Virgin Blue A330 J class, ATR and new uniform details

[The Rok]

Well if we knew the date it was making it's maiden flight we could aim for it??? I have a few Perth to Syd in April/May/June in J so I should make it anyway.

 

[AaronBradford]

I'm thinking a quick visit to Perth on the June long weekend is in order Any help on that, VirginBlue?

 

[docjames]

I's like some confirmation from Virgin Blue that the seating is either 2-3-2 or 2-2-2 please?

 

[pshepvic]

So you DID pick up on that!!

Wonder which lucky AFF will make it on that inaugural flight.....

Are you hinting at something there? Perhaps a free flight or competition for AFF members?

Hehe wishful thinking perhaps!

 

[oz_mark]

So you DID pick up on that!!

Wonder which lucky AFF will make it on that inaugural flight.....

Ooh, more teasing

 

[jsd]

You'll need a keen eye for this but bear with me...

Is it just me or in the middle of the J seats shown in the photos I can make out what looks to be the Virgin logo and some text in the same position where 'blue' currently sits....

I'm not sure if it says 'blue' or something else, I can't really tell, its too blurry...

Just a observation, or in the case of nobody else sees it, going a bit nuts :-|

 

[AaronBradford]

You'll need a keen eye for this but bear with me...

Is it just me or in the middle of the J seats shown in the photos I can make out what looks to be the Virgin logo and some text in the same position where 'blue' currently sits....

I'm not sure if it says 'blue' or something else, I can't really tell, its too blurry...

Just a observation, or in the case of nobody else sees it, going a bit nuts :-|

I noticed it too. I think it still says 'Blue', but the jpg artifacts (and poor resolution) really mess it up so it could be anything of a similar length. The half-crescent is still there, too. Mind you, I don't think they would include any new logo/name just yet. It's pretty easy to swap it out for an updated mark when the time comes to promote the new brand.

 

[stryker]

What's Airbus' slogan for the A330/340 family? No middle seat in business.

As for Virgin Blue (or any other colour for that matter), why would I waste my hard earned cash on such a cr'p airline, when I could hand my money over to Qantas and get half decent treatment and a leg up to better status (I'm currently Gold).

That velocity FF program is a complete joke!

 

[pshepvic]

You'll need a keen eye for this but bear with me...

Is it just me or in the middle of the J seats shown in the photos I can make out what looks to be the Virgin logo and some text in the same position where 'blue' currently sits....

I'm not sure if it says 'blue' or something else, I can't really tell, its too blurry...

Just a observation, or in the case of nobody else sees it, going a bit nuts :-|

There is definitely something there - mind you the entire photo looks like about 80% CGI ... the carpet looks immaculate - so much so that it doesn't even really look like carpet, the view is photoshopped in, so as I assume the whole thing was done in a studio, the Virgin logo has possibly been photoshopped in too...

Can't imagine that either of the A330 aircraft are fitted out yet, otherwise they'd have had a big rollout & announcement in a hanger like Qantas does whenever they introduce a new product

 

[Justchecking]

My point was that for me, it doesn't seem as though the uniforms (at least the female FA's without jackets) portray the image they're trying to attain by reinventing themselves.

The uniforms look a lot better in person than those promo pics. When you see the crew working in them they look very nice and compliment the current aircraft interior well. Why they chose to promote a more 'corporate' look with those pics I have no idea.

 

[AnonymousCoward]

As for Virgin Blue (or any other colour for that matter), why would I waste my hard earned cash on such a cr'p airline, when I could hand my money over to Qantas and get half decent treatment and a leg up to better status (I'm currently Gold).

If you hand over your hard-earned cash to DJ, then you get a leg-up to better status there as well.

Unsure why you say that DJ is a cr'p airline. As they say in Wikipedia land: "citation needed"

That velocity FF program is a complete joke!

Ditto

 

[straitman]

As for Virgin Blue (or any other colour for that matter), why would I waste my hard earned cash on such a cr'p airline, when I could hand my money over to Qantas and get half decent treatment and a leg up to better status (I'm currently Gold).

This has been discussed until people have become nauseas. Some will agree and some won't. Why specifically do you say DJ are crxp :?:

Having travelled with both in the last few weeks I have to say there is very little in it. One is slightly better one day and the other the next.

My recent experience has DJ way ahead with on time performance.

 

[AaronBradford]

The uniforms look a lot better in person than those promo pics. When you see the crew working in them they look very nice and compliment the current aircraft interior well. Why they chose to promote a more 'corporate' look with those pics I have no idea.

I see - I'll hold off on commenting further until I fly next on the 4th, then.

