Aer Lingus Fleet/Routes Discussion

cson

The 3-3-3 787 is a horrible experience.

California Dreamer

cson wrote: »

The 3-3-3 787 is a horrible experience.

How so?

EI321

cson wrote: »

The 3-3-3 787 is a horrible experience.

The seats are also quite uncomfortable and the multiple repetitive IFE ads (at least on the 787-10) which must be watched in full each time you play anything and can't be skipped are extremely annoying.

A320

EI321 wrote: »

The seats are also quite uncomfortable and the multiple repetitive IFE ads (at least on the 787-10) which must be watched in full each time you play anything and can't be skipped are extremely annoying.

You can drag the ad to the last second and skip it that way,it 100% worked for me recently

cson

California Dreamer wrote: »

How so?

Primarily the fact you've got an extra person beside you no matter what compared to the 2 seaters in the A330. That's 1 more person that will disturb you/you need to disturb to go to the toilets etc. They feel way more cramped essentially. I've never really noticed any tangible benefit from the supposed higher cabin pressure. The windows also do not fully block out the light in my experience versus the traditional shades.

EI have the best transatlantic product for the price point imo. Virgin is a better Y experience but good luck getting a decent fare. The US3 if you have status and can select Main Cabin Extra/Economy+/Comfort+ would beat out EI (comp'd booze is nice), whilst BA are to be avoided at all costs. Sad to see the shambolic Y offerings BA are serving up these days, had the misfortune to travel on one of their A321neo's recently with the scandalously uncomfortable slimline recaros.

TL;DR = 3-3-3 in the 787 and 3-4-3 in the 777 is an abomination and a terrible place to spend a lot of hours in as Y pax. Do not travel BA Y class under any circumstances.

trellheim

AA (to PHL) and Air Canada both fly 330s to dublin across the pond as well I flew both last year and both were fine if you want to hub onwards

cson

DL do 764's ex ATL/JFK/BOS which are nice too in the 2-3-2 configuration, pretty good product too - comp beer/wine/liquor in Y.

AA also run an A330 ex CLT.

Pretty sure everything else into Ireland is 777/787/757/A321neo in 3-4-3, 3-3-3 & 3-3 respectively.

Nicetrustedcup

Yah I don’t wish a 787 in a 3 3 3 on anyone

Was in PE with virgin and could look back into Y and my god people where on top of each other and fights between people due to how tight it was.

I was very lucky to have been in a 2 3 2 in PE for 12 hours

California Dreamer

But for all the bemoaning of 2-4-2 or 3-4-3 or 10-10-10 the basic fact of the matter is people still travel with these companies.

It all comes down to how much can airlines lower the hard product until such time as the flying public stop giving them their business.

From what I can see, Aer Lingus, Ryanair and so many others can cut a lot more and people will still use them!

EI321

Delta are moving their 3 Dublin routes to A330-300 this summer. The current 2-3-2 setup in the 767-400 is great but IFE is outdated and only a handful have been upgraded to the newer system so far.

They have by far the best transatlantic economy service from DUB in my opinion.

Aer Lingus are fine in economy when everything goes well but they seem to run the operation too tightly and have insufficient staffing in JFK, which shows when an aircraft goes tech or is delayed.

cson

EI321 wrote: »

They have by far the best transatlantic economy service from DUB in my opinion.
.

Agreed, they've really stepped up the service along with F&B on their flights. The A333 Comfort+ is nice place to be for a transatlantic hop. I think they're the only airline to comp spirits to all Y pax too.

Noxegon

California Dreamer wrote: »

But for all the bemoaning of 2-4-2 or 3-4-3 or 10-10-10 the basic fact of the matter is people still travel with these companies.

A lot of the time it’s because there is no reasonable alternative.

I have to be in AUH later this month. My choices were 3-3-3 in a 787, 3-4-3 in a 777 plus a ninety minute drive staring around 1:30am, or a connecting flight that cost considerably more.

The 3-3-3 was the least evil option.

Idbatterim

Just off a 777 and 787. The two seats are handy alright. At the end of the day though , I didn’t find any of them that uncomfortable. People are going to fly primarily based on price and time convenience. If it’s proper long haul, unless you have a kid flat bed , it’s not going to be the best experience regardless of configuration. Although flying on more modern aircraft is definitely nicer.

Cookiemunster

Noxegon wrote: »

A lot of the time it’s because there is no reasonable alternative.

I have to be in AUH later this month. My choices were 3-3-3 in a 787, 3-4-3 in a 777 plus a ninety minute drive staring around 1:30am, or a connecting flight that cost considerably more.

The 3-3-3 was the least evil option.

The vast majority of travellers have no idea what type of plane they're getting on, never mind the seating arrangement. They choose the cheapest airline, not the one with the most comfortable cabin.

