What's your favourite aircraft type?

[zoomaloid2000]

A380 - but not just any, though - EY (!) EK or QR F
A350 my favourite 'everyday ride'.

EY business class on the A380 is fantastic. So much room, quiet, wonderful staff. Definitely my favourite.

 

[Ade]

Least favourite (relatively recently) Emirates B777 in Y.

<offtopic>

Ah, yes. I agree. Flew EK only once in Y SYD-DXB. Very bad experience.

It was not just the cabin, seats, IFE ... it was the general service (or the lack thereof) .. The FA was, in the very common sense of the word. rude .... He for some reason thought it was ok to talk like the way he did.

The seats were smelly ... I mean I could get a whiff of pungent smell around my seat and the nearby seats ... the FA's couldn't figure out what it was .. may be the aircon unit had to be cleaned or the seats needed a vaccum ? IDK ... but it was not a pleasant smelling 14 hours ... I asked if it was ok to move seats (this was WAYYYYY before CoVID, sometime in 2016), my request was refused ... I asked for a drink and the FA said that he had served me already ... but clearly I didn't have a drink in my hand ... I mean, something was REALLY off with that flight ... that was the first & last time I flew EK ... never set foot on another EK flight so far .. but once things get back to "normal" (or whatever the new normal is), I want to try the A380 EK J CHC-SYD once ..

I did write a strongly worded email to customer relations (or service or similar), standard template reply and no other actions ...

</offtopic>

 

[AIRwin]

The FA was, in the very common sense of the word. rude .... He for some reason thought it was ok to talk like the way he did.

Doesn't he know who you are or you may not have been Platinum then?

 

[PineappleSkip]

I can't remember what type it was but there was a single engine seaplane I flew a couple times in the 1980s from Newcastle Harbour to Rose Bay, Sydney. They had two aircraft, the smaller was what we referred to in the office as the "Indiana Jones plane". No aisle. Arm your own door (every window got its own door). Safety briefing before they started the engines because it was too noisy otherwise. Anything but quiet, except when they turned the engine off. Spectacular coastal views.

Cheers skip

 

[Ade]

Doesn't he know who you are or you may not have been Platinum then?

I was not Platinum back then ... It was early days of my flying .. I started flying in 2014, doing 1 Intl Y every year in the cheapest fare bucket, no domestic travel what so ever .. so 2015/2016, I was in status "nobody"

 

[Prof Henry]

Best looker, but very narrow seating. Never flown in one, just a walk through the one in NY.

For J, B747 when upstairs was J.

Ah, yes, but an even better memory for me was those times when QF 747 had Upper Deck Y! That felt like winning the lottery.

And my first few times taking off in a 747 and feeling the powerful elegance of that gravity-defying rise from the tarmac

 

[Mr H]

I love the 747. Two exclusive areas - upstairs and the nose - and somehow the upstairs seems so much more special being a bulge rather than the entire plane length. The variety of seating styles, layouts, classes make it a real experience. I love it.

But I also have a love/hate relationship with the Saab 340. I love the 1-2 seating, and the views from the front seats are fantastic. I love the sound of the turboprops firing up. But the open doorway on the tarmac on a winter's day...

Least favourite is harder. Perhaps the A330 - as that has variously meant old seats or equipment swaps to an older configuration. Or perhaps the ATR72 - feels cramped and characterless, and boarding from the rear means the best seats for views are the worst seats for exiting.

 

[paulmoore]

I've been on probably a hundred different types of aircraft.

For me the A380, from an overall passenger experience (pretty much in any class) is the best. A350s not too far behind. 787s - blah.

Before the new-gens it was 747s: especially the -300s, -400s and -SPs.

I agree that in domestic Y, the QF 767s could be pretty good.

I love the A380 and 747, find the 787 disappointing and loath the 737.

 

[OZDUCK]

Ah, yes, but an even better memory for me was those times when QF 747 had Upper Deck Y! That felt like winning the lottery.

