Cathay Pacific recently posted a video tour of their new First and Business Class lounge at San Francisco International Airport and it’s a pretty darn good one. The only thing I’ll miss about the British Airways Terraces lounge they used to use is the “back door” boarding directly from the lounge for gate A6. A small price to pay for what looks like a significantly upgraded experience.

In other airline industry news this week…

• United Airlines announced new daily nonstop service from Newark to Istanbul effective July 1, 2012. Initially the route will be flown with United’s current international 767-300ER aircraft with three classes of service, but beginning August 28, the airline will swap in a new configuration that features BusinessFirst, Economy Plus and standard economy. United is planning to convert the current domestic 767-300 fleet typically seen on the Hawaii routes into this new layout.
• Delta Air Lines completed the installation of Wi-Fi on all Delta Shuttle aircraft flying the New York-LaGuardia to Boston, Washington National and Chicago O’Hare flights. According to the carrier’s local Senior Vice President Gail Grimmett, “We are thrilled that Wi-Fi is now available to our Delta Shuttle customers as it’s a perfect complement to other Shuttle amenities including free morning coffee and newspapers.” The carrier expects to have internet service available on more than 800 aircraft by this summer.
• Sticking with Delta for the moment, they announced expanded codeshare agreements with both China Eastern and China Southern Airlines this week. The Civil Aviation Administration of China approved the link-up of codes and flight numbers and once implemented, codeshare service will be seen across 34 cities within the U.S. and China with China Eastern and 18 cities with China Southern.
• American Airlines issued another letter to its employees this week notifying them of the necessity to “re-gauge” their fleet in order to match supply with market demand, particularly from their hub in Chicago. Current contracts with the pilot’s union prevent the carrier from subbing larger regional jets into markets currently flown with larger mainline aircraft, causing an industry-losing position in unit revenue. The letter also states the airline will focus on premium international business traffic once it exits Chapter 11 protection, hoping to grow their share of the lucrative segment.
• US Airways filed a formal objection with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday claiming Philadelphia’s planned airport expansion would “harm its finances and business operations and force it to shift flights elsewhere.” The carrier controls 70% of the market flying to, through or from PHL, and as a result, the airline would take the brunt of the all but likely increases to airport rates and fees charged to fund the expansion. The city, meanwhile, claims the proposed new runway and terminal expansion are essential to sustain further growth.
• Survey results were released this week from Buyology and uSamp (who?) revealing the most desired brand in the United States. Sorry, Apple, top honors went to Southwest Airlines. Buyology CEO Gary Singer thinks Southwest did so well largely due to its no-fee ad campaign and because of what its service represents in the minds of passengers.
• Finally, and hopefully not an omen of things to come at United, Cathay Pacific continues to have issues a week after it converted from an in-house reservations system to GDS provider Amadeus. Passengers with award tickets are still unable to manage their bookings online and the carrier is working through additional “teething issues” (their words) with the system migration. With United’s upcoming switchover, let this be a reminder to passengers to be proactive and have as much detail about their itineraries as possible in print.

I previously posted the maps of Cathay Pacific’s Boeing 747-300 and 747-400 from the 1980s, and here now is their 747-200 for this installment of Vintage Airline Seat Maps. The carrier operated about 20 of this version during its peak.

Seating a total of 363 passengers, First Class offered 35 seats in the then typical 2 x 2 layout, Marco Polo Business Class seated 92 passengers in a 2 x 3 x 2 configuration, and economy class saw the standard 3 x 4 x 3 with 236 seats.

The white ‘x’ appearing on many of the bulkhead walls denote baby bassinet positions and if I were traveling alone, you’d find me in 1A in First Class (hoping there wasn’t a baby across the aisle). I still prefer sitting in the nose of a 747 vs. upstairs and this bird was flying when smoking was allowed where rows four and five are highlighted as smoking seats.

In Business Class, row 16 looks ideal to me being ahead of the wing for optimal gazing out the window. Something I find odd here, though, is that there appears to be only two lavatories for the entire main deck First Class and Business Class cabins. That’s a little punitive, in my opinion.

