1st Class Seats Removed from 757''s

[LavMan]

They announced that earlier this year and the work will be done in CLT starting in August and completed in September, 8 first class seats and 193 coach seats to be used on low yield, high density routes like Northeast to FL, PHX and LAS.

 

[USAirBoyA330]

The 757s will be redeployed on Florida and maybe Las Vegas routes while the Airbus will take over as the Trans-Con aircraft. This is a response to the F/A staffing situation. The Lead F/A can't handle 24 people by themselves. This was the D F/A will now stay in coach at all times and on all 757 routes.
Plus....we had WAY too many 1st class seats anyway.

 

[USAirBoyA330]

I don't know about all the intricacies involved in the retrofit however...I remember we had an aircraft that had less 1st class and more coach. It was aircraft 600 or something like that? Then they retrofitted that one with 24 seats as well. Even had the old Eastern ovens left in the aft galley.
Who cares when who was told...I am saying that it was made public. I knew months ago as well from maint. but still the company had not made it common knowledge.

 

[LavMan]

A330, we were told months ago about the move, before staffing levels were changed, informed us that they were not getting the revenue out of the expanded F/C on the 757s and they were going to be used on NE to FL, and from the hubs to PHX and LAS, low yield, high density routes as the 757 is more suited for that use.

 

[LavMan]

No they were not, the old EA birds had a major reconfiguration done to them at CLT Heavy Maintenance. They took F/C to 24 seats and moved a lavatory from the rear to the mid. The old EA birds had three lavs at the rear and none in the middle, and one in first class.

The mod was very unique as they had to jack the airplane off the ground, and put wooden harnesses thru the windows and fuselage so they could mate the plane back together after the lav was moved, it was a unique and complex task, but the mechanics in base designed how it would be done and it worked quite well.

 

[LavMan]

Removing F/C seats, and adding coach seats, moving the closet and adjusting the bulkhead, but it will be around the mid-lav, no movement of the lav is slated.

 

[USAirBoyA330]

So how involved will this realignment be? Is it as simple as moving the seats and adding coach? I take it a new bulkhead will be put in place but we are not moving lavs or anything right?

 

[N305AS]

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On 5/8/2003 1150 AM USAirBoyA330 wrote:

According to UPDATE by USAirways the 757s will go from 24 1st Class Seats to 8 this summer. So I guess it will be like when we got them from Eastern.

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Weren''t they already in a 24 seat configuration up front though? In 1990, in an attempt to raise yields, EA''s bankruptcy trustee Martin Shugrue had all the 757s reconfigured for their "YOnePass" program, where business travelers who paid full coach got a First Class seat.

The program was instantly popular, but rising fuel costs, lower demand due to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, and a sluggish economy all forced EA into Chapter 7 liquidation, where US got the birds.

 

[USAirBoyA330]

I just had Christine a few days ago.....still kicking. I remember the row or two of coach fwd of 2L and I guess it will be several more rows fwd of 2L come this summer. 1st class will feel a bit claustrophobic with only 2 rows and a bulkhead.
Heck that''s less than the 737.

 

[USAirBoyA330]

According to UPDATE by USAirways the 757s will go from 24 1st Class Seats to 8 this summer. So I guess it will be like when we got them from Eastern.

 

[LavMan]

600 thru 609 and 618 had the mods done as they were the old EA birds, 600 has the nickname of hangar queen.

610-617, 619-633 were all new from Boeing.

 

[phllax]

I Thought the EA birds had 1 lav in the front, 2 in front of 3L and 1 in front of 3R. There was also an extra row or two of coach in front of 2L. By the way, is Christine still spending more time in the hangar than on the line?

 

[LavMan]

Christine has been behaving, had some corresion problems last summer, I do not know the specific layout, but I do know there was one in front and three in the rear, no mid.

 

[PHL]

Will the pitch of those 8 F seats change at all?

 

[MarkMyWords]

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On 5/8/2003 12:00:16 PM USAirBoyA330 wrote:

This is a response to the F/A staffing situation.
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This is by no means a response to a staffing issue. This is purely a revenue issue.

Plus I believe that the seating configuration will not be 8/193 because that would put seating capacity at 201 and would require 5 Flight Attendants, versus 4 if the capacity were 200. I would look for a seating capacity of 8/191 or 8/192 so you wouldn''t have that additional crew cost for one seat.

I think this is a great idea as a competitive response to DL and Song. (Where in the heck did they get Song from?) Song will only be offering all coach seating, similar to MetroJet. One of the biggest complaints that we received was from our CP and PG customers and their inability to upgrade on a 3 hour flight from LGA-TPA. Going to the High Density configuration, we will attempt to maximize revenue in coach while still offering a premium product for our elite DM members. To me it is a win-win. In the Florida markets there are very few customers that actually book first class and 8 seats should be enough.

Another idea would be to standardize the smaller narrow body fleet. Take the A320''s down to 12 seats from the current 16. This would make the B733''s, B734''s, A319''s and A320''a all standard. Leave the A321''s to work the transcon with the 26 F/C seats but staff the airplane for the service level that customers expect on those airplanes.