mikeef

Nope, nobody switches because of bad IFE. Or because of bad food. Or an uncomfortable seat. But start combining these items, and all of a sudden your premium traffic will drop.

I've always been treated pretty well by AA, so I'm fine flying them and dealing with the "inconveniences," but if I had a choice of AA or CX, I know which one I'd prefer.

Mike

justforfun

Agreed. I love AA. I am a 100% leisure traveler, and as an EXP could not be happier. I fly them any chance I can, buying coach and then upgrading.

But now that the economy has tanked and paid business class prices have dropped to earthly levels that I can afford, I find myself not considering AA due to the inferior product. I do need the miles to requalify, but I just can't bring myself to paying a premium to fly AA in J when for the same money I could have a much better experience.

Now, don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed my AA flights in J and F. The FAs have been great. But when an AA enthusiast is looking at other airlines when spending real money on travel, then you know that AA has made some bad decisions.

CaribAA

Just finished a MR to LHR from MIA this weekend. I was op-upgraded on the MIA to LHR leg. I have never flow on the 777 in J only the 767. I noticed that the backrest and seat bottom had a huge gap when the seat was fully upright. It was not as bad when the seat was reclined, but on the 767 the seat is one continuous cushion. This seemed to be a better design and more comfortable.

skywalkerLAX

I cant remember exactly when I flew the NGBC the first time on AA. I think it was around christmas 2007 on DFW-FRA.

I liked it but was shocked at that time about the quality of the seat. Too much plastic parts moving around, the armrest had about 1cm on each side to move. It was only a matter of time until they started to fall apart. Excessive use of the seat functions through pax doesnt help either.

Even airlines with a very sturdy product like LH will tell you that they need constant makeovers and cosmetic repairs in the cabin. The difference is, where LH puts a new seat in, at AA the ductape rules

IIRC Lufthansa has Recaro seats as well, but every company can only supply a product/quality measured on the money it had from it's clients to work with. I cant imagine it was very much in AA's case.

Now, the NGBC on the 767 is a joke anyway. Just alone the AVOD units that are not installed but need to be distributed, collected, accounted by the FA's... whoever authorized such a measurement deserves to lose his job !

With the eVIP AA still provides excellent value, but considering someone is a paying customer... brrrr

SkedGuy

I agree with other posters who affirm that AA has been very good to them, yet when it comes to paying full fare premium prices, I also agree that AA wouldn't be my first choice.

The poor quality of the IFE screens on the 777s is disgraceful (both in J and F), and I find use of the J seats in particular on both the 777 and 763 to be an ordeal. In addition to all the other things mentioned here, what also bothers me about the 763 J-seats in particular is that there is no real place to put "stuff" in a seat pocket storage area. At least on the 777, the thin bar at the bottom of the tray storage area allows for some personal items to be stored, but nada on the 763.

Is anyone here from Inflight Products reading this thread? Are there plans to fix the IFE and general seat problems, or is AA contemplating another complete (and probably expensive) overall in the coming few years?

Cofyknsult

I solve the lack of space to store things on the 763 NGBC seat by hanging an empty "old" amenity kit to the coat hook and filling it with whatever I need to keep handy. In this respect, the new amenity kits are no good but I keep a stock of the old ones and always have an empty one at the bottom of my briefcase.

brp

Precisely! I carry one of the old,empty, "shoebags" around just for hanging on the hook to hold stuff. It would be nice if the seats were designed with space, but the resourceful can find ways around that one.

Cheers.

hillrider

Well, maybe not enough people do according to their number-crunchers: AA is taking delivery of $3bn worth of 737s, none of which have in-seat IFE. At the same time DL is retrofitting in-seat AVOD IFEs in a big chunk of its domestic fleet and all of it new 737s have it factory-installed, and, of course, B6 and VX get a tremendous brand recognition from having IFE / TV.

Gardyloo

I'm not sure if others have seen this, but last week on FRA-DFW (777) I was in J and the lady in a window seat near me had her IFE go tango during the safety briefing - diagonal lines on a gray screen.

Before the drink run after takeoff, the FAs fussed with it for a couple of minutes, then gave up and brought her a portable IFE unit similar to the ones used on 767 longhauls. Are these units now stocked on 777s, presumably because of the incidence of bad in-seat units?

billgrates3

Mrs.Grates3 had 11B onboard AA292 ORD-DEL on 5/28. The plastic lower part of the armrest was sheared off and very sharp. She was lucky not to cut herself as it stuck into the seat a bit. Every time she moved the seat, the break got worse... hopefully either AA maintenance will fix it (hah!) or it will break off completely so the future pax won't get cut when reaching for the stupid 777 IFE controller or the light switch.

dittymau

I have been given the same unit on two seperate flights due to inop IFE units. Surprisingly they had a better selection then the in seat units...

Cheers
Dittymau