All that is fine but space is space, and that physical limitation is finite. Fitting in an extra person decreases space for everyone else. It'd be like a European elevator vs. a N. American one. I am by no means a big or wide person but I cannot see how some of the elevators I've seen in Europe can fit the number of people they're rated for.

I suppose you think this set up is perfectly fine

http://imgproc.airliners.net/photos/...6884.jpg?v=v40
The above is a BY 767-300ER and no, your eyes are not deceiving you - it is not the inside of an Airbus 300/310/330/340

Wouldn't more cramming in Y mean more competition for the seats further up front? Not so good for you I'd say.

Just flew on MU's 10 abreast 77W. Same seat model as China Airlines' 77W, and ample seat pitch + empty seats at the back of the cabin made it one of the better Y trips in my recent years. (I've also flown on CI's 77W and found it pretty good)

The seat itself also provided much more recline and lumbar support vs the 9 abreast MCE config in AA's 77W (which was pretty nightmarish despite the "better" width).

FYI I'm about 6' and 180lb.

Airlines are installing 10 abreast seats in 77W because the traveling public values low(er) price more than elbow room. It's the same argument for legroom and the price conscious flyers conclusively won that battle. And now they are winning the elbow room battle.

FT is not a good representation of the majority of the Y class flyers.

In the flyertalk world, yes.

I guess, it just a matter of time that 3-4-3 config in Y will be the norm than the exception.

PE will soon become another standard than exception. soon you will see another 3 classes again. C, PE and Y, instead just C and Y. Then C will be "upgraded" to be like current F and PE will be upgraded to be like current C. Then airlines will start removing C as people are just fine with PE.

You see the cycle?

What is for sure Y is getting more and more cramp :)

Well TBH domestic C is PE right? i.e. UA Barcaloungers. OTOH BR on it's A321s have much better legroom.

AA's new domestic F seat is basically the same as their international W seat.

Delta has a chart comparing cabins and fare levels, and their upcoming W service is actually nicer than their current F service.

So, yeah. It basically is.

But yes pretty soon there will be an ridiculous Flat Bed Premium Economy something like UA's 2-4-2 but on an 77W instead of an 747.

Thinking about flying from Vienna to Bangkok in Fall/Winter. I checked the recent BR flights on flightradar24 and it's mostly a 77W with the comfy 313 seat 33" 3-3-3 setup, however recently also a new 77W flew the route with the high density 3-4-3 setup.

Are they going to reconfigure all of the 77Ws, or leave the old comfy ones alone and just receive the new ones as high density? I always thought of Eva Air as a quality airline so I'm kind of shocked they are falling for this 10-abreast scheme as well, also considering the asian airlines were kind of like the "last resort".

Other options aren't much better though:

Austrian 772 extra expensive and even worse at 3-4-3 17".
And with Qatar the VIE-DOH leg is on the hell machine 787 with 31" 17" + IFE box. And the other leg on a 77W which nowadays Qatar also uses in high density setting at 31-33"(whatever that means) and 17" in 3-4-3.

Aren't these supposed to be the best 5* airlines?? I mean I know legroom isn't everything but COME ON.

sorry to tell you this but as of 24May, it is the 10 abreast seating. 313 seater last flight is next month.

I totally missed this! So much for putting faith in seatguru... I'm flying YVR-TPE and TPE-SEA, booked it assuming it'd be all 3-3-3 according to seatguru... but when I go to manage my trip I can see both TPE-SEA (not surprising given this thread) AND YVR-TPE (don't think that's been mentioned yet but maybe it's all routes by now?) are on 3-4-3.

disappointed. :(


at least I have free access to what looks like PE/Elite on the HKG-TPE 77W hop with my Y ticket, that was a positive surprise.

At the moment, only YVR, SEA, SFO, and VIE will see the 10-abreast. They only have a fleet of 11 planes with ten abreast. B-16730-B-16741(No B-16734).
SFO is double daily(17x starting this winter) with 10-abreast, YVR and SEA are daily, and VIE is 4x a week.

Why did they choose Vienna? The other 3 are US west coast destinations, seems random to throw in VIE as well. Oh well, sad to cross another one off the list. But just to be sure, the 3-4-3 configuration has only 31" legroom? Because on some variants on seatguru it says 31-33" and I'm not sure what that means exactly.

My guess is these are the shortest 777 routes and/or need the highest capacity.

YVR gets 10 abreast because BR cannot increase frequency (restricted by air service agreement with Canada) - it can probably support 2x daily 9 abreast at least seasonally. This is also why YVR was the last 747-400 long haul destination... BR actually needed the capacity and large number of Y seats.

SEA gets 10 abreast presumably because 2x daily 9 abreast is too much seats - this is mostly O&D market for BR as it lacks UA feed.

SFO gets 2x 10 abreast presumably because 3x daily 9 abreast is too much seats.

I don't know the load factors on VIE but probably similar as SEA/SFO... multiple daily 9 abreast is too much seats so they go 4x weekly 10 abreast. I don't think BR has much onward feed business at VIE so it is focused on VIE-BKK O&D and TPE-VIE O&D.

Really? Because the new morning flights are also 77B(10 abreast) and they are planning on increasing it to daily, making SFO 3x daily 10-abreast.

I forgot about the 3rd flight!

You are right... there is more than enough demand from SFO. UA hub and all.

So that means BR will soon have more seats to SFO than LAX.

I think it's the shortest 77W routes, since SFO, YVR, and SEA are the closest NA destinations to TPE and VIE is the closest European destination to BKK.

Are there any immediate plans to use the 10 abreast on the LHR route?
I just looked at fl24 and the following aircraft are on BR067/68 for the next few days, 16731/32/33/35 and 39.
These are now known as 77B are they?
TIA

It is temporary to carry lot of holiday season people back.

Holiday-goers need to go home. They are subbing the LHR planes onto the SFO route and moving the 77Bs over to LHR until the holiday season is done.

No wonder I got old 77W today 9/10 on BR28.

i really don't like the old entertainment system. The ride from Taipei today was extremely rough.

i still can't stand the new light green color though. 718 to 723 still my favorite to fly.

725-729 are still the old interior color too.

Ugh, old news but just found this thread... Had booked remembering 9-across for SEA-TPE and confirmed on seatguru. Should have known not to trust that... 10 across and lost seats next to my companion. #unhappiness . At least for TPAC in Y there is no good option so not like there's a better option out there? :/

When you're paying $600 for a 16 hour flight...or whatever it is. Something has to give.

Well, my United miles used to get me more... Just unfortunate that the market hasn't figured out how to describe, price and sell slightly more humane Y (not Premium Economy). It's a failure of marketing.

No, it's a failure because people choose to fly as cheaply as possible from point A to point B.

Something about eating a cake and having it too.