blue vortex

On another thread (A330-800) people are discussing how they prefer the 787 vs the A350 and wish we had the 787 which the UA and AA guys love. Is there anything good about the A350? Humidifiers? Lower cabin altitude? Easy to learn? Everyone I’ve talked to either hates it or says it’s just ok. Anything to look forward to if I bid it?

HTBH

Following....

and curious if they’ll open another base at some point.

TED74

I flew in Delta One for one leg. Didn't care for the absence of luggage storage over the center section. Although it creates an open-air feel, there isn't enough storage for your carry-on bags and you have to squeeze with your window seat neighbor and potentially disturb them
to access your stuff. If there are air vents in the center section, I couldn't find them...better hope you like the ambient air temperature just how they have it set. IFE was all messed up... click on one movie and you'll soon be watching something completely different.

FL370esq

Think there is a "discussion" going on amongst mgmt types between SEA and LAX. With the current LAX-PVG and LAX-HND (starting March 31st, 2019) and SEA-NRT (starting March 1st, 2019) all slated for the 350, it seems logical to have a west coast base but who knows? I mean...heck...the current 9-day trips are so popular you can barely grab one from open time. Why not add a few more??? 😁

FL370esq

Ummm...Brake-to-Vacate, autopilot-flown TCAS RAs, CPDLC auto-load radio frequencies and cruising around at 0.85M wherever you go? Oh...and the fwd galley is so tight that many senior mamas avoid bidding 350 trips so you only get mostly senior mamas who merely scowl at you as you make your own post-rest espresso in the espresso maker.

Training is no worse than any other plane at Delta...unless you are senior...then it is by far the worst program you have ever experienced and it has an 80%+ failure rate. 😁

blue vortex

Good to know but does it have a humidifier and lower cabin altitude? And do you enjoy the aircraft or is it just okay? Thanks!

sailingfun

We are fully staffed for the 350 now. It would require a displacement to open another base which is unlikely.

sailingfun

Yes to both. No to both for the A330 NEO.

FL370esq

The 350 may be fully staffed (appears they still need to add a few by June based on the last AE) but I'm not sure how they are going to run their sked solely from DTW with the addition of LAX-HND and SEA-NRT in the spring in light of the current 9-day trip construction model (DTW-PVG-LAX-PVG-DTW and DTW-ICN-ATL-ICN-DTW). Seeing as you are in the know, is there an unannounced pairing reduction (AMS?) in the works or has the company finally given in on their rigid stance about eliminating DH credit to/from LAX or do they merely want to continue paying a crap-ton of premium pay....and DH credit on those GS rotations?

There is already an abundance of uncovered 9-days sitting in open time and, remember, each 9-day ICN wipes out an extra 3 days off a pilot's schedule for FRMS effectively making it a 12-day trip (24 hours prior and 56 inviolate hours afterwards). Maybe the high-time (and senior) NRT 3-day is going away and the category will instead do DTW-NRT-SEA-NRT-DTW. However, seeing as HND is a one off itself for the category and because it is flown from LAX and not DTW, it will be interesting to see how "they" do it considering the whole reason for the two current 9-day rotations is to eliminate any DH time whether between DTW and ATL or DTW and LAX. A frightening thought is a DTW-PVG-LAX-HND-LAX-PVG-DTW rotation. One and done for sure (except that it might not fall below the top of the recent 71 hour ALV LCW). However, it would wipe out those four pilots for the rest of the month (and pretty much any GS oportunity other than AMS). Another gem for the 350 open time.

I still think we will see a west coast 350 base by the time the 15th (and final) aircraft arrives.

casual observer

The 350 is real nice. Cockpit is huge and quiet. Performance is great. The airplane is easy to fly and forgiving. I think the problems in training were that it is like learning a new suite of office software that you have to incorporate into the profiles. (If you don't like software or being heads down - you may not like the 350).

The 777 has got much better crew rest and much better galley space. Doing a crew rest swap out on a 350 during a service is pretty uncomfortable. No place to stand in the galley.

The 350 does amazing stuff. The problem is with 4 pilots and 14 hour legs, you only really get to watch it do amazing stuff - every once in a while. And almost no touching.

Kind of like marrying a supermodel with the understanding it will be strictly platonic.