birder

Yes - after they've flown it once. Most people won't know that their space is dramatically reduced until they take one flight on it. So on that first flight, I think they have a right to be angry. Of course, I do agree that taking it out on flight attendants is a poor choice - it's certainly not their fault!

serfty

Some observation about the AVOD:
I'll post more if I think of anything to add.

Kiwi Flyer

Some thoughts from the 77W open day (contrast with the launch).

serfty

I will note the "minor" enhancements to the Business product have turned it from a marginally average offering to a leader.

The Mattress is far softer (just about any thing would have been better), the 'doona' works really well.

All they need to do is to add PJ's.

(The amenity kit is ... meh ... )

Zaco

Hi serfty - absolutely agree. It looks like BP was actually the big winner out of all the changes. Fabulous product. BTW reading through this thread it appears we were on the same flight.

I'll reserve judgement on PE until I've flown it - I did try out the seats and they were comfortable, although I didn't spend much time in them. For those worried about legroom I'd go for the first row - the middle pair especially have a lot of legroom - more than in BP.

Economy seemed fine - it looks more crowded as more of the floor area is taken up with seats rather than aisle, but the aisle is still fine (eg I could walk down it without touching the sides - I expected to walk sideways given the horror stories). All my personal travel is economy so expect to spend a fair amount of time here unless upgrades come through. Would be great to hear how the service flow is structured, although FT prob isn't the place to get the lowdown on Y.

One thing that did strike me in Economy was that the seats were much larger then they look on the photos. I think it's perspective as the PTVs are so big - i.e. they make the rest of the seat seem small until you see it live.

Great to see that the escape slides are built into the doors - the economy exit rows have no protruding door coverings, and all have great legroom.

There were dozens of small enhancements I noticed throughout the flight - don't want to spoil the surprises for those of you yet to travel, but there has definitely been a lot of thought put in to this cabin. The new service concept in BP is wonderful. Looking forward to many more flights on these planes.

Cheers, Zac

ajnz

I'd agree with this - I haven't sat in them, but I did have a look during deplaning and they did look much more spacious than the rest of the PE cabin.
180+ service flow changes!

kiwigirl2

After reading reviews of the new Business product, it seems to me, that AirNZ are on to a winner. Everyone seems completely thrilled with the changes in comfort.

One wonders if this will now have a flow on effect, and they will do something to improve the mattress and/or duvet on the 747 ?

I realise they are going to slowly phase this aircraft out..... but in the mean time???

Some of us have flights to Vancouver and are feeling jealous.

ajnz

Flew 772 Business on Monday and it had an additional much thicker mattress pad in it as well as the older one. I've not seen this before, although last 772 Business flight was in November.

Nothing else had changed that I noticed.

Zaco

That must be the new BP mattress - if so, great to hear it's being introduced into the regular BP as well ^

For those who haven't flown it, the new BP has a much thicker padding on the seatback, plus a seperate memory foam mattress stored behind the seat that you unroll ontop (I guessed it about 5cms thick, and is pre-fitted with the bedsheet). Ontop of that goes the blanket and 2 larger pillows.

The mattress is cut to fit the BP seat, but as the dimensions are the same there is no reason they can't offer this on the 747s/772s - hopefully this is the plan, as it's very good.

Zaco

I was sitting in 12K so had a good view of these before the curtains were closed - the bulkhead is curved in line with the back of the BP seats, and the PE seats curve away in the opposite direction, so you have a large area for your feet - enough to stretch them out fully I would say, even if you're tall.

Strangely, these seats were empty. As this is the bassinette position I expect they are blocked until 48 hours before departure - so if anyone is flying PE and worried about legroom I'd try to grab these at 48 hours out.

12A/K are great seats BTW, as the rear bulkhead curves around them, and the smaller BP cabin has a good feel to it. Only word of warning - it is very close to the middle PE bassinette, because of the way the bulkheads curve and the BP seats are staggered. I would check whether that bassinette is in use before selecting these seats (they are blocked until 48 hours anyway).

Amazing - no wonder the crew were carrying cheat-sheets. I noticed the service flow is now much more like a restaurant - i.e. crew take your order on an order pad, this is posted up in the galley while they prepare your food course by course.

I thought the food was excellent, and by the end I was absolutely stuffed. I wanted to try the pizza (I like the fact you can select your toppings from a list - and they've got a good range) but just couldn't manage.

Brilliant to hear it is possible to buy BP wines in Economy - that will make life much more bearable if upgrades don't come through!

nz_crew

As of Feb 13 several service changes went into effect, as a result of passenger feedback on the first couple of weeks of longhaul sectors. The feedback has been excellent about the food but the length of the service (especially in Y) has been commented on.

BP has very minor changes, mostly 'behind the scenes' stuff that is now preprepared to speed up the service. A couple of unpopular menu items were also replaced.

PE will move to a fullsize tray based service and pretakeoff drinks will be removed (and more pre-assembly behind the scenes).

Y has seen the most drastic changes - the premeal bar service with fresh snack (a fritatta) has been completely removed, and soup has been removed as a meal option. (And again many behind the scenes changes).

Zaco

Hi nz_crew, thanks for the heads up.

Amazing to hear that soup was on the menu in Economy - and that there was a pre-meal snack with the drinks. I didn't get to experience it but somehow miss it anyway - a real shame this didn't work out, that is excellent.

Re BP - do you happen to know what the less popular menu items were? There were a number of things I wanted to try on future flights but didn't have a chance to on the one I took (incl. pizza, chefs tasting menu, the other salad (not caesar), and some of the side dishes).

And on a more general note re the service changes, I'm glad AirNZ aimed high on this and then reduced where needed rather than never trying these things out at all.

nz_crew

Zaco,

Chef's Selection Plate is gone from AKLLAX and the Turkey Sandwich is gone from LAXAKL. A few other minor changes to the J menu such as main salads now being pre-prepared so not available as appetizers and kumara being deleted from the menu.

I agree that aiming as high as possible was good and I'm glad you enjoyed the food!!

serfty

it must be my fault; I did not have the chef's selection from AKL, preferring a more robust meal; but did have it out of LAX as a light meal was the order of the day. (I had travelled from Aruba in first/business class on three consecutive meal flights before arriving at LAX ).

Shame about the Salads, the ones I had as starters were good.

As for the removal of PE pre-flight drinks, that's real reduction in PE service I bet you it was the CC who wanted this, not the PAX.

teamspeedy

with the removal of the pre takeoff drinks, the full tray based service & the negative reviews of the new seat I'm thinking I would have been better off flying direct from syd-lax on qantas or v Australia in economy and save the money,as air new Zealand seem to be getting rid of the things you pay extra for in PE compared to Y