Apr 9, 2016, 5:10 pm
Last edit by: Prospero
Boeing 787-8 (788) Zodiac Concept D Business Suite Business Class Seats Selection Guide & Reviews
There were 20 787-8 Dreamliners at the end of 2018, now gradually expanding to 42 total 788s in the AA fleet.
This thread is dedicated to discussion of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with Zodiac Concept D Business Suite Business class seating and service
For the 787-9, see Boeing 787-9 / 789: Business (Rockwell Collins (née B/E) Super Diamond Seat, Service (master thd)
The 787-8 offers 20 modified Zodiac "Concept D" Business Suite all aisle access "podded" seats in 1-2-1 with back to back seating in the center pairs, and alternating front and rear facing window seats. They are said to be 21-26" wide, and have 60-61" pitch upright in pods with full aisle access and 77" in the horizontal "bed" position. True AVOD offering up to 250 movies, 160 TV shows, 13 radio channels, 375 albums and 20 games, is offered via cabled handset controllers to large flat touch screens. Power offered is 110 VAC via universal plugs and 5 VDC USB. Bose QuietComfort headsets with noise reduction are provided (picked up about one hour prior to arrival). Ku-Band satellite WiFi is offered for sale.
The Dreamliner "big sister" model (22 787-9, first in service September 2016, has Collins (née B/E Aerospace) Super Diamond Solo seats that largely avoid the Zodiac problems, is the "big sister"). The second batch of 787-8s (787T) differ from the first batch and are fitted with Collins Super Diamond seats.
Zodiac "Concept D Business Suite" seats connected "at the head" are affected by movement from the seat they are connected to, often referred to on FT as "motion over the ocean". The Business seats that are unconnected and stable in 787-8 J are 1D&H, 5A&L.
Due to the modifications AA required of Zodiac for these seats, there are some peculiarities reported:
Link to photos taken by SFO777 here, from his trip on AA2320 DFW-ORD 07:10 - 09:36 Inaugural flight, shared with 68 FlyerTalkers.
There were 20 787-8 Dreamliners at the end of 2018, now gradually expanding to 42 total 788s in the AA fleet.
This thread is dedicated to discussion of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with Zodiac Concept D Business Suite Business class seating and service
For the 787-9, see Boeing 787-9 / 789: Business (Rockwell Collins (née B/E) Super Diamond Seat, Service (master thd)
The 787-8 offers 20 modified Zodiac "Concept D" Business Suite all aisle access "podded" seats in 1-2-1 with back to back seating in the center pairs, and alternating front and rear facing window seats. They are said to be 21-26" wide, and have 60-61" pitch upright in pods with full aisle access and 77" in the horizontal "bed" position. True AVOD offering up to 250 movies, 160 TV shows, 13 radio channels, 375 albums and 20 games, is offered via cabled handset controllers to large flat touch screens. Power offered is 110 VAC via universal plugs and 5 VDC USB. Bose QuietComfort headsets with noise reduction are provided (picked up about one hour prior to arrival). Ku-Band satellite WiFi is offered for sale.
The Dreamliner "big sister" model (22 787-9, first in service September 2016, has Collins (née B/E Aerospace) Super Diamond Solo seats that largely avoid the Zodiac problems, is the "big sister"). The second batch of 787-8s (787T) differ from the first batch and are fitted with Collins Super Diamond seats.
Zodiac "Concept D Business Suite" seats connected "at the head" are affected by movement from the seat they are connected to, often referred to on FT as "motion over the ocean". The Business seats that are unconnected and stable in 787-8 J are 1D&H, 5A&L.
Remedial seat stability fix announced 9 Oct 2016 by John Walton, Runway Girl Network (link)
"Jay Mapston, American’s manager of onboard products, cabin design, spoke to Runway Girl Network with praiseworthy candor about the airline’s current situation and plans. To start, Mapston explains the 787-8 fleet’s (Zodiac) Concept D (Business Suite) will see remedial stability work to fix the much-discussed issue where the seats shake when an adjoining passenger moves."
As of July 2019, no such fix has been put in place. The seat modification has to be designed, submitted to the FAA for certification (STC) and approved, the parts manufactured and seats modified. Normally, the seat manufacturer would do this, but as AA terminated the Zodiac contract for failure to perform. It’s anyone’s guess when and if a fix is forthcoming.
AA canceled the contract with Zodiac for inability to comply with scheduled delivery times, causing seatless Dreamliners to sit out availability idled in the desert and causing considerable delay for the 777-200ER refurbishment. The seats were NOT used for the 787-9 nor more than half the 47 aircraft 772 fleet, and it is likely the newly ordered 788s will be equipped with Super Diamond Seats.
