Hey HAL ... your 767's blow ....

[A4sForever]

Sorry, Bruddah .... the airplane seating blows even full fare in 1st class. I was suprised --- never been on the 767 before. Makes me appreciate brand-X and their DC-10's which I HATE --- even in first class. Great service --- but where did you guys get those birds??? Botswanna ??? Ethiopia ??? They had "German" writing on the placards in the heads ..... ???

 

[HAL Pilot]

We got our first 4 from LTU in Germany and, yes, they sucked. The company spent a lot of money straightening them out when we first got them in 2002. The rest we got new from Boeing.

Our first class is actually more of a business class. That is what they found out our customers (95% liesure travel) were really willing to pay for. I think they were right as our load factors have been in the 88 to 92% range for more than 2 1/2 years and we keep getting rated in the top 3 for onboard service. We also get top marks from business travelers but I think they know what to expect. My guess is that half the first seats are frequent flyer upgrades or company non-revs anyway. I don;t think Hawaiian really pushes the first class as a money maker, but rather sees it as necessary to attract the few who are willing to pay and to keep the frequent flyers happy.

Our DC-10s had bigger first class seats and that was quickly pointed out by the few frequent business travelers we had. But they seem to have adjusted because they keep coming back to us.

From what I can tell from non-reving, the coach seats seem to be the same as everyone elses.

I'm sorry you didn't like the seats, but thanks for paying....

 

[Ryoukai]

Carriage class is awesome.

 

[Fly Navy]

I liked the 767-400ER I flew from Atlanta to Honolulu on Delta.

I swear though, after 2 round-trips to Honolulu from the East Coast... I'm going 1st class. Especially on a direct leg of TEN hours.

 

[snizo]

Delta's 767-400's are nice. I flew on them quite a bit between Atlanta and Florida. Surprised how much business there is to Florida - Orlando even gets 777 service from Atlanta.

Fly Navy - TEN whole hours, huh? Try cattle class Tokyo - Atlanta on one of their late MD-11's. 13 hours each way (seemed like it woulda been longer)

 

[Swmtb]

Atlanta - Tokyo on Delta last summer... 14-ish hours in steerage/coach, beers $5 = my own little personal hell.

 

[Lawman]

My friend John is Austrailian, he recommends the following procedure for any trans oceanic flight. It has been field tested heavily.

Step 1, stay up for 36 hours before your flight.

Step 2, have a few drinks about an hour before getting on the plane.

Step 3, continue having said drinks once on the plane.

Step 4, awaken from your coma during final decent into Destination.

 

[Brett327]

My friend John is Austrailian, he recommends the following procedure for any trans oceanic flight. It has been field tested heavily.

Step 1, stay up for 36 hours before your flight.

Step 2, have a few drinks about an hour before getting on the plane.

Step 3, continue having said drinks once on the plane.

Step 4, awaken from your coma during final decent into Destination.

That sounds a little like my sure-fire jet-lag reduction technique:

1. Fly to the other side of the planet.
2. Upon arrival, get really hammered, staying up all night drinking.
3. Awaken the next morning (or afternoon as the case may be) in a not so refreshed, but time-zone adjusted state.
4. Carry out the plan of the day.
5. Repeat steps 2-4 as necessary.

Brett

 

[mkoch]

That's what I loved about Lufthansa on my flight out to St. Petersburg last year. Free drinks. Especially on the way back home, when we had some fuel optimization sensor go during preflight, and they took an hour and half to run diagnostics, and finally just turn it off and add some extra fuel. Total 10 hours in that plane, after 2 hours in a Soviet Era bus, a 2 hour hop from Petersburg to Frankfurt, plus terminal time. They were handing out the liquor before we even took off.

 

[gaijin6423]

Nothing--I repeat NOTHING---is worse than flying to Japan on the Freedom Bird (govt. charter) during peak summer-mover times. Dear, sweet, merciful Jesus, I was praying to die after about two hours out from Anchorage, AK. It wasn't so bad at first, because the flight left LAX at 1am, and pretty much everyone was tired and thusly, subdued. My first thoughts on boarding the ATA charter were, "Hmm. Kind of small and pretty packed... This thing's going all the way to Japan?" Things were fine up until we stopped in AK, and then, all hell broke loose.

All those families inbound for 3 year accompanied tours basically woke their toddlers up at the same time, just to piss me off. Little kids where EVERYWHERE, running up and down the isles, screaming, throwing toys, screaming, knocking over drinks, peeing themselves, and oh yeah, screaming. It was like being an illegal, stuffed into a urine-soaked container on a ship.

