Qantas A300 Query

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ChrisCunard

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Hello all,

Can anyone tell me what the A300 cabin for Qantas and TAA was like?

Was there F, J and Y or just J and Y?

Thx :)

Chris.
 
Here's a scan from a 1996 timetable: (It does not show the First/Business separation).

A300-B4.jpg
 
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Started as two class...
[video=youtube;Kx6pb7u7DdU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kx6pb7u7DdU[/video]
 
Then they added business class...
[video=youtube;iId-4CZ0Yk8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iId-4CZ0Yk8[/video]
 
To become a 3 class service...
[video=youtube;AQcfr1NjzkA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQcfr1NjzkA[/video]
 
I Started flying them around the mid 90's.

F and J seats were the same - all in the forward cabin; the first two rows were set up as "First" with a different colour for the anti-maccasars. (ISTR, White for First and Blue for Business).

Here's a scan from a 1996 timetable: (It does not show the First/Business separation).

View attachment 39833

First received a galley plated service business was done on the one tray.

Economy was economy - Wines and Spirits (miniatures) were $3 to purchase, Beers were $2.
 
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I can't tell you much about Ansett (I rarely flew them), but their first response strategy to the widebody and business class (3 class service) innovations at TAA was to dismiss them.

Ansett promotes its "single aisle" fleet strength over "wide bodies"...
[video=youtube;KIfN_Nm44ss]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIfN_Nm44ss[/video]
 
Ansett promotes its 2 class service strategy over TAA's new 3 class approach...
[video=youtube;uH4gu1XHRCk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uH4gu1XHRCk[/video]
 
I Started flying them around the mid 90's.

when business was first introduced ... F was in the F cabin, and business class was in rows 7-10 or so (I think it might have been variable?).

It was basically economy seating, although they might have left the DE seats free? (although that might have been a function of loads).

I remember doing one (and only) flight to PER in business class in that configuration. We were served canapes from a tray with the pre-dinner drink service (nothing fancy, they were those little circles of bread topped with a swirl of cream cheese and a slice of olive).

edited: yes! like the video in post #4.
 
Until the end of the 80s TAA/Australian was still the only airline flying 3 class service, with “business class” an economy seat with extra leg room, in a forward section with better F&B service and priority baggage/check-in.
[video=youtube;aEiNgxV9vWw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEiNgxV9vWw[/video]

Then around the end of/beginning of the next decade, Ansett finally joined the business (3 class) revolution.
 
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Taking the innovative lead for the first time, Ansett upped the ante with a blocked middle seat using a tray table...
[video=youtube;mE5RYpWMQDQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mE5RYpWMQDQ[/video]
 
So TAA/Australian responded by playing around with the names of their onboard products and dropped the term First Class, and gave full fare paying Economy passengers a better service.
[video=youtube;tEPZB0wwCDc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEPZB0wwCDc[/video]

Deregulation saw the airlines move away from product marketing to mostly ephemeral brand/image marketing, so I can’t find anymore youtube videos to demonstrate onboard product, but eventually the two front cabin products (on both airlines) merged into a BusinessFirst product (via a transition, presumably which serfty described previously?), which became the domestic business class we have today, and then things stagnated at the front of the planes due to the LCC revolution…until Virgin started the innovation ball rolling again, at the front of the cabin, with 60” pitch coast to coast business class.
 
Taking the innovative lead for the first time, Ansett upped the ante with a blocked middle seat using a tray table...

and here I was thinking QF was creative with the tray table seats on the A332.
 
and here I was thinking QF was creative with the tray table seats on the A332.
Haha, don't forget that Australian/Qantas had them as well, only recently retired the last of them too!
734-qf-j-1full.jpg

QF 737 with convertible business seats.
 
Haha, don't forget that Australian/Qantas had them as well, only recently retired the last of them too!

QF 737 with convertible business seats.

we used to have a version of that for First class too! although the centre seat was split evenly down the middle to create a 2-2 from a 3-3. On a 727 it was not uncommon to see 8 rows of so of the convertible seats to F. (same as you can see in the ansett picture in post#12 above)
 
we used to have a version of that for First class too! although the centre seat was split evenly down the middle to create a 2-2 from a 3-3. On a 727 it was not uncommon to see 8 rows of so of the convertible seats to F. (same as you can see in the ansett picture in post#12 above)
yes, my pic was of the very last incarnation of the QF convertible seat*. :) (* excluding the A330 JQ J seat with added tray previously mentioned.)
 
To be clear, (and this is getting Off Topic), those seats used to crank the center armrests in to allow additional space for the laterally challenged.

Tthrough the mid to 90's to early 2000's, the 737's had 2 rows of dedicated "First" with the next 5 rows being of convertible seating.

Most often usedas 2F rows, 2/2 J rows and economy further back. Generally flights to/from CBR/PER would be the only ones to have J down to row 7.

One Saturday night, I had upgraded from economy to business with paper certificates and they had decided to operate 2F, rest economy and was 'upgraded' to 1F.

Here's a scan of a 733:

B733.jpg
 
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