EK F is still competitive to NZ J to Europe on many dates and certainly when relatively short notice! 😈

 

When I think about it, most of the innovation at NZ was during the Rob Fyfe era (safety videos, planning for the 2010 cabins with Skycouch etc)

With Christopher Luxton we got things like getting cheaper jams in BP �since customers don�t notice� (remember reading this in the Herald years ago) and a cheap refit of the 777s with identical, outdated seating and removal of the Spaceseat to densify the PE cabins.

And things feel like they keep going backwards with Greg Foran (new catering rollout, rip off fares)

 

Yup. EK F for $16-17K return. Also, BA F for around $15.5K return and CX J/F for around $15.2K return.

Been booking quite a lot of F for clients recently as pricing is very competitive.

 

Luxon would tell you Rob Fyfe had lost them quite a lot of money in the later stages of his tenure with some radical behaviour and ventures. Fyfe himself admitted that his value was more in marketing than numbers. The safety videos, SkyCouch, Grab a seat, VA investment, crisis management and so on were his brand. I still liked him as a CEO as his employee morale was high, their Business seats at the time were world leading and their customer service was second to none.

Luxon came in with a lot of decipline. He pulled loss making PEK, fought John Borghetti and dumped VA. I also liked him as he launched EZE and kicked start the cabin renewal programme. What came out of that was disappointing but I can't hold him for that. I met him in 2018 in the AKL lounge and had a chat about the Business products on other airlines. He was a big fan of those business seats with doors and "promised" that he would put doors on them "for me."

I agree with you 100%. I don't know one thing that Greg Foran has done that's exciting. Both former CEO's had their moments but were highly approachable and listened to customer feedback. The company was alway going in the right direction and full of energy.

 

Sounds like an Election promise.

 

Just got off NZ5 and my seat 7K was inoperable - was moved to 9A s a result

 

Greg Foran used to be the CEO of Wal-Mart. That's all I needed to know to expect things to head downhill rather than improve.

 

Not sure how ex-CEO of Walmart would be any worse than ex-CEO of Unilever.

Foran had been on record at the start for saying that other airlines do Business Class better than NZ. I was hopeful but nothing has improved. I'd say it has gotten worse.

https://www.insider.com/business-cla...t-worst-2023-9

* "Air New Zealand was the least impressive".
* "and its 777/787 business class definitely needs some work."
* "though the people across the aisle's feet did poke out"
* "abysmal storage, the new lounger with also address the awkward angled seat � which makes it hard for people to enjoy the views out the window"
* "lost points due to its extremely tiny TV � it was easily the smallest I've ever seen in business class."
* "When it comes to ANZ, however, business class is at the bottom of the totem pole."
* "ANZ's business class is scraping the bottom of the barrel compared to ANA"

About time NZ removed the word Premier in BP.

 

I do wonder what the thoughts are at AirNZ given the increasingly negative tone of reviews coming out (and that must be coming through in Net-Promoter-Scores in post-flight surveys) -- perhaps the strategy is now to move to being more of a lower cost leisure oriented carrier like Air Tahiti Nui?

I was looking at booking my flights home for Dec this afternoon, and was really getting annoyed at paying such a high premium for an inferior product (I could fly *FIRST CLASS* to London or Frankfurt from LAX for the same or cheaper -- it feels like such a rip off)

 

Business Derri�re?

 

Current sale fares to Europe over the next six months down to ~$9000 ish return. The same ones 3 months ago were selling for $14000-15000. Competition??
It's much more competitive. It feels closer to the reality of the experience - but limited availability and very poor connections at the times when I need to travel sadly.
But probably explains why my PE to J R class cleared instantly for December flights both ways.

 

Found this thread and read the linked reviews. Wow - a manually reclining 789-J seat into lie-flat! Any intermediate positions or just all or nothing? So, what happens after a few hours sleep you want to get the seat up again to read or watch TV or work on an iPad - call the FA over to move the seat again? Rinse and repeat?

The wife and I are planning a JFK-AKL-JFK trip in late Oct - Nov of this year so the overall reviews on this seat are - to say the least - concerning. However, one review mentions that 789 should be getting a change of seating about the time we intend to travel. Is that timing still on track? Any other suggestions/experiences for this route? Thank you!

 

The seat back can be motored back to maybe 25cm recline, which is ok for relaxed screen watching, but not enough for snoozing or those that prefer less than 100% lie-flat.

To make the bed you must exit the seat and stand facing it, and then motor the seat back forwards until it flips fully forward. A mattress topper is rolled out.

The reverse must be done to get back to the seat mode.. Cabin crew will assist pax, but those that know can do it pretty quickly. Not quite the drama it sounds, and the bed is very comfortable.

 

It is all motorised. I think there is a manual backup with a crank, but I have never seen that used. Guess the seat will just get marked as inop & not sold.

At the shareholders meeting they did indicate that the refresh is still on track even with the Boeing 787 delays. Though given not getting the new planes at the same time not sure if the sub fleet doing JFK will be getting the refresh first or not.

 

If you don't want to harvest ANZ status points you'd be mad to book on them. As discussed there is better product available at lower prices.