"Jay Mapston, American’s manager of onboard products, cabin design, spoke to Runway Girl Network with praiseworthy candor about the airline’s current situation and plans. To start, Mapston explains the 787-8 fleet’s (Zodiac) Concept D (Business Suite) will see remedial stability work to fix the much-discussed issue where the seats shake when an adjoining passenger moves."
As of July 2019, no such fix has been put in place. The seat modification has to be designed, submitted to the FAA for certification (STC) and approved, the parts manufactured and seats modified. Normally, the seat manufacturer would do this, but as AA terminated the Zodiac contract for failure to perform. It’s anyone’s guess when and if a fix is forthcoming.
AA canceled the contract with Zodiac for inability to comply with scheduled delivery times, causing seatless Dreamliners to sit out availability idled in the desert and causing considerable delay for the 777-200ER refurbishment. The seats were NOT used for the 787-9 nor more than half the 47 aircraft 772 fleet, and it is likely the newly ordered 788s will be equipped with Super Diamond Seats.
- Many seats are interlaced with others - passenger in one moves, the linked seat moves. "Motion over the ocean" is induced by the partner seat attached at the head,
- Forward facing seats may have more restricted shoulder room / width when flat than aft facing
- Middle seat privacy dividers were balky and continually slipped into the retracted position, so they were "fixed" in place so they are not passenger operable. Apparently crew fixes them in several configurations: all up, making them great for privacy but nearly impossible for couples wanting to share conversation; all down, making for lower privacy; facing forward up, facing aft down. Some aircraft have them repaired and passenger operable, some not.
- Rows 1 and 2 center seats have no overhead bins; they were displaced by the crew rest area in the fore fuselage crown.
- 1A and L are close to lav and galley.
- Many prefer seats 5A or L as they are unaffected by other seats / passenger movement in seats.
- 5A and 5L have one window, rather than two.
Link to photos taken by SFO777 here, from his trip on AA2320 DFW-ORD 07:10 - 09:36 Inaugural flight, shared with 68 FlyerTalkers.
Dreamliner 787-8 / 788 Zodiac Business Seats & Reviews (master thd)
Jan 23, 2019, 1:45 pm
#631
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$300 in downgrade compensation via a voucher for future AA travel has been my experience lately.
Jan 26, 2019, 11:17 am
#632
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I am flying LHR-ORD-LHR over Easter (Mid April 19) on flight that are listed as 788. I have Seat 1A booked on both as I personally like this seat. All my flying has been LHR-LAX-HNL over last 4 months so not up to date on 788 retrofit. 2 questions for the mavens out there. 1, will the seat stabilizers I have heard about all be fitted when the retrofit is done? I see PE equipped 788's with rows 6/7 business removed are flying from May 2. On busy flights, will AA swap 9's and 8's or just try to get pax to swap? Hoping as all 8 old, 8 new and 9 have seat 1A and I have status in Aadvantage, I should be OK but think I will keep checking weekly in case anything changes. Does anyone know what the actual dates for the 8 retrofit to be done are. Given it is just the mini cabin seats they are changing, I presume it is a qucikie, unless they are fixing the Business wobble at same time. Any news please ?
Jan 26, 2019, 2:04 pm
#633
Join Date: May 2011
Location: DFW
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I am flying LHR-ORD-LHR over Easter (Mid April 19) on flight that are listed as 788. I have Seat 1A booked on both as I personally like this seat. All my flying has been LHR-LAX-HNL over last 4 months so not up to date on 788 retrofit. 2 questions for the mavens out there. 1, will the seat stabilizers I have heard about all be fitted when the retrofit is done? I see PE equipped 788's with rows 6/7 business removed are flying from May 2. On busy flights, will AA swap 9's and 8's or just try to get pax to swap? Hoping as all 8 old, 8 new and 9 have seat 1A and I have status in Aadvantage, I should be OK but think I will keep checking weekly in case anything changes. Does anyone know what the actual dates for the 8 retrofit to be done are. Given it is just the mini cabin seats they are changing, I presume it is a qucikie, unless they are fixing the Business wobble at same time. Any news please ?
There's no report on if the motion issue on the 788 Zodiac seats has been fixed after the PE refit. AA said they were going to address this, but they seemed to have missed the opportunity with the Zodiac 772s that went in for the same refit last year. There are reports those seats are still prone to movement from the connected seat mate.
Jan 26, 2019, 3:41 pm
#634
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 1,044
The refits are taking about 2 weeks right now. 2 788s are done and flying with 20J and PE, and there are 3 being refit at PAE right now. One should leave any day. The refits should be complete by the end of April.