 

[medhead]

For those lazy to find the PDF - Business in A330

View attachment 1761

I think I kept up with this thread pretty well and I dopn't think anyone has mentioned it yet. But in relation to the J config question - 2-2-2 vs 2-3-2. Looking on the left side of this picture, it looks like there is the bottom of the "leg" of one of the middle seats. Too me that suggests a narrow aisle. I've only flown on these aircraft twice, so I'm not sure. Would a narrow aisle then mean it is 2-3-2?

 

[spaceboi]

I think I kept up with this thread pretty well and I dopn't think anyone has mentioned it yet. But in relation to the J config question - 2-2-2 vs 2-3-2. Looking on the left side of this picture, it looks like there is the bottom of the "leg" of one of the middle seats. Too me that suggests a narrow aisle. I've only flown on these aircraft twice, so I'm not sure. Would a narrow aisle then mean it is 2-3-2?

I thought the same thing. But was thrown of a bit by the 3rd row seat - of which i believe you can see juuuust a tiny bit of in the bottom left of the image. It looks like it is offset to the left of the aisle quite a few more inches than that 2nd row middle sectioned seat.

Could it be that the entire middle section does use 2 seats but rather than keeping each mid row perfectly aligned to each other, has them staggered? (seems an odd thing to do unless these seats are just a bit too wide for 2-3-2 config..hope the piccy below makes sense)

JJ JJ- JJ
JJ -JJ JJ
JJ JJ- JJ
JJ -JJ JJ

spaceboi

 

[markis10]

I think I kept up with this thread pretty well and I dopn't think anyone has mentioned it yet. But in relation to the J config question - 2-2-2 vs 2-3-2.

I thought I read that JB in the conference call confirmed it as being a 2-2-2 cabin, surely they are not foolish enough to go down the same path as QF with the same feedback to be expected.

 

[pauly7]

My recent experience has DJ way ahead with on time performance.

I agree with you on it's purely personal which airlines people prefer on here...

But OTP is actually objective fact driven and across the domestic network QF is the leader here as per the results for 2010 just released and pretty much every month for a long time now.

DJ really need to get their cancellation rate down as well, highest in Aus and almost double the amount of QF cancellations. Business people no likey

(PS not disputing your conclusion but it is from your small sample size

 

[dk4]

But in relation to the J config question - 2-2-2 vs 2-3-2. Looking on the left side of this picture, it looks like there is the bottom of the "leg" of one of the middle seats. Too me that suggests a narrow aisle. I've only flown on these aircraft twice, so I'm not sure. Would a narrow aisle then mean it is 2-3-2?

I think that we are all looking forward to confirmation, but…
let’s consider the following timeline –

• JB as head-honcho at QF, initiates development of the Recaro 2x3x2 J seat for A330 domestic services
• AJ gets the top job at Qantas Group, but leaves the Recaro seat order open.
• JB puts forward a business plan, to his new employers at Virgin, to use Emirates' old A330 J seats and market them in Australia, by leasing the old aircraft from EK. Thinking that both airlines will be operating 2x3x2 in transcon J by the time he launches in 2011, but that he will have a significantly better pitch, at around 60”
• AJ receives 2x3x2 Recaro seats and installs them into two A330s, to fly them over the Xmas (break from business) period 2010/2011.
• As completely expected the QF loyalists hate them, so just as everyone starts going back to business in 2011, AJ announces that they will be withdrawn due to “negative customer feed back”.
• AJ announces a move of 2x2x2 Skybeds onto Virgins A330 routes (as well as 747s), knowing that Virgin is about to launch with EKs old planes.

So, this is where we are now.

The last move in the chess match was for Qantas to deliberately flame dissent for a 2x3x2 configured J on A330s: so we await Virgin’s move.

IF JBs original business plan involved pricings based on EKs configuration “as is”, and he is forced to drop 1/7th of his seats, perhaps he won’t be able to discount to the level that he may have anticipated, but if he doesn’t, he will certainly have problems going to market with a 2x3x2 J configuration after “the commotion” that AJ created over the holiday break. (And if he goes to market with a 2x2x2 configuration, but drops the pitch and adds a row to maintain revenue, he has lost a significant amount of his comparative “wow factor”.)

So, we all await the response from the Virgin reps on AFF, as to the final J configuration for the A330s, but without holding our breath.

For any on this forum who are unable to visualise reupholstering (leather on the front, plastic on the back) of the EK seat image which I posted earlier, and are also missing an appreciation regarding how much leeway to give “artists' impressions” when looking at computer generated images. Try comparing these two images below.

Virgin, as per the recent briefing.

The Age - Business, World & Breaking News | Melbourne, Australia

A6-EAD, as is, on 30th January last year.

http://www.airliners.net/photo/Emirates/Airbus-A330-243/1714698/M/

Of course, I could be completely wrong!

 

[ishkaban]

Any word when the new J seats will be available for purchase / redemption with Velocity points?

have been told 330 seats can be purchased from around mid march

 

[docjames]

The lack of an answer from any DJ rep is deafening......... and probably indicates the answer