340 maintenance facility in HKG.