Qantas business class seat DROOP

[russ]

I usually ask a crew member for something to jam underneath the extension. Over the years, they've used plastic drinkware racks, metal boxes and even their own cabin luggage!

 

[Quickstatus]

Flew A380 J recently and had the dreaded droop. What I found interesting was that there was a number of passengers with the issue, and the flight attendants were well versed on it. They studiously went around helping people prop their legs up as if nothing was wrong. According to the attendant I spoke to it is now very common in the older A380s.

So whats going on here? If it is not just an isolated issue, how is it that Qantas can get away with selling a "Fully-flat bed" that actually isn't? Under Australian Consumer Law that's called a Misleading claim or representation....

Oh and the manual control fix suggested in this thread doesn't actually work. All it does is reduce the amount of extension in the leg zone, which in turn reduces the droop. If you are tall and need the full leg extension then it doesn't matter whether you use the lie flat button or the manual controls.... the droop is the same either way. Trust me, I spent a good long time fiddling around with this trying to actually get a decent nights sleep.

Forrunately for me the method described in post #25 has worked for me (and I'm 185cm). Do you remember what was your seat number and aircraft rego?

 

[MarcB]

I recently flew SYD-DFW and DFW-SYD and had the droop in both directions. On previous journeys I'd been able to manipulate it as some have suggested above to not droop as much, but on this trip, no luck at all. Anyway, I emailed QF and was contacted by Customer Care today. It was explained to me that this was an identified issue and that engineering were involved in trying to find a solution. Anyway, no specific remediation mentioned, but good to hear there is some acknowledgement of the issue and working towards a solution.

 

[downgraded]

I managed to delete my previous post.
Sky bed2 was clearly never fit for purpose based on basic engineering principles of strength and forces it is required to endure. Glad it is finally recognized since I've been physically injured by knees slowly bending in ways nature didn't intend whilst slumbering lying on my side in said droopy seats.

 

[eosphoros]

Sky bed2 was clearly never fit for purpose based on basic engineering principles of strength and forces it is required to endure.

I think the severity of the problem couldn't exactly have been foreseen. They never had such an issue with MkI, and so, understandably, they didn't think it would be a problem here. A large part of the reason why it has become a problem, I think, is that many people step onto the end of the beds when fully extended to access their baggage, or sit on the end of their beds. I see this every time I'm on board an A380. Over time, this greatly contributed to the seats drooping. Now, this never happened with the MkI since the beds are not flat - they're angled, and so no one would sit on the end of them or stand on them.

Two years ago was my last time on a Skybed MkI. And, surprisingly, I actually found the bed (but not the entire space) much more comfortable, since, even though it was sloped, it was nevertheless flat and did not bend into my spine.

I suspect that, at some time, QF will come around to replacing the seats with the new Vantage XL (albeit with the passenger divider in the aisle seats either removed or made removable for those of us travelling in pairs). I don't think they saw much need for it before, since the majority of their A380s are destined for the US, and there was really no competition in respect of J products (cf Asian carriers). That is no longer the case: AA's hard product is much better; UA's newly announced hard product is much better; and VA's is much better.

If QF can find a way to remedy the droop problem, I would actually prefer them to do so rather than replace the seats with Vantage XL. Whilst I find the 'compartment' or 'suite' type seats very nice, there is nothing like the sense of space that one feels in the QF A380 J cabin. That, no doubt, is in no small part due to the minimalism. And in that respect, the clutter in the EK A380 J cabin is rather overwhelming and claustrophobic.

 

[moa999]

Simple solution...
Attach a small lightweight plastic stool to the floor to provide end suppory. Only issue is that it becomes a bit of a trip hazard and cuts into leg room slightly.

No different to all the tray table designs that dont have support at the far edge. Over time they have a tendency to not stay flat either.

But I agree that the A380s will get an update to the suite. The 747s will probably struggle on so a support mechanism is still needed