777 flatbed configuration
 

This being my first post, may I thank those who regularly contribute here for their valuable insights and information over the weeks that I have been reading FT.

There has been a public commitment for some time now from CO that all 777 flights from LHR will feature the new flatbed configuration from 1 June.

Recently when looking at the seat maps, it appears that outbound flights in June are shown with the old configuration, whilst inbound ones are shown with the new. I know that the maps are not to be fully trusted, but this is a notable recent difference.

The seat installation process section of co.com has not been updated for over a week (it has been changed weekly of late) and still only shows 10 out of 20 tail numbers having been converted.

The 'Tracking 777s with Flat Beds' thread on FT has not been as active as it was either.

Anyone have an insight into how realistic it is that all 777s touching LHR will have the new seats from next Tuesday ?

what flights are you on? You can tell by which 777 it is

It'd be hard to know more than a day or two out exactly which plane will be on the route so I wouldn't trust the seat map until then.

Having said this, I haven't heard that CO won't meet the deadline they've set.

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Certainly not more than a couple days out.

Since they are only upgrading 1-2 planes/month this should not be too surprising.

ibid.

Very. I see no reason to believe that CO will not manage to deliver on that promise. They have enough planes fitted to make it happen.

EWR-DEL Flatbed?
 

Wow! After reading the above I am really hoping I get the flatbed for my outbound this monday on C0 82 EWR-DEL.

I would rather prefer continental guaranteeing these birds on the ultra long hauls than a quick hop into europe..Maybe someone can enlighten me on the reasoning or lack of behind this?...

One Word: Competition
 

There is very limited competition on any of CO's ultra long haul routes (EWR-HKG? EWP-PVG? EWR-DEL?). Compare that to NYC-LON markets, where everyone and their dog is putting their best foot forward, and CO MUST have the flat bed product in place there to remain (regain?) competitive.

While on the subject, how many 777s does CO have in the fleet ? The seat installation progress says 10/20 but when you click through to the tail numbers there are 25 ships listed.

All LHR-IAH traffic in the four day visible window is old configuration 772 or even 764. I guess they are promoting the flatbed ships on other routes until 6/1.

Just flew the 777 with lie flat seats last week. I got lucky and hit the hub to hub transfer both ways (EWR-IAH). The seats are awesome and the TV is huge with remote control I might add.

The seat config was showing the "old" 777 until it hit the 24 hour mark and then the lie-flat config was shown. I'm not not sure why it does this but you may not know for sure until you hit the 24 hour mark. Either way, have a great flight.

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Ditto. Plus, economics applies: it's the profitability on the route which matters most.

Yeah, those $1,600 BF fares do gangbusters for CO.

I just checked the flight status & specs for C0 82 and the flat bed is showing only for Sat 05/29 and the regular recliner seat for my departure on 05/31.

Should I still be optmistic based on the response above that CO would not confirm planes until twenty four hours before the departure..??

Not really, IMO. Once the aircraft is assigned - in this case you have a/c #7 on the 31st - it is less common for it to be switched.

I think it is very realistic that all LHR flights will have flat beds by June 1, unfortunately that makes the flat beds on other routes slightly less probable.

There is certainly a possibility that, for whatever reason, a flat bed a/c is swapped out for a non-flat bed A/C for a LHR flight during the conversion period, but I am sure that CO has a procedure in place to deal with such a situation and it will likely involve compensation to BF pax to make up for the failure to deliver an advertised benefit.

I wouldn't worry. The overwhelming odds are that CO will fufill its promise and be 100% flat to LHR by June 1 and continuing indefinitely. The competitive landscape demands it.

For eastbound flights 6/1:

34 - #017 flat bed
4 - #015 flat bed
28 - #003 flat bed
18 - #133 flat bed
112 - #128 flat bed
110 - #104 flat bed

100%. Good start.

So I can assume for my HKG flight on the 24th of June, the chances of a new LF seat is less after June 1 than it was before?