Run Out of Breakfast
#31
Ambassador, Hong Kong and Macau




Join Date: May 2009
Location: HKG
Programs: Non-top tier Asia Miles member
Posts: 22,142
Re: seating comparison, whilst post-Covid I've been doing DXB quite a bit, pre-Covid it had been quite a few years. But can compare to India pre-Covid (DEL, BOM and MAA), which varied a bit. I think the issue is that CX claim 18" rather than 17.5" seats, but the armrests are so narrow everyone's elbows inevitably encroach on everyone else's space.
Ignore each airline's creative measurement, or even your own experience
Empirically each plane type has the same cabin width between airlines.
There's not much airlines can do if they choose to fit in the normal number of seats into each row. Even if there are different width between armrests/different width of armrests, it all just means wider aisles/narrower aisles, which still ultimately comes back to passsenger comfort (how fast the service is and how many times FA knocks your arm)
You can swear one airline's A350 9-abreast seat is more comfortable than another but certainly it won't be borne out by the numbers.
CX considering [confirmed] having 10 seats per row?
I'm still getting a lot of differences between reported widths, so I'm going to work out seat width from cabin width directly.
Assumptions for all aircraft:
Aisles = 17in
Armrests = 1.7in and are counted even on the sides (e.g. aisles or window also count)
Distance between window seat and cabin side wall = 1.5in
So for 77W in 10-abreast, cabin width = 231in, take away two side walls, two aisles and 13 armrests = 170, divide by 10 to get 17.0in

Assumptions for all aircraft:
Aisles = 17in
Armrests = 1.7in and are counted even on the sides (e.g. aisles or window also count)
Distance between window seat and cabin side wall = 1.5in
So for 77W in 10-abreast, cabin width = 231in, take away two side walls, two aisles and 13 armrests = 170, divide by 10 to get 17.0in

Last edited by percysmith; Jan 9, 2024 at 11:31 pm
#32




Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Hong Kong
Programs: Cathay Lifetime Diamond
Posts: 790
I don't believe that confort equates wholly or directly to numbers.
What it does relate directly to is the seat construction and design,cabin temperature air quality and decoration, quality of the entertainment - size and and quality of the screen , crew attitudes, food and drink quality plus availability cleanliness of the bathrooms.
What it does relate directly to is the seat construction and design,cabin temperature air quality and decoration, quality of the entertainment - size and and quality of the screen , crew attitudes, food and drink quality plus availability cleanliness of the bathrooms.
#33
Ambassador, Hong Kong and Macau




Join Date: May 2009
Location: HKG
Programs: Non-top tier Asia Miles member
Posts: 22,142
I don't believe that confort equates wholly or directly to numbers.
What it does relate directly to is the seat construction and design,cabin temperature air quality and decoration, quality of the entertainment - size and and quality of the screen , crew attitudes, food and drink quality plus availability cleanliness of the bathrooms.
What it does relate directly to is the seat construction and design,cabin temperature air quality and decoration, quality of the entertainment - size and and quality of the screen , crew attitudes, food and drink quality plus availability cleanliness of the bathrooms.
Not for Economy though. It really can really be reduced to numbers.
Even padding should be reflected in pitch.
As for IFE, this is a diagonal square inch and resolution comparison.
#34


Join Date: Jun 2017
Posts: 2,435
#35




Join Date: Jan 2017
Programs: Cathay Pacific, IHG, Air Astana
Posts: 109
I don't believe that confort equates wholly or directly to numbers.
What it does relate directly to is the seat construction and design,cabin temperature air quality and decoration, quality of the entertainment - size and and quality of the screen , crew attitudes, food and drink quality plus availability cleanliness of the bathrooms.
What it does relate directly to is the seat construction and design,cabin temperature air quality and decoration, quality of the entertainment - size and and quality of the screen , crew attitudes, food and drink quality plus availability cleanliness of the bathrooms.
However, as percysmith says, in the back end much of it does boil down to seats across and pitch between seats. And especially so for me (and I'd guess other long-time MPCs) when it comes to CX. We remember and notice narrowing or loss of pitch. We also note loss of cabin service (e.g. the second drink service which was temporarily halted 20.5 years ago in aftermath of SARS#1 never to return, through to loss of any drink service besides meal, fewer cabin crew around)
And I'd say especially so again for me as an independent consultant who needs to justify flight choices to clients. Previously it was relatively easy to justify paying extra for CX: schedules, reliability, lounge access + in past years meaningful priority for rebooking (and in years when I was gold or the one when I was diamond and they had the guaranteed availability 72/24 hours in advance) that was an easy sell. These days with still butchered schedules yet prices often substantially higher than alternatives, and with any service premium largely eroded (or worse), it's not a sell that's as easy now. Also, I need to believe it's worth it myself - and that's getting harder these days too...

