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Slimline seats reportedly coming to the 737 fleet in 2014 [confirmed]

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Slimline seats reportedly coming to the 737 fleet in 2014 [confirmed]

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Old Oct 2, 2013, 8:40 am
  #1  
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Slimline seats reportedly coming to the 737 fleet in 2014 [confirmed]

I've got on pretty good authority that UA has been demo'ing new slimline seats for their 737 fleet in the Willis Tower and that these will be installed starting in 2014. No word on whether this also means an extra row of seats being installed, but I know what I'd bet if odds were being made.



Planes currently equipped with the DirecTV kit will keep it through the end of the current contract, even with the new seats, but no new 739ERs are being fit with the system from what I'm hearing. Also unclear is if the new 739s will be getting the LiveTV/ViaSat internet or the Panasonic kit which the non-DirecTV planes are getting.

This should be interesting, to say the least...
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Old Oct 2, 2013, 8:48 am
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Originally Posted by sbm12
Planes currently equipped with the DirecTV kit will keep it through the end of the current contract, even with the new seats, but no new 739ERs are being fit with the system from what I'm hearing. Also unclear is if the new 739s will be getting the LiveTV/ViaSat internet or the Panasonic kit which the non-DirecTV planes are getting.
I'm not surprised, the uptake of DTV onboard is tiny in my observation.
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Old Oct 2, 2013, 8:49 am
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This sucks, plain and simple. I don't care if UA supposedly got the "padded" version of the Recaro seat...it's brutal. It's a far cry from the good Airbus seats, and IMO even worse than the CO 737 "park bench" seats. The ergonimics feel like they were never actually flight tested.

Race to the bottom.
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Old Oct 2, 2013, 8:57 am
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The main reason I fly united is for E+ (better comfort). After riding on these seats, I think I'd prefer a softer seat to the leg room. Lately, I've been sticking my jacket/fleece/sweater on the seat for extra padding.
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Old Oct 2, 2013, 8:59 am
  #5  
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Originally Posted by sbm12
No word on whether this also means an extra row of seats being installed, but I know what I'd bet if odds were being made.
Only a fool would take the other side of that bet. My question is whether they will try to squeeze in more than just one extra row.
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Old Oct 2, 2013, 9:10 am
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I think in 5 years all airlines will be using this seat. This will become the standard in the airline business. I still have yet to try the UA Slim Seats, are they really worse than the current 737 seats?

WN also changed there seats, and what get's me, they are now lower and my knees are in pain after an hour, not by behind.

As far as entertainment, I wish they would just install PTV's instead of this wifi streaming stuff. I've tried it on WN and it works, but after a 3 hour flight, my ipad goes dead.
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Old Oct 2, 2013, 9:16 am
  #7  
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Originally Posted by LASUA1K
... I've tried it on WN and it works, but after a 3 hour flight, my ipad goes dead.
To be fair, UA does have plugs on all of the planes, though not at every seat. That helps mitigate the battery life issue a bit.
Originally Posted by LASUA1K
I think in 5 years all airlines will be using this seat. This will become the standard in the airline business.
We are definitely moving in that direction. There is another version from B/E Aerospace which JetBlue is installing on their A321s and which is, IMO, quite a bit more comfortable than the Recaro version. Then again, I was on the BA A380 and they have a quite comfortable version of the Recaro seat so it is possible to have such. It just costs/weighs more.

Last edited by sbm12; Oct 2, 2013 at 9:22 am
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Old Oct 2, 2013, 9:29 am
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Originally Posted by sbm12
To be fair, UA does have plugs on all of the planes, though not at every seat. That helps mitigate the battery life issue a bit.
Not all planes? I have flown on many planes with WIFI and many with power, but never one with both.
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Old Oct 2, 2013, 9:34 am
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Originally Posted by eng3
Not all planes? I have flown on many planes with WIFI and many with power, but never one with both.
I was speaking to the 737s which this thread is about. They should all have power as the WiFi goes live and many (most) have it today.
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Old Oct 2, 2013, 9:39 am
  #10  
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We are definitely moving in that direction. There is another version from B/E Aerospace which JetBlue is installing on their A321s and which is, IMO, quite a bit more comfortable than the Recaro version. Then again, I was on the BA A380 and they have a quite comfortable version of the Recaro seat so it is possible to have such. It just costs/weighs more.
Given the current management decisions, if the seats are decided on the basis of cashew bits and frat-punch vodka, we're going to get the cheapest configurations available.
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Old Oct 2, 2013, 9:42 am
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Originally Posted by sbm12
I was speaking to the 737s which this thread is about. They should all have power as the WiFi goes live and many (most) have it today.
Not surprised by the seats news but disappointed.

It will be interesting to see at how people will react to the limited amount of plugs esp if there's no alternative IFE solution. I wouldn't want to be in the middle of Y with a school trip with teenagers carrying (and using) multiple devices (tablets, smart phones, laptops, etc) all at the same time.

Then again, I guess it's better than nothing (although I would probably be flying Spirit if I thought about that with everything).
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Old Oct 2, 2013, 9:43 am
  #12  
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Originally Posted by LASUA1K
I think in 5 years all airlines will be using this seat. This will become the standard in the airline business. I still have yet to try the UA Slim Seats, are they really worse than the current 737 seats?
Most definitely worse than the 737s:

- lower to the ground
- shorter seat cushion (worst aspect of them IMO)
- not much padding
- just poor ergonomics IMO...the seat back isn't concave enough
- it LOOKS like the headrest is wide w/side "wings"...but it's fake, the outer 3" on either side doesn't have any hard support inside. So it just flops around...looks nice, actually cheap.
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Old Oct 2, 2013, 9:44 am
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Here is what I carry when I know I'm going to be sitting "back there" with no UG, or on long haul RJs (which I still hate unless they are E170/175/190). This makes the ride quite comfortable on the back section, plus raises your position in the seat, relieving the WN problem mentioned above.

http://www.tempurpedic.com/cushions/...eatcushion.asp

It's the best $89 I've ever spent. I'm sitting on it now, as a matter of fact. It also made my desk chair a lot more comfortable on those days that I'm not traveling.
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Old Oct 2, 2013, 9:45 am
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AFAIK only the 738s are scheduled to get these slimline seats starting next year. Configuration will go from 16F/138Y back to the 16F/144Y configuration a majority of the 738s were in before the E+ installation.
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Old Oct 2, 2013, 9:45 am
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Originally Posted by sbm12
I was speaking to the 737s which this thread is about. They should all have power as the WiFi goes live and many (most) have it today.
But once you have 75 people using the outlets, can the system handle that?
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