And my first few times taking off in a 747 and feeling the powerful elegance of that gravity-defying rise from the tarmac

I had a couple of flights in the Upper Deck J on the early SQ A380's. We paid extra for an exit row seat so we had about 2 metres of legroom when the Cabin Crew were not seated. The layout was 2-4-2 in our row, about 3 rows from the tail, so very spacious. It was slightly nosier than elsewhere on a A380 but still pretty quite. Also you could feel the turbulence a bit more back there as well - I managed to throw half a glass of red wine over myself when there was a sudden bump. But I would have still happily booked those seats again.

 

[Ade]

loath the 737

I think most, if not all members here will echo your feeling re the 737

 

[Mr H]

I think almost, if not all members here will echo your feeling re the 737

... even with the retro-fitted wing glitz?

 

[kookaburra75]

I think most, if not all members here will echo your feeling re the 737

I've never had an issue with the 737's. They're just an aircraft. Mind you, I spent several years flying up and down WA and the NT in F28s. If you got rows 13 or 14, there were no windows and you were located between the engines. The engine sound seemed to move from side to side, and slowly drive you nuts on the long 3-4 hour runs. And then, there was FKC (Breakdown Charlie) which lived up to its nickname.

 

[Mr H]

I've never had an issue with the 737's. They're just an aircraft.

For my money, they are slightly too narrow for comfortable 3-3 seating and they are often used by LCCs so they tend to have little legroom. Their competitor - the A320 family - are bland but feel just that bit less cramped.

 

[Ade]

Their competitor - the A320 family - are bland but feel just that bit less cramped.

Do you feel so because of the thin seats? I have realized that (and this is my personal feeling/realization) when I fly LCC (say JQ or IndiGo (in India) on A320, the seats are slim .. and so feels less cramped .. I mean it could be the same leg room, but feels spacious

For my height, roughly 5 feet 5, the knees don't touch the seat at the front and so feels like there is more space?

 

[jakeseven7]

For my money, they are slightly too narrow for comfortable 3-3 seating and they are often used by LCCs so they tend to have little legroom. Their competitor - the A320 family - are bland but feel just that bit less cramped.

Yup.
Hate 737s. Hate A320’s slightly less.

 

[Mr H]

Do you feel so because of the thin seats? I have realized that (and this is my personal feeling/realization) when I fly LCC (say JQ or IndiGo (in India) on A320, the seats are slim .. and so feels less cramped .. I mean it could be the same leg room, but feels spacious

even for someone who is of average height (say 5 foot 3), the knees don't touch the seat at the front and so feels like there is more space?

I know some LCCs use thin seats, but their pitches are usually shorter too - that more than eats up any benefit the thin seats might give. If the average person is 5 foot 3 (and I doubt that) then it still doesn't mean seat pitches should be designed for that - they should be designed for, say, the 95th percentile. And if a short pitch is combined with a narrow seat...

 

[Ade]

If the average person is 5 foot 3 (and I doubt that)

Sorry, I mistyped. Modified now. I thought one thing and typed the other.

 

[Mr H]

Sorry, I mistyped. Modified now. I thought one thing and typed the other.

No worries. I have tried to Google for average heights, and in Australia it looks like 5 foot 9 for men. I am 6 foot 1 and not unusually tall. So if you are 5 foot 5 I would certainly hope your knees aren't forced to touch the seat in front, even on the shortest seat pitches.

 

[jb747]

But the OPs question was about favourite aircraft, not favourite interior fit out...

 

[OZDUCK]

Another aircraft that I did enjoy flying in, even though it was always in in Y, was the B727. As long as long as you were a fair way forward it was reasonably quiet for aircraft of that vintage. Though I did get stuck in the last row once, with my ear next to the engine, on a CBR - MEL flight and that certainly left a roaring in your ears. Landings were fun as all sorts of devices on the wings deployed, the engine noise pitched up and there seemed to be a great deal of action as you came into land. Also you often got to board/disembark via the inbuilt tail stairway which was always fun.