I love writing about long-haul premium economy. Mostly because the judgement comes down to one straightforward question: does the product feel like economy with a bit of extra, or more like business class lite? Seats in the first category do enough to take the pain out of the coach class space crunch. Which, to be fair, is what premium economy was designed to do. But seats in that second category delight in their own right, enough that you might even go out of your way to fly them.
We put Cathay Pacific’s long-haul premium economy to that test over the course of two flights on their Airbus A350 subfleet. Those planes are capable of handling some seriously lengthy routes. In our case, between a flight from New York to Hong Kong and then a connection on to Sydney, we spent over 25 hours onboard.
What did we think after all that time putting the seat and service to the test? Read on to find out. Plus we have plenty of video, including a nose-cam and tail-cam treat at the end.
April 2nd Author’s Note : Thanks for enjoying a bit of April Fools’ fun with us. You AvGeeks know that that’s NOT what a 777 looks like. But fake news is a problem out there. And so to make sure nobody gets confused we’re putting in this disclaimer to make it clear to everyone.
The embattled aircraft manufacturer Boeing today announced that it discovered a major manufacturing error on one of its aircraft. While the planemaker’s issues to date largely focused on the 737 MAX, this morning’s news related to a larger member of its lineup, the 777. The triple-seven is arguably Boeing’s most commercially successful widebody aircraft, making today’s announcement particularly troublesome.
Boeing’s Everett production facility, where the 777 is assembled (photo: Boeing)
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun, who will be stepping down from his role at the end of this year as part of a major company shake-up, held a press conference this morning regarding this development.
“A manufacturing anomaly made it past our quality controls on the 777 production line,” Calhoun admitted. “A few major components of this particular 777-300ER aircraft were installed in the wrong location, and it was only shortly before delivery that those abnormalities were discovered.”
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun answering questions after today’s press conference
AirlineReporter was able to obtain an exclusive leaked image of the aircraft in question. It appears that two forward fuselage sections were installed underneath the wings in place of the aircraft’s engines. Furthermore, an unusually large variant of General Electric’s GE90 engine appears to have been installed in place of the cockpit at the front of the aircraft.
Images obtained of the affected aircraft.
A Boeing employee who asked to remain anonymous noted “I walked up to the plane when it arrived at the plant’s completion and delivery center and … well something just didn’t feel right. I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what it was. But I’m glad that we spoke up.”
This model demonstrates the correct locations of the 777’s cockpit and engines.
Aircraft safety expert Faye Kinuse remarked “This was a scary near miss. If the mistake hadn’t been discovered and any pilot attempted to operate the aircraft, who knows what could have happened.”
Furthermore, other similarly significant manufacturing errors have been found in 777s that are operating today. A whistleblower pointed authorities to an aircraft operated by Emirates, which owns the world’s biggest 777 fleet. The plane in question, delivered two years ago, appears to have unintended additional sections included in its fuselage.
When reached for comment about the discovery, a Boeing spokesperson noted that “while this error is regrettable, on the bright side this aircraft offers unparalleled economics on a per-seat basis.”
While Airbus had previously remained above the fray of Boeing’s manufacturing woes, it appears that some of their airplanes may harbor similarly severe assembly problems. Members of the planespotting community in Frankfurt, Germany recently posted photos taken of a Lufthansa Airbus A380 with six more engines than normal.
“We were understandably alarmed when we were alerted about the issue,” said Lufthansa spokesperson Öpse Deise. “However it now makes sense why that particular aircraft cruises at Mach 3.”
Airbus held a press conference to express regret for the error. Striking a more upbeat note, the company pointed to its new A3 line of aircraft, designed with environmental sustainability in mind. As a shortened version of the A320 family it is small enough to be propelled by its passengers via bicycle pedal power, giving it a net-zero carbon footprint.
Editor’s Note: Happy April Fools’ everyone, thanks for sharing in a bit of fun with us. We hope you liked revisiting those crazy airplane photoshops that were big on YouTube and message boards years ago. Thanks and credit to the people behind the images we used, including @SwiftOnSecurityand the Infinite Flight message board, though a lot of those photos were posted anonymously.Also kudos to those of you who noticed that our Dave Calhoun pic was actually actor Wallace Shawn.
It’s been a good while since I’ve done a Learning to Fly post. Since the last time, I’ve completed my first biennial flight review, which is a mandatory mini-checkride done every two years with a flight instructor, that’s designed to verify that a pilot has properly maintained both their flying skills and regulatory knowledge.
I’ve been doing a ton of local flying around Puget Sound, plus a few flights over the mountains to central Washington state, all via rented aircraft from Galvin Flying.
Because of the Pacific Northwest’s consistently lousy winter weather, with very low clouds, rain, and low visibility, it had been a couple months since my last flight. So I booked some time with a trusted CFI and got lucky with a nice weather window, and off we went to do some practice.
