Airbus versus Boeing. Who doesn’t love a good competition between the world’s two largest commercial airline manufactures? I try to say I am not slanted one way or another, but living 15 minutes away from where most Boeing aircraft are made might make me a bit biased. The saying around these parts, “If it isn’t Boeing, I am not going,” is pretty popular. I actually know a few people who honestly will not fly an Airbus or Boeing product just on principle. I don’t go that far.
Anyhow one of the constant “this manufacture is better,” arguments I hear is that the Airbus A320 seats are so much wider than the B0eing 737s. I figured it was time to find out. I took a look at airlines from around the world that fly both aircraft and used SeatGuru.com to find out the width of each seat.
I wanted to check the accuracy of the information SeatGuru has on their site, so I spoke with Jami Counter, Senior director of the site and he stated, “SeatGuru’s content team utilizes flyer comments to maintain the accuracy of our airplane seat information and updates the site with both user-submitted reviews and independent research.” That being said, I am by no means saying this is 100% scientific, but I think it can give a good comparison between the two.
Both the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 families have the same width no matter what model they might be (ie a Boeing 737-200 is just as wide as a -900). Airbus starts out ahead with a fuselage width of 156″ and a cabin width of 146″. The Boeing 737 is a bit smaller with a 148″ fuselage and only 139″ in the cabin. This means that the Airbus A320 has 7 more inches of width than the Boeing 737. If an airline did things right, each seat and the aisle could have 1″ more width than the 737.
I took a look at airlines running the Boeing 737 and/or the Airbus A320. I compared both the standard economy seating and also premium seating (some airlines call it first class, business, etc). The economy is shown with an “E” and premium with a “P.” If an airline had multiple seat widths in the same category, I averaged them together. Here are my results in inches:
On average, the Airbus A320 seats are wider, but not by much. Only about 1/2″ in economy and almost no difference with premium seats. It seems that airlines and seat manufactures are not using that extra 7″ of cabin width that the Airbus A320 provides.
When I asked Counter from SeatGuru about his thoughts, he told me, “While the A320 does have a wider diameter fuselage, it doesn’t necessarily mean that airlines will put in a significantly wider seat.” He also took a look at the data they have on their site and came to a similar conclusion that the A320 will have slightly more width on average. “On SeatGuru we’ve found that while there is some variation, we generally see airlines give about 17-17.2″ seat width in coach on a B737, while they give about 17.5″-18″ seat width in coach on an A320. These differences depend on the types of seats airlines use, as well as the overall seating configuration of the aircraft. ”
Is it worth making an effort to fly on a Airbus A320 for more room? I am going to say no. I know that many people have a preference of aircraft type they fly on and I am assuming that fractions of an inch isn’t going to persuade a person one way or another. However, airline loyalist have always surprised me in the past. Does this information change your views on flying on either the Boeing 737 or Airbus A320?
Orig Image: Caribb
Allegiant Air Boeing 757 N902NV outside ATS at Paine Field in Everett, WA on Sunday.
I know, I know, I have posted a lot of blogs not only on Allegiant’s new Boeing 757’s, but also their semi-new livery. What can I say, I love new liveries and new airplane types. Put them together and I can’t resist.
While driving around Paine Field on Sunday, there was a nice treat sitting outside of ATS in Everett: N902NV. Although I was aware that N902NV was at ATS, I haven’t seen her in person. Previously I wondered if Allegiant’s semi-new livery would look better in person than in photos and I think it does.
Taking a look at this close up photo of the door, you can see there is no interior trim on the door and what looks like wires hanging down from the inside. I assume that the interior has not yet been completed and work should continue at ATS. N901NV, the other Boeing 757, is stationed at Flightstar Aircraft Services in Jacksonville, FL. I followed up with Allegiant again to see if there was any news on these Boeing 757’s and at this time they are still staying silent.
On top of seeing their new aircraft, Allegiant also announced last week that if you don’t pay for an assigned seat, you will end up having Southwest-style open seating. This will be the new order for boarding:
* Priority Boarding for those that pay $9.99 extra per leg on top of seat assignment fee
* Pre-boards
* General Boarding – those who purchased seat assignments for $6.99 or $9.99
* Families with children under 7
* Everyone else, in order of check in
If a passenger does not board during their specified boarding time, they forfeit their seat assignment. Now, that would be frustrating for a family of 3 that dropped $30 to sit together.
I will be taking my first flight on Allegiant next month from Bellingham to Las Vegas. I have heard you can purchase Allegiant MD-80 models on board the aircraft, you better believe I will be getting one of my own.
UPDATE:
On Allegiant’s SEC presentation they state under a plan to amend the 757 fleet and Hawaii program:
* Operate 757 in domestic mainland, non-ETOPS flying (ETOPS is needed to fly over 60min away from an airport)
* After several months of operational experience, apply for ETOPS
* Target ETOPS approval in 2012
Interesting. Allegiant has confirmed with me that the Boeing 757’s will start flying in mid-2011, but there was no talk about pushing flights to Hawaii to 2012. Is Allegiant just having issues with getting ETOPS certification or does the FAA want Allegiant to get some experience flying the Boeing 757 domestically over land before having them ETOPS certified. I am not sure now, but hoping to find out. Thanks to Dan Webb for finding this.
