757 vs dc10 first class
 

Which would be nicer...757 or DC10 first class on nwa?

DC10. No question.

See www.seatguru.com for more seat info, and welcome to flyertalk!

Enjoy your trip to Hawaii!

Agreed: DC10. I really miss the old domestic NW DC10 flights out of LAX--I always chose those when they were available.

Yup -- 34 seats to upgrade into. ^ Those were the days.

DC10 has the old WBC seats with 150 degree recline and lots of space. 757 only has standard FC domestically, but there is a modified 757 that's used in Asia that is better than the domestic, but still not as good as the DC10. IIRC, the DC10 also has in-seat video screens.

The wide body DC10 wins out. More room all around!

I thought the dc10 would be better. We have seats reserved on DC10 NWA to Hawaii with upgraded 1st class seats via frequent flyer miles.

I was trying to leave two days ealrier, but of course there is no availability on the DC10 service for 1st class upgrade with freq flyer miles, only on the 757 service.

Any suggestions on how else to do it?

(Why the heck is NWA flying a 757 to Hawaii anyhow????)

If the difference is two days in Hawaii over the DC10...

757 does well trans-atlantic and over many long haul.

Remember, its just the flight, the means to get to paradise!

to save gas at your expense
 

I was talking to a nw pilot about this. He called the 757 the slave ship. I think it's about the most uncomfortable plane ever built. It was meant for 3 hr hub flights. Now they have begun using it for hawaii west coast runs. NWAs folly> the 757 uses 10 GPM the DC 10 uses 30 GPM It seems that the dc10 with the extra pax and cargo loads makes them more money. Go figure.

Let's not forget that the -10 requires more flight crew given the additional engine...

I'd pick the DC-10 over the 757 anyday. In the past two years, I've flown the 757 only two times and have made EVERY effort to avoid flying the smaller aircraft across the Pacific. The only benefit to the 757 are the cookies (HNL-MSP-HNL does not offer cookies).

The -10 requires more flight crew because it was designed as a three-man cockpit, not because it has 3 engines. Before avionic software enhancements, a F/E was more or less essential. Software/technology advances have negated the F/E role.

Every A380/744 will have/has a 2-man flight crew.

hey, try a CO 757 from Gatwick to Cleveland. now *that* was a slave ship. I didn't even know a 757 had that kind of range til I saw it in the UK.

If you want hideous, fly in the back rows of a 757-300 for four or five hours (e.g. most DTW-west coast runs). Probably the worst regular domestic airliner experience in the US, worse even than RJ hell.

I flew FC HNL-PDX a few weeks ago and thought it was LOADS better than the DL 764 I went out to HNL in on a 9 hour flight. Seat was softer and wider feeling. I also flew LAX-MSP in THE LAST row of a 753 in March, while the seat next to me was open, it wasn't a bad ride. Except for the 30 min deplaning issue once in MSP.

The 757 has the lowest seat mile costs in the business... I can't see it being less of a money maker than the DC10. It was inevitable to see the 757s going to Hawaii... after all AA, UA and TZ have all found its positive economics to Hawaii.

AZJ

rough estimate
 

Ive always been intriqued with this concept so I did a rough estimate. The GMP figures were given to me by the NW pilot. They may be off a bit. But figuring a 6hr flight. the 757 would use 3600 gals of fuel. The dc-10 would use 10800 Gallons. I think in the last conference call they used $1.42 as current fuel price. Therefore: A dc-10 costs $10800.00 more to fly to HNL. They say in their fleet page that the 757-300 has 224 seats, the dc-10 has 273 seats. 49 more X $600 = $29400.00 plus the extra cash generated from the cargo end. BTW for all you algebra brainiacs out there that like puzzles. On the conference call last week they gave out 2/3s of the pie chart stating that fuel was this pct and labor was this pct. Lots of people always wonder how much NW needs to make a flight profitable. This should be enough info to acually figure out an example using the flight of your choice. Have fun and update us :D