[VintageKrug]

That wasn’t the point I as making; if people book to Sydney even next year, they are likely to be disappointed.

No 747s will be receiving the new product.

[Binman62]

It is not a great product, it is the best business class in the world and light years ahead on NCW. Indeed it is competition for BA first product old or new.

[VintageKrug]

…and is completely useless for UK based travellers unless you are heading to or via Hong Kong. Which I rarely do.

I was impressed, but BA’s product is still the market leader on the US routes which are its bread and butter.

I’d certainly like to try the new CX product, but let’s not forget how long it took them to lose the cradle seats when BA had already had flat beds for years, and the most recent iteration of Cathay’s Business Class was a horror story which “due to negative customer feedback had to be re-thought sooner than we had anticipated” according to Jerome.

All airlines have cycles, this is the beginning of CX’s new cycle and looks great, after a decade of being seriously substandard.

[BigDog.]

Sour Grapes.

“I skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where it has been”. Gretzky

CX is the best product on the market now… any right thinking person will buy based upon the excellent current product .

Am not interested in a form over substance company that rests on its laurels from decades past and takes decades for each cycle of upgrades.

The world is changing and the rate of change is increasing exponentially – BA needs to understand and live with it, shorten its upgrade cycles or die. Its luddite approach means BA’s business class offering is now firmly esconced in the lower echelons of major mainline airline products flying east.

Realise that the US route is not the standard setter and get with the global market leading programme, where the future growth is now originating.

Is it now part of BA’s DNA to merely be an also ran? Skating to where the puck has been, occasionally to where it is now but not to where it is going to be? … time for a change.

[Binman62]

Oh dear

“”””””I was impressed, but BA’s product is still the market leader on the US routes which are its bread and butter.”””””

If BA business model is the competition across the North Atlantic then they really are in trouble. Whilst their revenues may,for the time being be secure, this is far from guaranteed. AA is being courted by EK and if this came off then BA, who have courted almost every other US carrier at some stage, would be in very serious trouble.

Moreover the products offered by Continental, AA UA and others are improving. Most have seats with direct aisle access many have fully flat beds and some offer products and benefits that BA does not, such as limo transfers

Sadly BA seems to be in decline and on many fronts. Service is inconsistent, cost cutting has diminished the on board product, and the hard products are dated, dirty and beyond their sell by date.

BA.com is a 3rd rate reservation tool, and loyalty is neither recognised nor valued.

While many carriers are investing in new aircraft, new products and the future BA are stuck in the past and appear paralysed. Remember SQ have been operating the a 380 for 5 years and BA still do not have 1.

I they continue to focus in this myopic manner on the USA then we will all be the poorer for it.

[Cedric_Statherby]

Binman62

As a regular and mainly satisfied BA flyer (gold card for 10+ years) it pains me to say I agree with you. Just one small indicator – how many airlines already have A380s in service? How many more will get their first one before BA does?

[BeckyBoop]

Binman is right the CX NEW business class is not a great seat that goes to QR who put CX to shame.

http://www.airliners.net/photo/Qatar-Airways/Boeing-787-8DZ-Dreamliner/2131658/&sid=a9a8627aba75f17afd86e38613987882

VK, you forget CX has a smaller fleet than BA and the 747s are currently being retired. NCW is almost ten years old and looks horrid. However it is very comfortable. BA should have made a new NCW product and made the old one premium economy.

Cedric, to be fair to BA there a380 were due 2 years ago but due to the world economy and supplier issues it was pushed back

[IanFromHKG]

VintageKrug: It’s a great product. But it’s also only on one plane so far…

Actually it is on two of the four LHR-HKG daily flights. And on 36 planes altogether. There are 21 747s and 11 340s in Cathay’s fleet which they are looking to retire and so will not get the new product (nor, unsurprisingly, will it get onto the regional fleet, although note CX have just announced new regional seats as well). That leaves just 12 of the mid/long-haul fleet that isn’t due to be retired that don’t already have the new seats. It was only announced last year, and the roll-out will be completed next year. Now remind me, someone, when was BA NF announced, and when will the roll-out be completed? In any case, don’t those of us who care about these matters check to see which product is available for particular flights? Certainly I choose my flights with the product availability being one of the factors, and may (other factors being equal) choose my flights to get the benefit of new products. There have been plenty of posts on this forum about people planning to get NF (and failing, incidentally).

VintageKrug again: And is completely useless for UK based travellers unless you are heading to or via Hong Kong. Which I rarely do.

Oh puh-lease (rolls eyes). To say something like this as criticism about a non-UK airline (oh, but you have to fly to or via their hub if you are based in a different country) is facile and meaningless. A bit like saying NCW is useless unless you are flying on a route that BA serves. And saying BA is still the class leader on a route that CX doesn’t serve is equally facile and meaningless in a discussion about the CX seat

It may also surprise you to know, VK, that quite a lot of UK based travellers fly to or via HK or to destinations where HK is a viable transit point (places like, oooh, I am so struggling to come up with examples… Oh, I know, maybe CHINA?? Australasia, large chunks of Asia??? Just a thought…)

Then VK goes on to describe the existing business class as a horror story. Well, it didn’t suit everyone, but I still find it better than NCW, and the phrase “horror story” is just ridiculous

Altogether, I find VKs comments extraordinary and BigDog’s use of the phrase “Sour Grapes” entirely appropriate. Going back and making disparaging comments about not just the new seat or the old one but the one before that does smack of desperation, a bit, don’t you think?

Finally, as for his comments that BA is still class leader on the transatlantic route… Let us not forget that AA is introducing a new seat, based on the same shell as the CX seat. Methinks that argument will not hold water for long

[Binman62]

Ian….fully agree.

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