In economy I’d probably take an aisle seat somewhere around row 37.

Where would you sit?

In other airline and travel industry news last week…

• Southwest Airlines placed a monumental order for 208 Boeing 737 aircraft this week that includes 150 of the manufacturer’s newest Max version, making the carrier the official launch customer. The first delivery to Southwest won’t occur until 2017. At list prices, the order value is $19 billion and $4.7 billion for the aircraft and engines respectively.
• In addition to his new role as CEO of American Airlines, Tom Horton has been elected Chairman of the oneworld alliance this week. He offered to have another of the alliance carriers’ executives take the post, but “the unanimous view was that the alliance would benefit greatly at this time from the continuity in our leadership that Tom represents – while at the same time underlining the commitment of oneworld to American while it undergoes its restructuring.”
• Cathay Pacific opened their new lounge at San Francisco’s International Airport, the first CX-owned facility in the United States. A grand opening reception was held this past Thursday and Loyalty Traveler has a great review of it. The carrier also introduced details of its new Premium Economy Class product that will be rolled out beginning in March next year. The seats will feature 38 inches of pitch, enhanced recline, footrests, in-seat power and much more.
• Hearings for the dispute between Qantas and the pilots union won’t occur until June next year due in part to the complexity of the matter. The carrier has until March 19^th to submit key witness statements and expert evidence to the panel of “workplace umpires,” while the pilots union has to do the same by April 30^th. Other hearings will take place earlier between the carrier and baggage handler and engineer unions.
• The FAA granted certification to the passenger Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental this week, green lighting deliveries to begin early next year. Lufthansa is the launch customer for the passenger version. The FAA also approved extended operations (ETOPS) of Boeing 777s to 330-minutes, up from 240-minutes this week. This will allow carriers to fly more direct routes between airports and reduce carbon emissions.
• On the passenger front, a Frenchman was arrested this week for his excessive pilfering of items from Air France First Class cabins, which he then resold online. Among the items stolen were napkins, glasses, plates and blankets. The article claims he made about 10,000 euros off the sales of the items during the past three years. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t take a glass or two over the years, but I never resell the tiny amount of stuff I’ve taken.
• Speaking of fraud, the Airlines Reporting Corporation has seen a “marked increase” in unauthorized airline tickets issued. Last year, 18 of these incidents were reported, but the figure to-date for 2011 is 113 and those tickets are valued at more than $1 million. Phishing scams are the main culprit where travel agents receive what they think is official communication from trusted GDS companies and click the link to enter their credentials.
• Finally, staying on the GDS front, Travelport will begin charging travel agencies more for services they currently use for free. Beginning January 1^st, the company’s Agility program that allows agents to use certain client databases, PNR search capabilities, fulfillment services, queues and more will come with a $35 fee per terminal per month. Agency incentives for using GDS technology still remain, but new costs such as this are pointing to a changing landscape in the GDS-Agency relationship.

The colorful Cathay Pacific seat maps reader Will sent me have become favorites in my collection. Here’s Cathay’s Boeing 747-300 from 1989 for this installment of Vintage Airline Seat Maps. It seated a total of 422 passengers split between First Class, Marco Polo Business Class and Economy Class.

29 seats were found in the nose and just beyond in the then typical two-seater configuration for First Class, and you’d definitely find me in 1A if I was flying solo or in 2A/B with a traveling companion. Well… maybe not 1A as the white ‘x’ mark at the bulkheads (in each cabin) denote bassinet positions. Smoking seats, by the way, are the ones with a yellowish hue.

In Marco Polo Business Class, I’d likely opt to sit upstairs although it’s tightly packed with 42 seats. These were the days before truly generous pitch was found in the middle cabin. The downstairs section might see more personalized service seating only 21 passengers. A tough selection here, but the extra storage bins alongside the window seats upstairs could be the swaying factor for me. I’ll go for 17A.