MORE PHOTOS OF ALLEGIANT 757 N902NV AT PAINE FIELD
Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner (VT-ANA) now out of the paint hangar at Paine Field. Photo from MoonM.
The newest livery on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner belongs to Air India and their first Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Found this fine photo (and there are a few others of this 787) on Jon Ostrower’s Flight Blogger website. Heck, this is a good time to take a look at all the current liveries seen on Boeing 787’s to date:
Royal Air Maroc Boeing 787 Dreamliner being stored next to the Future of Flight.
There are currently two JAL Boeing 787's also parked next to the Future of Flight.
This Boeing 787 has the ANA tail, but the rest is all white. People are guessing ANA might have a special livery planned.
This is ZA002 which has been in the news recently. It was the first in ANA livery, but there are quite a few now lined up at Paine Field.
ZA005 was the first to have GE engines, but the third to sport Boeing's livery-lite. Photo from Liz Matzelle
Ah, good 'ol ZA001 in full Boeing livery -- probably my favorite.
More should be on their way soon. If you cannot wait until then, check out Boeing’s website where you can preview what different liveries will look like on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. So looking at the liveries in the real and those on Boeing’s website, which one is our favorite? Which one is your least favorite? Mine? Well I have to say that Boeing’s full liver is my favorite and man, it is not easy to pick a least favorite, hmm…
Eva Air Boeing 777-300ER (B-16715) about ready to take off from Paine Field on its delivery flight on Sunday.
Back in July I looked into why three brand new Eva Air Boeing 777’s were just sitting at Paine Field. It turned out they had issues with their Koito seats. Well, “issues” might be an understatement. Turns out not only were the seat’s safety in question, but also Koito’s certification process. So much so there was talk of an air worthiness directive from the FAA to ban the seats in the US.
Boeing and Eva Air has been silent with how these three Boeing 777’s were going to get seats. Last week the aircraft, which has been parked next to the Paine Field tower for months, were moved, prepped and started to take customer test flights (photo of B-16717). Then yesterday, the first of the three Boeing 777’s took its delivery flight to Taiwan (photo). Of course, the big question was what seats are inside the aircraft?
Eva Air obviously doesn’t want to say too much since I am guessing they will take legal action against Koito. Boeing has been staying pretty quiet as well, since they have a policy not to discuss their customers. However, I have been able to confirm that the seats in the aircraft are from Koito.
Beverly Holland with Boeing Communications explained to me that, “Koito Industries works directly with our airline customers. Ever since this issue came to our attention, we have been working closely with our customers who have purchased the seats to make sure the seats are fully compliant to Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) and FAA regulations.”
As reported previously, if the JCAB certifies a seat, the FAA also certifies them through a US/Japan bilateral agreement. Boeing has had a team in Japan helping to make sure the seats are able to become certified. Holland did confirm, “Boeing is committed to helping our customers through this situation.”
Speaking with an Eva PR consultant Mary Graybill, she confirmed that the airline is working with Koito and Boeing to have the seats installed at Paine Field. She wasn’t able to confirm when the aircraft will officially be delivered, but did say that, “all three will be used to serve long-haul and regional routes, in rotation with the B777s EVA is already operating.” By chance of luck, I was at Paine Field on Sunday when I got an email alert stating a Boeing 777 filed a flight plan. Turned out to be one of the Eva Air Boeing 777’s (B-16715) being picked up by Eva pilots and flown to Taiwan. Due to heavy fog, the flight was delayed, but did take off at 2:35pm.
So are the seats safe in the Eva Boeing 777’s? Yes, I think so. Even though Boeing and Eva won’t talk much about what they have done, I would assume that neither would allow the airplanes to transport passengers if they haven’t verified the safety of the seats. It is great for Eva to make money using these Boeing 777’s, but it is disappointing they won’t be parked at Paine Field to spot anymore. At least Paine Field is quickly filling up with other Boeing airplanes to provide plenty of eye candy.
VIDEO OF EVA AIR BOEING 777-300ER (B-16715) on DELIVERY FLIGHT FROM PAINE FIELD taken from the Future of Flight’s Strato Deck
More:
* My photos from Eva Air Boeing 777 delivery flight
* Video from Liz Matzelle on the Boeing 777 taking off
Clickair Airbus A320 (EC-GRH)
Silver blue and teal. Why does that sound so familiar? Ah right, Eastern Air Lines tried out that livery combination for a while and it looked great. Although the livery looks great, it is no longer flying.
Clickair is a low cost carrier that was founded in 2006 and was based in Barelona. The little airline grew quickly to almost 40 destinations and about 25 Airbus A320’s before it merged with Vueling Airlines in July 2009.
It is sad to see a very nice looking liver disapere, but at least Vueling’s livery isn’t half-bad either.
Image: albspotter