There's no report on if the motion issue on the 788 Zodiac seats has been fixed after the PE refit. AA said they were going to address this, but they seemed to have missed the opportunity with the Zodiac 772s that went in for the same refit last year. There are reports those seats are still prone to movement from the connected seat mate.
There's no report on if the motion issue on the 788 Zodiac seats has been fixed after the PE refit. AA said they were going to address this, but they seemed to have missed the opportunity with the Zodiac 772s that went in for the same refit last year. There are reports those seats are still prone to movement from the connected seat mate.
DFW-SCL-DFW 945/940 show new seat map for 788 from 2-May and old seat map before that. (Changes from current 789 to 788 sometime before then.)
I for one won’t be booking rows 6 or 7 again. Risk of a seat map change is too high! (And based on the above report, 788 conversion is done sooner than what the seat maps are showing. AND, they cannot magically convert the inbound 788 from an old configuration into the return 788 in new config in SCL in one day as claimed in the currently loaded schedule!)
Jan 26, 2019, 5:58 pm
#635
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PHX-ORD on Sunday 1/27 has just switched to a 20J FC cabin......should be fun to see how they process downgrades. I am paid FC but rater late in the game into the forward cabin.
Jan 26, 2019, 7:13 pm
#636
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DFW-FRA on Sunday 1/27 has also just switched to a 20J config. It was still showing the old config as of yesterday.
I was booked in MCE since no PE available in the original config and could not use/confirm SWU.
Glad I checked in close to the 23:30 mark and saw the change - grabbed a seat in new PE cabin (7J) as they're all showing as MCE on the seatmap for this flight.
I was booked in MCE since no PE available in the original config and could not use/confirm SWU.
Glad I checked in close to the 23:30 mark and saw the change - grabbed a seat in new PE cabin (7J) as they're all showing as MCE on the seatmap for this flight.
Jan 30, 2019, 10:14 am
#637
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AA has capped J seat sales on the 787-8 to 20 due to the retrofit of this aircraft to C20, W28, etc. See https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...ales-20-a.html.
If you have the 787-8 booked in rows 6 or 7, it might be a good idea to rebook yourself into rows 1-5 at this time to prevent seat loss. The number of C20, W28 788s will increase rapidly, given AA plans to complete this refit prior to summer 2019.
The new Business cabin will be the current rows 1-5, the only two motion free seats (until the “motion over the ocean” seat stability issue is remediated) will be 1D, 1H, 5A and 5L. (Information updated thanks to informed members sharing.)
If you have the 787-8 booked in rows 6 or 7, it might be a good idea to rebook yourself into rows 1-5 at this time to prevent seat loss. The number of C20, W28 788s will increase rapidly, given AA plans to complete this refit prior to summer 2019.
The new Business cabin will be the current rows 1-5, the only two motion free seats (until the “motion over the ocean” seat stability issue is remediated) will be 1D, 1H, 5A and 5L. (Information updated thanks to informed members sharing.)
Last edited by JDiver; Jan 30, 2019 at 11:07 am
Jan 30, 2019, 10:15 am
#638
Join Date: Nov 2018
Posts: 1,285
AA has capped J seat sales on the 787-8 to 20 due to the retrofit of this aircraft to C20, W28, etc. See https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...ales-20-a.html.
If you have the 787-8 booked in rows 6 or 7, it might be a good idea to rebook yourself into rows 1-5 at this time to prevent seat loss. The number of C20, W28 788s will increase rapidly, given AA plans to complete this refit prior to summer 2019.
The new Business cabin will be the current rows 1-5, the only two motion free seats (until the “motion over the ocean” seat stability issue is remediated) will be 5A and 5L.
If you have the 787-8 booked in rows 6 or 7, it might be a good idea to rebook yourself into rows 1-5 at this time to prevent seat loss. The number of C20, W28 788s will increase rapidly, given AA plans to complete this refit prior to summer 2019.
The new Business cabin will be the current rows 1-5, the only two motion free seats (until the “motion over the ocean” seat stability issue is remediated) will be 5A and 5L.
Jan 30, 2019, 10:25 am
#639
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Jan 30, 2019, 10:27 am
#640
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I just flew in 1D and didn’t feel motion but it was a relatively short flight from PHX-ORD (so less up and down movement, bathroom visits etc than on a long haul).
Jan 30, 2019, 10:36 am
#642
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I did flight in 2018 where the pax in 2A was up and down all the time. Judging by their behavior and the way they were attired, I suspect they were not attending to biological needs in the bathroom.....
Interestingly as I watch ORD-LHR route, most of the 788's seem to be being swapped out for 789's May/June. 20 seats is very low for that route, I suspect.
, and the definitive answers supplied rapidly. Thank you!
Jan 30, 2019, 11:33 am
#644
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Jan 30, 2019, 12:47 pm
#645
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