Idbatterim

Cookiemunster wrote: »

The vast majority of travellers have no idea what type of plane they're getting on, never mind the seating arrangement. They choose the cheapest airline, not the one with the most comfortable cabin.

Yesh price and convenience, like flight times , will be by far the biggest factors. Also there was a total exaggeration here , with regards to 3 3 3 being unbearable. Like you are comparing traveling in an s class or a cinquecento!

One of my main preferences is just to fly in a newer plane...

Locker10a

Idbatterim wrote: »

One of my main preferences is just to fly in a newer plane...

Funnily enough I’d be the opposite! Obviously for long haul you want The most up-to-date IFE etc. but if you look at newer economy products they generally feature a more densified cabin, slimmer less padded seats, less toilets and poor legroom.
Look at what BA are doing to their 777 and short haul fleet, be a bonus to get on the old stuff!

Gr123

What happened on ei101 today showing a massive delay?

kevinandrew

Gr123 wrote: »

What happened on ei101 today showing a massive delay?

Just departed, a total of 8 hours behind schedule!

I’m guessing it was a tech issue, it appeared on Flight Radar 24 on time which suggests it pushed back as scheduled but then remained on ground for the rest of the day.

EchoIndia

kevinandrew wrote: »

Just departed, a total of 8 hours behind schedule!

I’m guessing it was a tech issue, it appeared on Flight Radar 24 on time which suggests it pushed back as scheduled but then remained on ground for the rest of the day.

Presumably with the long delay a replacement crew would have been needed for the evening departure.

Jack1985

Crew change required, issue was generators again with LRC. Pushed back and returned back on stand after engine start, then entered the hangar until roughly 8 this evening.

For a brand new aircraft, it’s already had two generator replacements and to have another issue with them will have EI fuming with Airbus.

cson

Idbatterim wrote: »

Yesh price and convenience, like flight times , will be by far the biggest factors. Also there was a total exaggeration here , with regards to 3 3 3 being unbearable. Like you are comparing traveling in an s class or a cinquecento!

One of my main preferences is just to fly in a newer plane...

Newer Y configurations, particularly in the 787, are a a clear degradation of space/comfort compared to older configurations as Locker10a touched on below. DL 764 (most of them pushing 20+yrs) > UA/AA 787.

Locker10a wrote: »

Funnily enough I’d be the opposite! Obviously for long haul you want The most up-to-date IFE etc. but if you look at newer economy products they generally feature a more densified cabin, slimmer less padded seats, less toilets and poor legroom.
Look at what BA are doing to their 777 and short haul fleet, be a bonus to get on the old stuff!

Time Magazine

cson wrote: »

Agreed, they've really stepped up the service along with F&B on their flights. The A333 Comfort+ is nice place to be for a transatlantic hop. I think they're the only airline to comp spirits to all Y pax too.

Never understood the logic on the free drinks thing. It's like harking back to an age when people got dressed up to get on flights. Delta definitely offer a classier product, but they'll charge you €100-€500 more than Aer Lingus/United for the privilege.

I'll pocket EI's cheaper flight and splurge the €6 on a Jameson with the savings, every time.

VG31

Time Magazine wrote: »

Never understood the logic on the free drinks thing. It's like harking back to an age when people got dressed up to get on flights. Delta definitely offer a classier product, but they'll charge you €100-€500 more than Aer Lingus/United for the privilege.

DL are often cheaper than EI.

Gr123

Jack1985 wrote: »

Crew change required, issue was generators again with LRC. Pushed back and returned back on stand after engine start, then entered the hangar until roughly 8 this evening.

For a brand new aircraft, it’s already had two generator replacements and to have another issue with them will have EI fuming with Airbus.

I hope there is no further issues I'm flying out on 26th on one of these lol

Jack1985

Return EI100 cancelled. Likely a cancellation today for the 131/130 DUB-BDL-DUB.

billy few mates

Jack1985 wrote: »

Crew change required, issue was generators again with LRC. Pushed back and returned back on stand after engine start, then entered the hangar until roughly 8 this evening.

For a brand new aircraft, it’s already had two generator replacements and to have another issue with them will have EI fuming with Airbus.

Eight hours and a hangar visit to replace an IDG/generator..?

Jack1985

billy few mates wrote: »

Eight hours and a hangar visit to replace an IDG/generator..?

I don’t believe there was a replacement of any generator yesterday.

Aviation2K16

DUB - PHL is cancelled today. PHL - DUB isn’t cancelled so presume LRC will position to PHL from EWR to operate that.

trellheim

at the quietest time of the year and theres no spare frame to do the run ?

kevinandrew

Having a spare aircraft one thing, having the crew to operate it is another.