Raf

I flow yesterday on C / LX 1352 flight from ZRH to WAW. Instead of usual Swiss ARJ we found strange 6 abrest metal (very narrow seats). Business Class was only 1 row and staff did not even split BC from economy by curtain - overall service in C was very poor.
FA explained that it's leased or bought from BA. Anyone knows how many of that aircraft are used now? Where can I check the registration ?

flysurfer

Taking into account similar recent threads, it seems like LX is (wet-)leasing a confusing bunch of a/c from ex SN, AC, HapagFly, PrivatAir and now BA planes w/o standardized LX seating, resulting in a unacceptable mix of configurations and inherently inconsistend product quality.

Such a policy sounds like the great recipe to cook up a carrier most FTers will avoid. Just like the box of (Swiss?) chocolate in Forrest Gump: You never know what you are gonna get.

Lech

That's very bad news. Thank you for reporting to me. I just booked a flight with AirBerlin now instead of Swiss @:-)

verve

Thanks for bringing up this topic, so it's not me who has to start the ranting:

I completely agree! I always preferred the bulkhead row in the Avro's for legroom and space. Since this crappy leased planes are in the fleet it is much safer to choose row 2, as on this configuration there is a) no legroom in the bulkhead and b) no table in the armrest (they'll pin you to the seat with some strange table like device).
I've also got the feeling that LX forgot to include the curtains when ordering the planes as I've never seen them on any flight operated by one of this planes. (On a side note, I've also recognized that during the last weeks the curtain won't be properly closed if there is one) Without being too snobbish a main reason to fly C is to have a quite cabin and this won't happen if everybody is using the front lav.
A few weeks ago I was told by the Purser, that the crew hates this planes as well as they're not able to perform the service they'd like to - for example the front galley does not have a fridge installed and chilling white wine with ice cubes is difficult.

wideman

Is not the now-dreaded Avro the same aircraft as the much-ballyhoo'ed Jumbolino in the happier days of Crossair?

verve

No, the ex crossair AC are perfectly fine. We're talking about the cattle transporters LX leased from BA (or LH or SN or ...)

Volasia

related to that, it seems that LX kept their option with Embraer for 15 E170 and 15 E195. Of course, it won't be for tomorrow, but LX will have to re-new its fleet at some point. They need to show positive figures first...

rorschi

Hello,

there are following Avros ex-BA on the Swiss-fleet:

HB-IYQ, IYR, IYS**, IYT, IYU* and IYV*.

*=Star-Alliance-Colours
**-Logojet for unique, with painted Appenzell-Landscape

But according to my informations, those planes should be equipped with the same new Recaro-seats as the A320, with a 2+3-configuration. Unfortunately, I never had the chance(?) to fly with one of this planes yet, so I wonder if my information is wrong...
All other Avros are ex-Crossair. But I recognized on them that they use much smaller curtains for the class-separation as before, and only above the seat-rows. The curtain on the aisle is missing completely, and there is absolutely no more feeling of a private cabin when you are sitting at the rear of the business-section.

BTW: Wet-lease-contracts exist only with Cirrus (different A/C for ZRH-NUE and ZRH-STR), Darwin (2x Saab 2000 for ZRH-LUG and BSL-AMS/BRU), Hapagfly (1x A300-600 for Africa-routes) and Privatair (1x BBJ for ZRH-EWR).

Patrick

Unterwegs

I was on LX1352 ZRH-WAW last Friday. Unbelievable dense configuration - the worst seat in years. And they put SEN's without warning in middle seats - also a first in years.
But something else was worrying me much more.
Bus Gate in ZRH. A06 if I remember correctly. They stopped everybody with an carry on with wheels – even the really small ones and printed luggage tags. Not the normal ‘Delivery at Aircraft’ tags, but the check in luggage tags.
I refused to take one. My carry on fits easily in the check boxes and had only around 6 or 7 kg. After a very long discussion (I was threatening not to board and asked to remove my check in luggage) they finally gave in and let me take the carry on on board. Most other people just complied. And there was almost no carry on luggage on the plane….

Lucky me: in WAW it took a fairly long time until the luggage shoed up. And it seemed that somebody went thru the contents, a friend of mine had a substantial amount of money taken out of his carry on.

Not sure if the theft occuried in ZRH or WAW. The behavior of the gate agent was extremely strange. Could it be that people in ZRH actually work with thieves by feeding them carry ons from people who where not planning to check them (and therefore had valuables in them)?


So my questions:
- anybody else had the same experience of theft in WAW?
- anybody else had the same experience in ZRH with a gate agent who was checking almost all carry ons?
- Or any similar experience with other flights out of ZRH?

flysurfer

It's definitely possible, and it wouldn't be the first case of highly organized luggage theft. Surprising pax like this will substantially increase a theft's chance of finding valuable stuff in checked luggage. That it took quite a long time for the luggage to appear in WAW indicates that the theft occured there.

That's why I'll never ever under any circumstances surrender my carry-on containing valuables (laptop, iPod, money, papers, backup HD, DVD masters etc.) I'll rather deny boarding. I had to do this once. Reading your post, I certainly don't regret it.

airoli

I've been on one of the Avros taken over from BA, and it had a 2-3 configuration, just like the normal LX Avros. The seats where a different and less comfy model though. I have never heard of additional Avros being leased in from somebody else (such as LH), and I find it difficult to believe that they would have a 3-3 config...

Unterwegs

They had 3-3, 19 rows (1 to 20 without 13). Really extremely dense. On the way back today WAW-ZRH, LX1349 they had the same type with 2-3, which was ok.
Btw: ZRH-STR today was also boarding from one of the A0x-Gates. When waiting upstairs and watching the sign which flights are boarding there was an announcement: "... last passgengers for STR Mr. xxxxx and Mr xxxx please come immediately to gate ....".
Asking downstairs why the monitor upstairs still shows wait i got only a strange look, nothing else. My confidence in Swiss as a well managed airline is gone now.

verve

Airoli, believe me - it is a 3-3 config and actually the worst plane(s) in the LX fleet. Just wait until you get the proper 1st row experience where they pin you on your seat with this silly "snap-on" table

@ Rorschi: Was on the Unique/Appenzell Promo plane last Saturday and it has 3-3 config as well.

and yes, LX does an excellent job ignoring status by putting SEN's in the middle seat. but I have to say the middle seats on the cattle transporters seem to have more width than window or aisle

Frequent_Flyer1

Yes, as other already stated I can confirm that there are some Avros with a 3-3 configuration in the LX fleet. What a horrible aircraft. I got one of those for a ZRH-MXP flight in Y - and it was really the first time I thanked god that I did NOT purchase a Business Class fare: a ridiculous "snap-on" table for the first row, narrow seats (BTW: no middle seats blocked in C...), no curtain (not even to the front galley)...

Yes, and this galley is the most "tasteless" joke on earth: no fridge and instead of the wardrobe/locker like on the other Avros this config has a storage compartment for service which is used during the flight to prepare the service so that you will get disturbed every time...

Get rid of this awful aircraft(s) LX!!!! This is worse than an EMB145...

Frequent_Flyer1

Yes, I will never understand the reservation system. Is this really so complicated to integrate a status-identification system? I start wondering if I should use LH more often for Intra-European flights...