B773 fleet still not entirely retrofitted? No WiFi on LHR-HKG
 

I’m rather disappointed to learn having just boarded CX238 LHR-HKG that today’s B773 does not have WiFi. With all the aircraft sitting in HK, they decided to send this one to HKG? I can’t remember the last time I was on a long haul flight without WiFi.... it’s been so long I don’t even bother to check anymore.

So much for being productive...

Recently had an older B773 for CX888 HKG-YVR-JFK. At the gate I noticed it had the old livery so then I looked for the "hump" on the top that houses the external wifi equipment and realized there was none! So at least I had a little warning while still at the gate about the lack of wifi.

To be clear you are pertaining to the Boeing 777-300ER or B77W (ICAO) / 77W(IATA). B773 is actually the Boeing 777-300 which a regional aircraft for CX. :)

Yes it sucks, Last 2019 of the 6 long haul flights I took, only 2 had WiFi on board.

good catch, thanks for pointing out.

I would be remiss at this point not to comment that upon landing in Hong Kong just now, 11 hours after departing from London, the world has in fact not ended.

This is of course in direct contradiction to my prediction of its imminent demise when I made the original post.

And thus, in lieu of drowning in emails for the majority of the flight, I instead slept, ate, and caught up on some reading, and have now arrived refreshed and collected.

My worldview has been changed by this experience. I’m talking paradigm shift. Maybe I’ll leave this “airplane mode” thing on a little longer...

At CX's own departure boards there is a wifi logo beside the flight number if the equipment is so equipped.
I have only connected three times, twice to check wifi working to report to the FT thread and the third time to coordinate major weather travel disruptions for extended family to HK over 6 different airlines and 4 originating airports.

Are you feeling better already?

Good to know! Thanks for the info!

You can find out if your flight has wifi by going to Flight Status on the website and type in your flight number (T-3 days prior to departure). If there is the wifi sign next to the aircraft type of your flight info then it means your plane will have wifi. Of course this is subject to last minute equipment swap but one can always check after your inbound flight has departed. For eg. if you're flying on CX252 from LHR to HKG then you just need to check after CX251 has departed the night before.

FYR I also just flew back from LHR on a 77H plane without wifi today and had the exact same question as OP. Why would they send an old plane without wifi and also has the old entertainment system (which has far less IFE choices than the new one) is beyond me considering there are so many spare frames now parking at HKIA! It was quite a scene as the plane landed at HKG and I saw all the planes on the ground!

Maybe using older planes first as they will be retired sooner?
Saving up the newer planes for normal operation once regular passenger numbers return.

Is J product significantly better on the retrofitted 77W? Can't recall if the screen is larger.

I believe I may know the reason for the problem. But I could be incorrect.

CX does not do its own upgrade or maintenance. Instead, it outsources to HAECO, which both CX and HAECO are Swire's subsidiaries. Because of this relationship, CX is not exactly a paying customer. On the other hand, HAECO does have some real paying customers. On that basis, HAECO may place a priority on those customers instead of CX.

Also - Wifi does not yield a large amount of profits. So it does not make sense for CX economically to ground a plane just for the WiFi upgrade.

Sure they are, they just pay the "friends and family" rate. Lol

It's not entirely about profit, it's about competitive advantage... I'm 100% sure people would fly another airline even if the cost were slightly higher just to get wifi. I'm one of those, in fact... although I'd still fly CX in this case b/c for some reason my blood runs Bangladesh Green #fanboy

The real question remains unchanged - is the upgrade justified for the grounding?

Then they really should be deploying aircrafts which have been upgraded with wifi + new IFE than flying the older frames. They have far more spare upgraded frames now so they have no excuses for not offering a consistent inflight/flying experience IMHO.