halls120

Requested, yes, actually done it, no way to tell.

cerealmarketer

Aren't the majority of Qantas LAX flights on birds with no first class? The 744 to SYD and BNE have no first class. Just 1 A380 to SYD and MEL out of LAX. Delta and VA offering a 2 class lie flat product.

So what's the alternative...

Continue serving with an inferior product in every class - Y, J, and F don't stack up to the alternatives - and unreliable aircraft? Or switch to one with the right capacity / CASM, better Y, business class that is an upgrade - no rear facing seats, no middles.

The aviation nut in me likes a 747 as much as anyone, but I want an airline that is financially sound. Seems reasonable to me for this particular market in 2013. A 787 would be a travesty though...the ERJ of long haul...

stevenshev

While lovely in theory, they simply don't exist 2-3 weeks out when I'm normally booking.

Kudos to greg99 for perfectly describing my scenario, so I won't rehash it too much here, but long story short is I will not fly less than business on the route, have a business/personal travel policy that is flexible enough to allow me to pay business, and therefore have choice among all the carriers. UA is great in that it allows me to travel F. If I'm paying C to travel C, for starters it will be on the cheapest fare I can find on an acceptable airline and it will most certainly will not be on a PMCO 777 (or 757, or 764, though I find the 763s and 787s fine). On that plane, there are at most four acceptable seats to me, which are all guaranteed to be gone by 2-3 weeks out, and no air vents (which is a huge portion of why I fly UA - I like to be able to sleep, not be cooked). Simply will not happen.

B787938

While Qantas is removing first from a lot of their long-haul fleet, the A380 fleet servicing North America will retain first.

An important point here is that many Australians will also transit through Asia on CX or SQ to get to the US at marginally better prices in J and F than UA or QF without reservation. So, Qantas is retaining the first cabin not only to compete with United-but also the Asian competitors.

Is the "new" United's strategy down gauging, giving up marketshare, etc.? If 2014 really does bring triple sevens on the San Francisco and Los Angeles to Sydney routes then that is keeping in line with the business strategy since the merger.

What will be interesting to see is if this plays out-which I highly doubt it will-is whether the 777s will fly LA/SFO to Sydney, and then a 788 frequency is added San Francisco to Melbourne.

dls25

I have heard this rumour before but I discounted it because the person I heard it from it is not the most reliable source IMHO. In my version SFO-SYD remains a 747 but LAX-SYD and SYD-MEL transition to PMCO 777 service. Take it with a large grain of salt.....

DaviddesJ

It's just not true. Looking 2-3 weeks out, right now, about half of dates have R inventory on both LAX-SYD and SFO-SYD.

If you don't want to fly C on UA on W fares, then don't. But don't claim you can't, it's not true.

uastarflyer

Does he normally book now? Who books the winter season?

Take a look at Dec-Mar and let us know. And keep in mind it is on an AC with higher capacity

DaviddesJ

How's that work? The offices there are all closed in the winter?

Shareholder

CO was planning to launch its 787 service going between IAH-AKL so not surprising it's taking over the SPacific flights. Long range 787s are still a year from going into service. UA's F was pretty much an upgrade cabin for US corporate contract flyers since anyone actually paying from their own pocket would fly QF, which offers a real F service.

Agree with others who find the CO777s a good choice on several counts: having a superior C seat to the UA one, and of course real IFE in the back cabin. (The only way one could call the UA C cabin good was if you were in the "bubble" but even that has its drawbacks -- like trying to extricate oneself from a window seat when the person next to you is stretched out asleep!)

Shareholder

Who'd you go over to? Using STAR mileage upgrades on NH?

golfingboy

Who flies on 20-40% discounted C fares.

UA cannot justify having the F cabin where it is dominantly filled with those on paid C fares. Of course, those corporate customers are more than welcome to fly on other airlines at rack rate and my gut tells me Asia/Australia based airlines do not give that much of a discount compared to UA/AA/DL/US and probably European carriers.

uastarflyer

Depends how much paid C they will get without also offering an F cabin. They can call it C+ if it makes them feel better.

Same argument made when HKG-SIN went 737. Then they get all surprised when paid C to SIN via HKG dried up. 747 back on , now 3 class 777.

simong

I am a bit out of practice on FT these days, but as far as I can tell this is a rumour not confirmed? Now we all love a good rumour but shouldn't the thread title reflect that until confirmed?

I am scared at the suggestion that PMCO crews have worse service than PMUA crews, I can't imagine what that would mean..

uastarflyer

I did NRT-SIN-NRT with PMCO 777 in E+ and was not at all impressed. Very cheap in delivery and just looking to sell liquor, constantly clutching those card readers. Never making water runs. 2 different crews. Maybe others are better. The seat itself is decent though.

I feel relaxed and at home on sUA. Very happy sUA coming back to NRT-SIN (along with INTL FC).

sUA C I have also liked. My one and only sUA F Suite experience was great too. Haven't done PMCO BF.

fly18725

Where there ever proof that paid C is what drove the change back? I heard this was more about aircraft and crew utilization.