In coach flying solo, I generally book an aisle in the center 4-seater section on a 747 since those seats have a greater likelihood of the seat next to it being unoccupied. Also, I always pick the ‘G’ seats near the center back since the computer algorithm generally assigns last minute seats left to right, front to back. Otherwise, those aisle bulkhead seats just behind the exit doors would be incredibly spacious. It’d be a toss up between 30C and say, 49G for me. For a couple, nothing beats those last few rows of two-seaters if you don’t mind being last off the plane. Economy on this version seated 330 passengers.

Where would you sit?

Here’s an absolutely spectacular video showing a Cathay Pacific Airbus A330 performing its “slow flight” capabilities. Part of any pilot’s flight training requires mastery of this maneuver – the point at which an aircraft remains ever so slightly above stall speed and is still able to fly. It’s normally done at very high altitudes to allow a student pilot to get the exact feel of how the manipulation of aircraft controls allows such a flight situation.

I trained on Cessna 172s and loved doing this maneuver. Well… not the first few times when I failed and upchucked breakfast when I stalled the aircraft and spun towards the ground. (Side personal note: I’ve never been able to eat cantaloupe since.) One time, wind conditions were strong enough where I was able to slow the aircraft, pitch the nose and fly backwards when looking at the ground. Pretty cool.

Anyway, here’s the video… the weather conditions in the video appear “safe” enough to attempt what they did so close to the ground, but if I were the PIC – pilot in command – I would never have approved such an attempt.

Special thanks to my BFF Eric for sending me this video.

I’m definitely on a Cathay Pacific kick right now having just finished my complete trip report, so I’ve selected a Cathay Boeing 747-400 for this installment of Vintage Airline Seat Maps. This particular configuration was flying the skies in 1988 and I have to once again give special thanks to reader Will who graciously sent me several of the carrier’s seating layouts from the 1980s.

It seated a total of 363 passengers split up between First Class, Marco Polo Business Class and Economy Class. First Class extended beyond just the nose and occupied more than half of the space between doors one and two. United Airlines used to have a version that went fully back to door two and I thoroughly enjoyed flying on 747s with this type of layout. It felt like the entire plane was an exclusive privately operated luxury jet with an incredible amount of room to move about.

30 seats were found up front in the typical 2-seater configuration for First Class during that time period. Still much preferring to sit in the nose for its uniquely shaped aestheticism, you’d find me either in row two or three. Smoking seats, by the way, are the ones with a yellowish hue. That orange square behind the port-side lavatory is labeled as a “bar unit” according to the legend.

Most frequent flyers today prefer the upper deck for its feel of isolation from the rest of the plane and its normally personalized service, but given the volume of Business Class seats crammed into the upstairs section in the 1980s, you’d find me downstairs probably around rows 26 or 27. The mini-cabin at rows 20 and 21 might be unpleasant due to the proximity of both the First Class and Business Class galleys, not to mention being in the smoking section. Oh, and those “x” marks in front of rows one, 10, 20, 23, 31 and 57 denote bassinet positions for which I’d definitely steer clear of.

In coach, I generally book an aisle seat in the center 4-seater section on a 747 since those seats have a greater likelihood of the seat next to it being unoccupied. Here I’d go for rows 38 or 39 as last-minute standby seats are generally assigned front-to-back, so my unoccupied seat strategy has a better chance of coming through. I might consider rows 58 and 59 for the same reason. Also, I always pick the ‘G’ seats since the computer algorithm also automatically assigns last minute seats left to right.

Where would you sit?

Upper deck

Main deck

CX Trip Report: Introduction & American Airlines flight to San Francisco

CX Trip Report: Check-in and British Airways’ Terraces Lounge San Francisco Airport

CX Trip Report: Cathay Pacific flight 879 San Francisco-Hong Kong

CX Trip Report: Amenity Kit Review – Cathay Pacific First Class men’s kit

CX Trip Report: Cathay Pacific “The Arrival” lounge Hong Kong Airport

CX Trip Report: Regal Airport Hotel Hong Kong

CX Trip Report: Cathay Pacific “The Wing” First Class lounge Hong Kong Airport

CX Trip Report: Cathay Pacific “The Pier” First Class lounge Hong Kong Airport

CX Trip Report: Cathay Pacific flight 884 Hong Kong-Los Angeles

After leaving The Wing First Class lounge, I made the short trek to nearby gate 21 about 15 minutes before boarding was to begin for Cathay Pacific flight 884 from Hong Kong to Los Angeles. My Boeing 777-300 was towed into the gate from a nearby ramp parking spot and catering trucks were busy servicing the galleys.

