[wanula1]

Also you would have the same challenge using any carrier that has the herringbone layout so Jet, Virgin, Air Canada, Air New Zealand.

Its all about personal preference and to be honest its great to have your own personal space. However if you are flying with partner and work colleague then use a carrier that has the more normal business class seat lay out

[travelbyleo]

yes you are right I will travel on the Qantas skybeds from now on but I still needed to talk about these cathay seats as they are worse than padded cells and I need therapy after 9 hours straight in one.

[Binman62]

Business Class seat is awful, no view and seated at at such an odd angle. When looking down the upper deck aisle I though it looked like a morgue and the only thing missing was toe tags. The meal delivery was awkward for the crew and on my flight there was just one redeeming feature and that was the superb IFE.
I would never suggest that CX were unsafe but I did have some concerns about my safety if the aircraft stopped suddenly on the runway. Due to the angle and the narrowness of the seat I felt my head would easily have come into contact with the divider in such an event.
My experience was that it was cramped and very badly designed. I would not wish to use it again and certainly not ex LHR where BA club World is undoubtedly the premium product.

CX First product by comparison, is simply superb and I would agree it is one of the very best out there.

[CHINABOY]

Much as I love Cathay Pacific and I fly them exclusively between NYC and HK and back to NYC on a regular basis, always Business Class,
I must state what I have said since they first installed the new
herringbone seat configuration: these seats are simply dreadful.
They are narrow, you cannot open a newspaper all the way without
bumping your elbows on the horrific side panels, they are
claustrophobic, and distinctly uncomfortable. On the plus side,
the service remains impeccable and the flights are almost always
on time. The crew members could not possibly be more efficient or kinder. The seats have to go, however, and I keep hoping that at
some point CP will ultimately come up with a new design.

[CHINABOY]

I agree with you 100% – they are absolutely dreadful and extremely uncomfortable. I still don’t know what possessed CP to implement
these wretched seats.

[roma_nyc]

I’ve read in another forum that CX is to start retrofitting its J cabin with new seats soon (early next year? ). It seems they are the ones chosen by US Air for their new J cabin.

I’ve also read the marketing team in charge of the herringbone layout and seats have been fired.

[VintageKrug]

Good intel!

It seems like CX has relented due to passenger complaints and is planning to refit its Y and J cabins:

http://www.businesstraveller.com/news/cathay-pacific-to-revamp-seating

[ScottWilson]

Yes, this is good news. I’ve avoided CX in C Class because of these seats, a cheap narrow version of the VS/NZ seats. I’ve noticed that it is priced cheaper than other direct C Classes on days I’ve looked at it from LHR-HKG and beyond.

I’ve heard the CX Y seats are hard and very tight with the fixed config.

It’s a shame because CX soft product is competitive.

[oldchinahand]

is very pleasing to see that Cathay Pacific have taken on board the genuine concerns of passengers regarding the seats in the long haul business and economy cabins and are putting in place changes that are designed to remedy the shortcomings of the ‘cell’ and the ‘slide’ as well as introducing a premium economy cabin.

Cathay will take a very substantial financial hit in revamping these cabins after little more than 3 years but they have been leaking loyal Club members at a substantial rate particularly to other oneworld members from the first day the new business class cabin was introduced, myself included.

My critical observations regarding the horrible herring bone business class cabin are well know and widely supported from an early post in this forum and a letter published in Business Traveler.Despite this strong (and justified) criticism Cathay responded both publicly and privately in a civilized and constructive way.
That they have (I understand ) put in place very substantial changes to the business class product and have solved the problems of the ‘slide’ seat in economy stands testament that Cathay Pacific continues to be one of the best managed of the larger world airlines and I venture to say probably the best given that their ‘soft’ product continues as always to be first class.

I am looking forward to seeing the new and revamped product having accepted and invitation to ‘A Glittering Celebration of Innovation’ in a few weeks time which is the release of the cabin changes that were first muted by Bloomberg a couple of weeks ago.

More importantly for me is that I can ,I trust, look forward once again to regularly traveling long haul in a pleasant Cathay business class cabin.
BA and the others were all good in their way but I have missed traveling regularly Cathay long haul for the past 3 or 4 years and am looking forward to coming home.

Well done Cathay for a very mature and sensible correction to what was a huge and costly mistake.

[ivornomates]

You must be joking about cx losing customers because of these seats, if you make such a statement you should back it up with facts not personal feelings.Your hopes to have new seats ina few weeks is well off the mark, they wont be rolling these out for some time to come yet as they have not decided which model to use yet.

[CHINABOY]

The new CX Business Class seats are absolutely dreadful. But I’d
still choose them over Economy class seating any day for a flight of
such a long duration. I fly regularly between NYC and Hong Kong
and back and always use Business Class because the service is
excellent, the food is good, and the airport amenities are wonderful.
What a pity that CX opted to install these herringbone-style seats
which are so boxed in, narrow, claustrophobic, and uncomfortable
that one simply wants to screech out HELP, GET ME OUT OF HERE.
And yet their First Class seating with only 6 seats in that cabin is
absolutely superb and cannot be beat. I have voiced my opinion
to the powers that be at CX but it seems to be of little interest to
them. Many of the flight crew, on the other hand, have told me that
many passengers intensely dislike these seats. And, heaven
forbid, if you are traveling with a companion or business associate
you cannot even communicate with them unless you get out
of your seat because CX has decided that privacy is of paramount
importance to its customers. As such each seat is completely isolated from all others. I despise this arrangement and hope
that sooner rather than later CX will come up with a new design for
its Business Class seats.

[ivornomates]

Strange you said you left CX because of these seats yet now you say you fly regular on them – make your mind up please

[CHINABOY]

Thank you very much for being in agreement with me over the
CP business class seats. I wish more people felt as we
did and that they could communicate said feelings directly
to the CP management just as I have done both by personal
letters and e-mails.

[ivornomates]

what is cp

[CHINABOY]

Like duh, CP = Cathay Pacific.

[Author]

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