nermaljcat

Is this plane still being flown SFO-LAS?

What kind of compensation do they give in Y if you get this plane? $25 voucher comes to mind... is that only for F pax?

EIPremier

The past few days this aircraft has been used on a morning sfo-lax r/t (lv sfo 8:25 lv lax 10:35), an afternoon sfo-las r/t (dep sfo 14:05) and an evening sfo-las r/t (dep sfo 18:35). A couple of recent reports suggest they no longer provide flight discount vouchers to pax who fly on this plane.

nermaljcat

The planes flying SFO-LAS and back were A320s, so I booked F. It was only an extra $20-50 which I'd probably spend on exit row seats and food anyway.

I just hope they don't try to drop the A319 in there

EIPremier

I'd check the seat map on the flight on which your booked. If it shows a A320, I wouldn't worry too much (you can tell it's A320 pretty quickly glancing at the seat map because the seat map shows a 3 seat row in the back of the cabin and two exit rows). If it shows A319, I would worry!


VX seems to be changing its schedule every couple weeks, so there perhaps with the next schedule change 524 will be off of the sfo-las route. Also there are a couple A319s that have been delivered but aren't yet in service (presumably being ife retrofitted), so we may see those start flying before too long.

nermaljcat

Yeah it's an A320 There are two wing exits and an extra 3-seat in the last row (left hand side). Also, when I chose my seats it said "A320".

I just hope they don't substitute the plane a day out (less likely if the flight is full, eh?).

EIPremier

I haven't observed any tendency to do last minute swaps between A319 and A320 (even if they did, the odds wouldn't be too bad given, as of 3/31, the operational fleet consisted of 3 A319s and 12 A320s). If you're flight looks full, I'd say it's even more unlikely.

goler128

I took VX 848 from LAX to SFO on 4/1 and it was a "dark 319". I booked the F and was getting a voucher which will give me a free drink or movie for future flights.

CO FF

Which are now coming back...and will need new interiors. More costs, less lease revenue.

Is it cheaper to park them, or to pay to fix them and add some service?

Carfield

"To clarify, we currently operate ONE dark aircraft and keep it on the short flights that stay on the west coast. Please be assured that any transcontinental route will be on a "light" 319, with all operational features up-and-running and first class partitions installed. In addition, we had estimated projected dates of completion to install the electronic devices onboard our new planes, however after we began production realized that it was taking more than twice as long as we initially planned. The executive decision was to put a "dark" aircraft in service so that we would not have to conduct multiple flight cancellations and reschedules.

While this in no way serves as an excuse for the lack of quality service we are providing to you, I do hope this will provide some clarity into our decision-making processes here at headquarters."

Here is what I got from VX...

I also get a $25 voucher, which I think I deserve because when one pay for F, you should get better service. If not, why would I spend an extra $100? The most annoying aspect is really the recline of the seats to be manual... you can't move your seat anytime you want, and on short flights, you can't bother the F/As many times. They need two F/As doing the manual push. So you should write VX. I love VX, but also don't think it should be getting away with this dark A319.

When I asked one of the agents at SFO about the "Dark" A319 and mentioning their appearance on the SFO to JFK flights. She told me that "Dark" A319 will only be placed on the West Coast routes, not the transcontinental flights. She seems pretty firmed about it... I assume that SFO-LAX and SFO-LAS, and SFO-SAN will most likely get the dark planes.

Carfield

SFO 1K

Absolutely correct. You will not see the dark aircraft on transcons, period.

tony2x

I think this is reasonable of them, I think VX did very well to launch service when they did given all the DOT hassles and I'd be more annoyed if they cancelled a flight rather than ran the "dark" A319. In my view this is nothing but a teething problem of a new airline and in my experience the Bearded one will not permit this to become a trend.

Now please link up eleVAte with VS Flying Club so I can start earning miles towards a nice Upper Class return to London.

nermaljcat

that nickname makes SRB sound like a Star Wars character!

tony2x

Actually that has become a shortened version of his nickname when I worked at Eurostar (and SRB owned part of it), he was Beardy the Benevolent then. Sounds more Terry Pratchett than George Lucas, but it was due to his generosity at the Virgin Summer Parties he used to hold at his house.

articos

K, I want an invite to *that*.

EIPremier

Just FYI, I can confirm that VX put two additional aircraft in service right around the time the SEA-LAX flights started, which means the "dark" plane is back to being a spare. So, while the dark plane is still in service, we should be seeing it less consistently than we were during March and early April.

I saw a VX plane parked on a remote stand when I was at SFO on Sat and Mon, though it was actually an A320 in both cases (first time was actually over by the old int'l terminal). I did see the dark plane pull into the gate next to mine (arriving from LAX and heading back to LAX) while I was boarding my flight to SAN yesterday afternoon.