The gate area was setup so First Class and Business Class – along with those with qualifying elite status – could board on the left where the jetway was attached to door one, while a long single aisle queue for economy stretched along to the right for access to the other jetway.

Shortly, boarding was called and I was quickly on my way down the jetway for the mandatory bag search. I always forget at non-U.S. airports that they don’t allow you to carry water bottles onboard even though they come from the secure airside. The agent’s English wasn’t too good and she simply said “no water” and removed my bottle. This was the most thorough search I’ve had and literally everything was rummaged through. It only took a couple of minutes and I was then on my way to board.

The flight attendant was pleasant and showed me to my seat, 1A, though I was hoping to be addressed by name again. I settled in, took some video and snapped a few pictures. The onboard Service Manager introduced herself and wished me a pleasant flight insisting I could call on her at any time during the flight.

Within moments another flight attendant approached with a hot towel and asked for my pre-departure beverage choice. She returned with a Perrier with lemon and also brought Shanghai Tang pajamas. Shortly after, newspapers and menus were distributed. I changed into the pajamas and hung my shirt & jeans in my dedicated closet next to the large video monitor at my seat.

We were quickly ready for pushback and made our way to runway 25L. I don’t know why Cathay Pacific waits until after takeoff to distribute the amenity kits, but once we were airborne and above 18,000 feet, flight attendants supplied each passenger with a kit while taking their drink and lunch order.

Lunch service began almost immediately and in an attempt to avoid being disappointed with the quality of the meat from the Chinese Favorites selection I had on the outbound, I opted for the grilled U.S. Prime beef tenderloin. I did, however, ask for the starters from the Chinese options and had the pork soup with carrot and Buddhist palm melon, and a cold plate of pork shank terrine with black vinegar.

The usual caviar and Balik salmon started the multi-course meal and I once again had a nice personalized Bon Appetit card.

Then it was on to the soup and cold plate and both were absolutely delicious and satisfying.

Next up was the steak and I was very disappointed. It was incredibly dry, not very tender and no amount of salt made it any better. The veggies and garlic mashed potatoes were, however, delicious.

I went with the chocolate pudding with vanilla ice cream and raspberry coulis for dessert and was left wanting more. I’m sure I could have asked for another serving, but decided not to.

I freshened up in the lavatory and while not quite as spacious as the ones on their 747s, it was perfectly nice. No pictures to share, but I took video of it which is included below. Upon returning to my seat, I had another hot towel, pralines and a fresh glass of Perrier waiting for me. We were near Japan at that time and I paused the movie “Water For Elephants” and tucked myself in for a long nap.

Once again, I slept solidly for about 6 or 7 hours as Cathay’s seat turns into the most comfortable bed I’ve ever experienced on an airplane. Within moments of waking a flight attendant noticed me rustling about and asked if I needed anything. I requested a coffee and orange juice and when I returned from the lav it was waiting for me with a hot towel. I resumed watching my movie.

By now we were about two and a half hours from Los Angeles and I requested to have breakfast sooner rather than later. The first course consisted of fresh fruit, yoghurt and a selection of bread and muffins.

I opted for the egg dish that came with a small portion of corned beef hash and baked tomato. The eggs were fantastic and freshly pan-fried… boy what a difference from the rubbery pre-made egg stuff I’m used to when flying domestic First Class.

After breakfast I changed back into my street clothes and returned to my seat to savor the views as we approached southern California. This crew, as with the outbound, was outstanding and their English nearly perfect. I was disappointed with the entrée yet again, but the service more than made up for it. I definitely preferred the 747 First Class cabin as it felt more spacious and being in the nose on that airplane is just so cool.

