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Comment by daurnimator | Hacker News Reader

> 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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