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Comment by ggm | Hacker News Reader

I think Airbus can survive this. The other aircraft are selling well. If they have to write down sunk cost it won't sink the company. Boeing has basically had to walk from the 747 and even the presidential flight will be using otherwise available shells (I believe)

QANTAS didn't survey its passengers to make this decision. Had they asked the recurring business flyer, I suspect the signal would have been different, even if the economic decision was to walk.

I am a frequent QANTAS passenger. I know from all my experiences and peers discussions, we prefer the 380 over almost any shell QANTAS flies.

I flew the original QANTAS 747 longhauls. They were fine for their day. They are significantly behind the ball compared to the 380 experience. The 350 will be a fine plane. the 787 is a compromised experience in the air.

(btw, it is QANTAS not Quantas: Its an Acronym)

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(It doesn't seem like it's an acronym anymore: http://www.qantas.com/travel/airlines/history/global/en)

Yea. Looks like you're right. they prefer the Qantas branding, so I'm in the junkheap of history.

I'll try and learn to use Qantas not QANTAS.

It is not "QANTAS" and it isn't an acronym.

In October 1947 QANTAS was bought out by the government and shutdown. The company that exists today is the descendent of Qantas Empire Airlines (notice the different capitalisation) which was founded in 1934 as a joint venture by QANTAS and BOAC (British Overseas Air Corporation). When the joint venture was founded the name chosen was not an acronym and was not all uppercase. That name was "inspired by" QANTAS Limited but is not QANTAS.

https://trove.nla.gov.au/people/1472377?c=people

TIL. Amazing how you can still believe stuff which has never been true, for all of your life (it was never true for me that QANTAS existed since it ceased to exist before 1961) and only really learn it end-stage.

I suspect its one of these things Queenslanders want to be true, but we have to accept the reality. (I also thought BOAC persisted long beyond BA. I dont think I saw a BOAC jet but I sure saw BOAC turboprops in Edinburgh)

> the 787 is a compromised experience in the air.

Why do you say that?

Dense seating in economy, is the sole reason. The airlines decided to ignore the Premium trend, and made economy basic as densely packed as they can, and provide limited premium economy to guarantee it had high margin and was full. So, business and premium on a 787 is great, but economy is really really tragically bad, as a long-haul experience.

787 for shorthaul, nobody cares. Ask anyone who sits in the cheap class about 787 for >10hrs, compared to the 747 economy, or the 380 economy experience.

The lower effective air cabin flight height (higher pressure, moister air) and the new lighting, and bigger windows are very good for everyone, But the shrinking seat, shrinking legroom, lack of aisle access, the shrinking toilet? very bad.

I fly premium and business. I am empathising what I am told, not what I live. I've flown 15h+ flights up front in a 787 and it was fantastic. Some of the best flights I've had over trans polar landscapes. Amazing. Sucks to be poor.

> Dense seating in economy, is the sole reason

On the Qantas 787 (which I fly regularly MEL<>SFO) the seats in economy are IMO better than the A380 (which I used to fly MEL<>LAX)

787 economy has 32 inch pitch; 17.2inch width: https://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Qantas_Airways/Qantas_Airw...

A380 economy has 31 inch pitch; 17.5inch width: https://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Qantas_Airways/Qantas_Airw...

To each their own, I suppose, but fwiw I love the 787, even economy, for longhaul. I fly a mix of longhaul business and economy, depending on who's paying. When I get off a 787 at the end with no noticeable jetlag, it's pretty amazing. And that's the part of the experience I tend to remember, along with how much I was able to get done on the flight due to no dehydration-induced fuzzy-brain. By comparison, I don't even notice slightly less room.

I cannot agree more. QF Premium economy on the 787 is ok (the A380 is as good or better I think), and business class is fantastic, but I spent about 7 minutes in an econ class seat recently and I was not looking forward to how my back was going to feel by the end. Really needed to be a 2-4-2, not a 3-3-3 - it's just not wide enough to support 3-3-3.

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