Originally Posted by
Tinpusher007
The 330-900 isnt designed to be a really long range aircraft. According to our specs it has about 6800nm range in our configuration with full pax. So far we havent used it on anything over 11 or 12 hrs I think, so no issues that Im aware of. Regarding the 787 vs A350, I dont think the 787 is operating those ULH flights without payload restrictions. Qatar doesnt seem to have issues operating their A359s from DOH. Philippines Airlines flies it nonstop from MNL-JFK. Maybe they both had the higher gross weight versions from the start??? The 787-9 is smaller than the A350-900 and carries around 285 pax in UA and AA config, I believe. Our A359 carries 306 pax. Our first examples were also a lower gross weight version. We now have a few 280 tonne examples with 283 tonne versions arriving in 2024. Not sure if Airbus over promised and under delivered or if we just didnt do our homework.
thanks for the response. While I understand that the 330NEO was not designed to be a ULH aircraft, I was just curious if it was in the same league as the 787 as far as long and thin routes. It does not appear to be the case. I think UA has the 789 closer to 260 pax so definitely a different market than the 350.
While it appears DL does not have much of an interest in competing long haul (over 12 hours) point to point, I do wonder if the 330-800, with its extra range, is being considered. With the 330 not selling well at all vs the 787, I wonder if AB is looking to get another order for the type, which we could get a steal on. Or if they might give up on it and just shift their focus to other types.
As far as the 350 goes, I’m not sure what happened there but it sounds like it is falling waay short of what was advertised. Not sure if that is because of something like we didn’t pay for certain improvements or what, but the problems we are having with its certainly seem to point to it falling short of what AB says the plane can do.
Hopefully the 22 or so 350s we will be taking, both new and used, are mostly the 280t or 283t variant.
on a separate note, I heard somewhere that the rest facility on the 350 does not meet class 1 rest facility standards and the FAA granted DL a waiver. Is this true?