I did luck out on my return trip, though. Last minute orders scramble got me a seat on a JAL flight out of Kansai Intl., and a free upgrade got me into business class. Of course, I had to flirt with the most butt-ugly Japanese woman I've ever seen in order to get it, but I'm no stranger to degrading myself a little bit. And JAL business class is well worth it.

 

[Flash]

Nothing--I repeat NOTHING---is worse than flying to Japan on the Freedom Bird (govt. charter) during peak summer-mover times. Dear, sweet, merciful Jesus, I was praying to die after about two hours out from Anchorage, AK. It wasn't so bad at first, because the flight left LAX at 1am, and pretty much everyone was tired and thusly, subdued. My first thoughts on boarding the ATA charter were, "Hmm. Kind of small and pretty packed... This thing's going all the way to Japan?" Things were fine up until we stopped in AK, and then, all hell broke loose.

All those families inbound for 3 year accompanied tours basically woke their toddlers up at the same time, just to piss me off. Little kids where EVERYWHERE, running up and down the isles, screaming, throwing toys, screaming, knocking over drinks, peeing themselves, and oh yeah, screaming. It was like being an illegal, stuffed into a urine-soaked container on a ship.

I did luck out on my return trip, though. Last minute orders scramble got me a seat on a JAL flight out of Kansai Intl., and a free upgrade got me into business class. Of course, I had to flirt with the most butt-ugly Japanese woman I've ever seen in order to get it, but I'm no stranger to degrading myself a little bit. And JAL business class is well worth it.

I had the pleasure of taking the Freedom Bird to Japan from Seattle. Fortunately it was October, but there were still quite a few rugrats running around the plane. One little girl near me insisted on watching her friggin cartoon movies at full blast one her little DVD player for the last half of the trip while Mom just sits there..... Between that and the little brats running down the aisles trying to beat each other, it was like a trailer park with wings

As for long flights, try spending 10.4 in a Prowler. It sucked, big time. The only thing that made it worth it (other than logging it) was listening to ECMO 1 on the radios at the end of the flight after he drank a six pack of mini Gatorades and popped a go pill. He was a little wound up...... :icon_wink

 

[Brett327]

I had the pleasure of taking the Freedom Bird to Japan from Seattle. Fortunately it was October, but there were still quite a few rugrats running around the plane. One little girl near me insisted on watching her friggin cartoon movies at full blast one her little DVD player for the last half of the trip while Mom just sits there..... Between that and the little brats running down the aisles trying to beat each other, it was like a trailer park with wings

As for long flights, try spending 10.4 in a Prowler. It sucked, big time. The only thing that made it worth it (other than logging it) was listening to ECMO 1 on the radios at the end of the flight after he drank a six pack of mini Gatorades and popped a go pill. He was a little wound up...... :icon_wink

How did you manage a 10.4 leg? We did Hawaii to Guam in about 8.5.

Brett

 

[A4sForever]

You guys crack me up with your "jet lag" preps, "do's" and "don'ts" and "over-the-pond" sea-stories .... try Trans-Pac'in it every month for half of the month, for 23 consecutive years.

And then remember, you have to FLY the plane, also, in WX fair or foul , passengers ugly and demented, emergencies, Typhoons, blah, blah, blah. I guess it's all relative, no? :icon_mi_1 No wonder I'm in my late '30's and look like I'm in my early 100's .... :icon_rast

.... time to go squeeze some coconuts AND limes ????

 

[Lawman]

You guys crack me up with your "jet lag" preps, "do's" and "don'ts" and "over-the-pond" sea-stories .... try Trans-Pac'in it every month for half of the month, for 23 consecutive years.

And then remember, you have to FLY the plane, also, in WX fair or foul , passengers ugly and demented, emergencies, Typhoons, blah, blah, blah. I guess it's all relative, no? :icon_mi_1 No wonder I'm in my late '30's and look like I'm in my early 100's .... :icon_rast

.... time to go squeeze some coconuts AND limes ????

Yeah but A4's you dont have a 4 year old bouncing up and down on the back of your seat throwing crap all over the place.

I feel for you though, I dont like driving a car for longer then 8 hours in a stretch I dont even want to think about what flying for twice that does.

 

[snizo]

Your car doesn't have autopilot and mandatory crew-rest / rotations