One of things I bemoan is the increasing uptake by airline operators deciding to go from passenger comfort to profits.
This can be seen with operators switching from nine abreast seating to ten abreast seating in economy class aboard the Boeing 777 aircraft.
This is achieved used narrower seats, narrower isles and a seat that weighs less, that propels airline income to dreams of avarice (or something like that)
But which operators are squeezing them in aboard Boeing 777s? I’ve spent time looking through SeatGuru and SeatExpert, gathering the numbers together in this handy little cut out and keep table:
Operator Type Subtype Seat count Aeroflot 777-300ER - 402 Air Canada 777-300ER High Density 458 Air France 777-200ER Three Class 307 Air France 777-200ER Four Class 251 Air France 777-300ER Caribbean 468 Air France 777-300ER Three Class 383 Air France 777-300ER Four Class 303 Air NZ 777-300ER Three Class 332 Alitalia 777-200ER - 293 American 777-300ER - 310 American 777-200ER New config 254 ANA 777-300 Domestic 514 Austrian 777-200 International 316 Emirates 777-200 Two Class NonER 346 Emirates 777-200ER Three Class 290 Emirates 777-200LR Three Class LR 266 Emirates 777-300ER Two Class 427 Emirates 777-300ER Three Class (a) 354 Emirates 777-300ER Three Class (b) 360 Etihad 777-300ER Two Class 412 Etihad 777-300ER Three Class 300 JAL 777-200 Domestic 375 JAL 777-300 Domestic 500 Jet Airways 777-300ER Version 2 312 KLM 777-300ER - 425 Philippine 777-300ER - 370 Scoot 777-200ER - 402 TAM 777-300ER Version 1 362 TAM 777-300ER Version 2 363
Data SeatGuru and SeatExpert,
And airlines love ten across seating – especially Air Canada who spoke to Runway Girl over their new configuration as they are able to offer more seats on leisure-heavy routes, which allows the to operate 21% less than the equivalent 777-300ER containing 349 seats.
The bottom line – more seats = more cash.
Even Swiss will be deploying their 777-300ERs with 10 across seating in the back when they are delivered.
And thus the passenger experience decreases in terms of comfort down the back of the plane.
I’d love to say “don’t fly on airlines that offer 10 across seats”, but if you have a look at the list above, there are some pretty big carriers (including the worlds largest operator of the Boeing 777-300ER – Emirates), but it can be hard to avoid when these carriers offer tempting fares to far flung places.
The question then becomes – how much do you value your comfort?
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i have a feeling like you said it’s going to become increasingly hard to avoid these sardine cans! alas, i’mma have to deal with UA’s awkward 2-4-2 business eating soon. yuck!
I have a bigger issue with legroom than the width of the seat (I’m an average guy with 5’7 height.) I’ve flown the Emirates 777-300ER several times and I was fine in economy.I’ve flown EK more than 20 times on both their A380s and 77Ws and as long as you don’t fly during peak periods like the holidays, most of the time the seat next to me was empty. During the great recession, I’d even get a whole row to myself!
isn’t KE in the club too ?
Checked. Amazingly, they’re in the 9 across club!
Will check – not off the top of my head…I only have an issue with the ultra long flights > 12 hours. What is going to be painful is if they put 10 across on the A350 which is 11 inches narrower than a 777.
Delta is noticeably absent. Their 777 hard product is quite nice.
And may they continue to be absent! DL only has 777-200LR’s as opposed to the rest of the family.
I wonder how long it will be before this plan creeps its way into business class ?
Look at British Airways who cram 8 across in their Ying Yang config, and United who also cram 8 across over the pond in a backward and forward config. Tight…
Thank god the 767’s and A330’s are still 2-3-2 and 2-4-2 respectively. The 2 on either end makes it a much nicer experience.
Agreeded. Whilst 3-3-3 is starting with the Long Haul LCC’s, they’re not as prominent. Yet.
Add SIA subsidiary Scoot to that list too. Personally, I don’t have any problems with it. I’ve flown on the EK 77Ws and Scoot’s 772s and they were fine. Having said that, if I were flying it for 14 hours instead of seven, that may be a different story.
Sanjeev, AirAsia X and Cebu Pacific have their A330s in 3–3-3 in economy, so it may become a wider trend. At least the 767 fuselage can’t cope with a more dense layout.
I’ve added Scoot in with its 402 seat 777-200ER in it. For 10 across, 17″ is acceptable on short haul legs, but the longer it gets and the longer you are in Economy, the less fidget room you have…
I have travelled in EK 777 Y and don’t really have an issue with it. The AISLES (not ‘isles’) are noticeably narrow and if you sit on one you’ll get frequently bumped – other than that, the seat width difference is negligible. Also, I wouldn’t rely on Seatguru to give you accurate configs – maybe for North American airlines, but for many others they maintain woefully out of date info.