I honestly miss the structure of flight training. You could expect to be constantly challenged, and asked to randomly perform flight maneuvers or emergency procedures. There are still plenty of challenges when flying on your own, but you soon settle into comfortable routines.
Our flight track from Flightradar24 – the first one is our pattern work, the second is the entire flight
Our training flight first consisted of three laps around the traffic pattern at Seattle’s Boeing Field doing touch-and-go landings, then we exited the pattern and flew to one of our local practice areas, the one we refer to as northeast practice, as it lies to the northeast of BFI. We also have west practice, which is across Puget Sound and east of the Bremerton airport, and southeast practice, which is, perhaps unsurprisingly, southeast of BFI and east of Auburn airport.
A lot of my own flying has been to the southwest over to Tacoma Narrows Airport, or northwest along the Olympic Peninsula to Jefferson County Airport in Port Townsend, so we went northeast for something of a change, plus the transit time is the shortest of the three training areas.
Traffic is always a concern when flying in congested airspace; going out on the first good afternoon following a spell of bad weather always means there is plenty of traffic to keep an eye on
The Cessna 172 we flew that day was equipped with a Garmin G1000 instrumentation and navigation system, which includes traffic. The arrows on the screen above represent aircraft in the area as we were leaving the practice area and descending to stay well beneath SEA’s overhead Bravo airspace when we were returning to BFI. The extended line from each arrow shows direction of travel, and the numbers indicate the altitude above or below your own; super handy info to augment what you’re seeing out the windshield.
Sitting at the hold-short line, waiting for takeoff clearance. Photo by Adam KephartDowntown Seattle and Puget Sound. Photo by Adam KephartMount Rainier makes an excellent reference point for doing maneuvers over the northeast practice area
There was nothing crazy or groundbreaking about the flight. We did some touch-and-go landings, then went out to the practice area and did a couple of stalls (one power-off approach to landing stall, and one power-on departure stall), and then headed back.
Adam the CFI took the controls so I could grab a few photos
It’s focused practice flights such as these that keeps you safe as a pilot, and keeps your basic proficiency levels up to standard. I’ll go out again with Adam this spring to do some simulated emergencies to keep those skills sharp, too.
And I’ll leave you with one more photo of one of my favorite views ever. More soon — summer is coming.
Just about to touch down on 14L at the end of the flight. Photo by Adam Kephart.
Singapore Airlines knows what it’s doing. No airline is perfect, but Singapore earns its status as a fan favorite for frequent fliers. Flying one of their long-haul premium cabins has been one of my AvGeek dreams for a while. So when I snagged a lucky award ticket during a trip to Asia/Australia — and on the A380, no less — I was EXCITED.
I’m not going to bury the lede. This flight was about as good as it gets. It was the airborne equivalent of watching a seasoned orchestra perform. Read on for the full story about my time in Singapore Airlines’ upper-deck A380 business class. And don’t worry, as great as things were inside the plane we still have plenty of window seat views for you to take in.
A Lufthansa Boeing 747-8i passes downtown LA on final for LAX
A sunny break from the Pacific Northwest’s typically gloomy winter weather is always a pleasant opportunity. Last month I ventured south from Seattle for a couple days seeking some sun and planespotting.
Winter sunsets come early, but it also presents some great nighttime spotting opportunities
My wife and I stayed at our favorite LA hotel, the H Hotel Los Angeles. It’s walking distance from the airport and to the famed spotting viewpoint park at the end of runway 24R/06L, a.k.a. the In-N-Out park, so named for its proximity to the famous burger restaurant. It’s actually just across the city line in Westchester for those who like to be exacting about locations.
LA sunsets are really all they’re claimed to be
This trip, 24R/06R was closed, and had been for months, for a big refurbishment project. This meant the spotting at the park was poor, as the planes have been landing on 24L/06R on the north side of the airport, and the two southside runways are seeing additional traffic.
Large sections of the runway appear to have been dug up and the pavement refreshed
Not having a rental car to go visit the Imperial Hill viewpoint on the airport’s south side, the best option turned out to be the most comfortable one – the H Hotel’s magnificent roof deck. I did walk over for a burger, and some spotting along Sepulveda Boulevard, but the best light and angles for the situation were definitely from the hotel.
I did manage some classic belly photos from the sidewalk along Sepulveda Bouledvard
Even for repeat visitors, LAX never gets old. The photo options are great, and there’s a seemingly neverending assortment of airlines and planes.
The views south from the hotel are often backlit, but the queen of the skies still demands a photo
Japan Air Lines has retired all of its Boeing 777-200s, and its very last one stopped overnight at LAX before being flown over to the Victorville boneyard.
While I was there, Japan Air Lines last 777-200 stopped at LAX on its way to the boneyard at Victorville, Calif.
Southern California gets winter inversion layers with fog, but sometimes it’s clear as a bell. The weather on this visit was slightly foggy in the morning, and the haze never quite lifted, but there were views of the downtown core and Hollywood sign from the rooftop.
The roof deck at the H Hotel is very popular with planespotters
