[Anonymous]

[superchris]

With so many moans and groans about service, i wanted to take this opportunity to report some fantastic service I received on flights Gatwick to Menorca a few weeks back.

On time flights both directions, speedy and friendly check in, seated together (despite not paying for pre-seating) only paid for a meal on the way back which was superb and put BA club world and especially VS Upper Class to shame. Beef in red wine for the record and at £7 per adult. Online check in worked beautifully and as was unable to print my boarding passes just collected at check in.

New seats on the way home, perfectly comfortable albeit non reclining leather seats with tablet holder in the back of the seat in front. Neat.

The final piece, and the icing on the cake, was that on the flight on the way home, my childs car seat was damaged, Called Monarch a few days after the flight and after minimal effort they have agreed to buy a complete replacement which they have ordered

The whole experience was a world away from a retain Irish carrier who seem to delight in creating issues only to be able to charge you to remove them.

Its a real shame Monarch are struggling as on service alone I wish them all the best.

[NTarrant]

Monarch has introduced non-reclining seats following complaints from customers about people reclining in confined space.

[Gin&Tonic]

I would honestly be delighted if all airlines introduced non reclining seats in economy on all short haul flights.
Superchris I agree with you on Monarch service, I mostly have a good experience in all flights with them, did once have a 7 hour delay in Palma due to a burst tire on the inbound flight, but to get a spare wheel sourced, flown out to Palma and fitted with 7 hours isn’t bad.

[AMcWhirter]

These new Monarch seats are slimline.

Having the “tablet holder in the back of the seat in front” and being non-reclining means that more passengers can be squeezed onboard.

Not sure whether everyone would find them comfortable … according to the Monarch publicity blurb, seat pitch is 28 inches which is about the least room any airline in Europe can offer right now.

http://blog.monarch.co.uk/say-hello-to-new-ergonomic-slim-new-onboard-seats/

[superchris]

Personally I was absolutely fine with the seat comfort and lack of recline- had it been a 5 hour hop this may have been different of course.

Good service goes a long way in my opinion.

[MartinJ]

Alex, seat pitch is not the same as legroom, remember …. It would be interesting to see if Monarch manages to get more legroom out of a 28 inch pitch than their competitors.

[MrMichael]

Seat pitch as a measure has had its day. The measure should be useable space by the pax. I am not sure either if Monarch has good or bad leg room. Maybe Seatplans and BT could start by using or inventing such a measure.

[KarlMarx]

BA provides 30″ pitch in european business class – only 2 more than Monarch in economy.

[Carajillo2Sugar]

I’m much more concerned with legroom than seat-pitch.The seat-pitch on the Embraer jets BA use in/out of London City is nothing to shout about but the legroom is very acceptable (and I’m over 6ft tall).

I use City quite a lot and have to say I rather like the trips I make on the Embraer, although most of the time I’m going to the south of Spain, so that probably has something to do with it!

[andystock]

The seats look a very similar design to the easyjet black and orange slimline seats which seam to provide more room than the old grey easyjet seats.

The seats I really don’t like are the BA short haul ex BMI seats

[KarlMarx]

Carajillo2Sugar – 07/07/2015 19:08 BST

Do you know which EMB you fly on? I believe the BA 170 has quite a bit less legroom than the BA 190. I didn’t use these aircraft, but remember a colleague used to, regularly and hated the former and loved the latter, for this reason.

I agree with you, it is about the feel of the legroom, not the numbers – as a regular easyJet user, I find the new seats (mentioned above) feel much more spacious than the old ones.

I also agree with andystock about the former bmi aircraft at BA, not nice seats.

[Carajillo2Sugar]

KarlMarx – it’s the Embraer 190 that floats my boat. BA use the 170 on some of the flights to Amsterdam/Rotterdam/Zurich/EDI/GLA etc and I, too, have heard they are not as pleasant to fly on.

The 2-2 seating, the low-ish seat-backs and decent sized windows on the 190 give it a spacious feel and the cabin crew are usually very good too.

Just a pity BA don’t have a lounge at City Airport!

[TiredOldHack]

I still would not give Monarch the steam off my p*ss.

Utterly hateful bunch.

[MrMichael]

Bit strong Tiredoldhack, pray explain.

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