Microtat

Hi all,

Do pardon if this has been discussed before..

After following up on CX aircraft changes this upcoming summer season which will see plenty of OZ routes getting the A359, some regional routes seem to have something like a fix 330/773 schedule. One good example is the HKGSIN route.

May i asked if these schedules are fixed, or the 330/773 combi are just generic schedules that CX publishes for easy aircraft changes?

Hope it wont be that way though... The 773 hard product is quite a major push, especially for economy..

thanks for all your inputs and advice in advance!

Brgds,
jeff

WHITMIMI

Was looking for some CX intra-Asia flights for August 2018, and noticed the following routes have some 359 or 77W scheduled:-

BKK 359
TPE 359
KIX 359
SGN 359
SUB 77W
MNL 359

But given CXs liking for messing around with their schedules these will probably not stay...
​​​

WHITMIMI

SIN also has some 359 scheduled too...

QRC3288

To the poster above, that's par for the course. Nothing out of ordinary there...all those destinations have frequently seen longhaul metal in the past.

​​​​​To the OP: your fear is correct. CX swaps aircraft regionally and doesn't seem to mind the impact on its image.

The fleet mix is always changing, so it's possible CX may firm things in the future. But as of now, even though CX has a ton of longhaul birds doing regional work, they still operate two subfleets of regional 777s and another subfleet of regional A333s. And these birds *could* get swapped into your longhaul-rostered regional flight without notice. Basically CX will shrug.

​​​​​​I don't see a solution unless CX totally ditches the regional configs, which doesn't appear in the cards. One rumor that would help is if CX transferred all its 33Ps (regional A333s) to KA. But it still wouldn't solve the problem, just reduce it. As long as CX has regional birds out there and you're flying regionally - except for one flight a day to/from HND - you're at risk.
​​​​​​

Microtat

Microtat

SLGO

Agreed with all the above regarding the commonly unpredictable aircraft change of CX. I had experience last minute change of 359 -> 77W & 333 (long haul) -> 772, but no change for 773 even when I booked it a year ago. It's just pure lotttery on regional sectors.

1010101

With all the initial A359s now delivered and the A35Ks about to start they are finally getting some slack in the fleet. We might finally see a little more consistency, and in fact i think we already do. In my experience at least Singapore sees fewer aircraft swaps than it did 2 or 3 years ago.

Microtat

SLGO

QRC3288

Put it this way:

While it's a lottery, you are still much more likely to get the aircraft scheduled than not. Particularly on certain flights. Those "mostly predictable" long-haul planes + destinations include A359 to SIN, a little less to TPE, and a little less to SGN and MNL (but still fairly reliable), and less still to BKK; B77W to TPE (better) and BKK (worse); 33E/K to KIX, PEK and PVG. There are other as well I'm likely missing.

One frustrating fact is booking k a flight for the equipment - especially A359 for WiFi - and then it swaps away. The other frustrating fact is the obvious massive product gulf between the long-haul and regional. CX is a "victim" of having so many long-haul equipped planes. But I still don't buy the argument "look at a long-haul bird as a lucky upgrade." Because I think it's economic bunk...I pay my own way and make decisions accordingly. I don't have a special corporate rate, either, unfortunately so generally what we find on the website or travel agent is what we pay. I am going down to Singapore later this week. Flying SQ in long-haul J (guaranteed product, unlike CX) for this very reason. CX's loss.

To others above, I hate 772 equally as much as 773. Not sure why the special vitriol is saved just for 773. J class has 42 seats in each no? They're BOTH bad!

Microtat

Maybe i don’t have high expectations, but the regional J works well for me on the SIN runs.. the seat works great if i do not intend to sleep.. otherwise it does fine for a short nap..

As to why the 773 was singled out is due to the economy seats.. theres nothing good i can say about the shell seats except for being terribly ugly and uncomfortable.. maybe i was lucky as i have not tried that on the A333..

one of my flight hkgsin got an equipment change from the 333 to 359. They might be really adjusting their schedules.. now i see alot more 359s in the S18 schedule..

brgds,
jeff

TravelwhileyouEat

I find MNL fairly reliable with the equipment scheduled for it up to a month out. I've only ever been swapped once from LH to regional but this is a 1.5-2 hour flight so no big deal. I find the SIN-HKG route a peculiar one not to have at least 1 guaranteed LH rotation (like HND) given that SQ competes with them on this sector with guaranteed LH products.

SilverChris

On a bad day, I think SIN gets at least 1 or 2 long-haul aircraft, usually more. Like you said, it's just hard to pinpoint which flights they'll be on. Of late, the A359 has been on the route quite consistently, especially on the morning departures ex-HKG.

TravelwhileyouEat

1-2 out of I believe 7 daily services is not a good batting average, and not being able to pinpoint which flight it will be is the main gripe of a lot of CX regulars who want to take CX to SIN but would rather not chance it because they want a LH product in J. This is the missed opportunity that QRC3288 pointed out. If one or two flight rotations are guaranteed the LH without swaps, this would help attract premium cabin bookings. For comparison SQ has at least 3 flights with guaranteed LH products (SQ 2 which goes on to SFO, and SQ 860 on the A380 [which turns to SQ 856 in April]), then there's one with an A350 (SQ 856 which turns to SQ 860 in April).

Though truthfully, if the design of CX's regional product was better then this 'first world problem' wouldn't really exist. Personally, getting SQ's regional as a last minute swap is not as bad as getting CX's regional, there's no comparison.