Originally Posted by Cheetah_SA

Not true. The J seats are not new. They are (almost) flat though.


This is an accurate description of the J cabin I experienced last week from LHR. (There was an equipment change a few days before departure.)


I would add that the temperature in the rear J cabin was freezing all the way. Cabin crew were unable to do anything about it and seemed well aware of the need to get everyone's duvets down asap after take off. I slept in a scarf to keep my neck warm.

The IFE was pretty dodgy too. The purser spent ages rebooting the system for several seats. The moving map didn't work on mine or my partner's IFE. No idea if it works at all on these craft. His headphone connection was worked out and he had to carefully position the plug half-in, half-out for it to make contact.

My seat had a strange defect that caused the footrest to suddenly sag when it reached full extension. So had to fiddle a bit to get maximum flatness.

All in all I would avoid these craft in J where possible. Too many things seem to be going wrong with the hard product.

Originally Posted by FlyPI

It is not the lie-flat at an angle type seat (i.e. LH) that you slide out of and wake-up on the floor.

Originally Posted by DeaconFlyer

Just finished a JNB-IAD trip in Economy on one of these former Iberia planes. It's pretty inexcusable that SAA is using these planes on a 17 hour flight.

The pitch in economy can't be more than 32". Probably closer to 31". For a 17 hour flight.

Until they get rid of these planes, I'll be flying through Europe. The shorter flight isn't worth the risk of being crammed into these seats.

Originally Posted by Peppep

Yes, the 332s are just two years old (compared to the 8-15 year old 343s), with better IFE screens. I believe the seats are identical or close to, both are fully flat. I'd definitely choose the 332, all else being equal.