Be sure to check out the video below which includes quite a bit of footage, including shots of the view provided by the underbelly camera installed on Cathay’s 777-300s. Such a cool feature on this aircraft. My apologies if you don’t like dance/trance music as I selected an incredible song “If I Could Fly” that I thought was a perfect match lyrically.

I hope you’ve enjoying reading along and I’ll have another multi-part trip report coming soon as I’m traveling with Asiana Airlines next month in both First Class and Business Class. I’m really looking forward to another new experience.

As part of my Cathay Pacific trip report, here is the next installment of my series on Amenity Kit Reviews featuring the men’s First Class kit. I was also able to get a women’s version that I’ll review another time. For a better description of each category and the 7-point scale for scoring, please review my introductory post here.

Bag/Container: Cathay Pacific partnered with Ermenegildo Zenga, a leading Italian fashion house, to supply the bags for the men’s kit. It’s a soft synthetic fabric zipper bag with interior pockets on each side and a tag noting its exclusive design for the airline. Unlike most kits, this one denotes it is new and unused by means of a thread sewn into near the start of the zipper. Both kits I received in each direction to/from Hong Kong had minor defects and while it is reusable, its size is less than ideal to carry an ample supply of items. Score: 5

Skin Care: This kit features Acca Kappa skin care products and includes lip balm, anti-age face moisturizer and facial mist. The lavatories also included the same brand’s body lotion, shaving cream “milk” and aftershave. An additional facial mist by Temple Spa was also available in the lav. The lip balm is scentless and effective. The facial mist and facial moisturizer from the kit are scented with Sandalwood for which I’m now a big fan. Even though it smells very “manly,” it’s incredibly refreshing and pleasant. Absolutely nothing was missing in this category and I thoroughly enjoyed them all. Well done, Cathay! Score: 7

Oral Care: The usual toothbrush, toothpaste and mouthwash are contained in this kit. The toothbrush, while not full-sized, is longer than those found in most of the U.S. carriers’ kits and is soft-bristled. The toothpaste was just the standard Colegate flavor and I generally prefer mint. This was the first time I’ve seen mouthwash in a one-use un-resealable half & half-style container. I would have preferred a mini-bottle. Nothing stellar in this category, so I feel comfortable with an adequate rating. Score: 4

Comfort Items: I absolutely love non-U.S. carriers as most provide pajamas in First Class. These were designed by Shanghai Tang, a very well known and elite retailer in China. Both the top & bottom were incredibly soft and comfortable. Slippers were included and soft eyeshades with an adjustable Velcro strap were inside the kit. The earplugs were sealed in plastic and were soft and standard-sized. I was sort of surprised no socks were included, but they probably assumed slippers were sufficient. The kit also included a shoehorn and wooden comb. Score: 6

Intangibles: Even though it felt unimpressive when delivered, it contained just about everything you would need to be refreshed during the flight. I understand the unique branding for the bag’s design, but I would have liked to see Cathay Pacific logos somewhere. Score: 5

Total score & comments:

Airlines that offer different kits for men and women get extra marks in my opinion. Cathay’s men’s amenity kit is pretty nice and I’m happy to have added it to my collection. There are things they can certainly improve on and I read just this past week they’ve introduced a new kit. I’ll be anxious to acquire one to compare it to this version. As it’s not uber luxurious, I feel the final score of 5.50 is pretty fair.

I finally finished editing the immense amount of video I took on my trip in First Class on Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong and posted it yesterday on YouTube. Yes, it’ll be 10 minutes out of your life if you watch it in its entirety, but if you’re an aviation geek like me, you’ll absolutely love it.

I went with live sound as music would have ruined some of the unique airplane noises I’ve grown so fond of. It includes footage of both the First Class and Business Class sections of British Airways’ Terraces Lounge at San Francisco airport, along with quite a bit of coverage on the airplane itself. Cathay certainly has an incredibly comfortable and soothing nose section on their 747s.

You’ll also see an Air France A380 parked at the gate in San Francisco, a Lufthansa A380 taking off and probably more than you care to see of an airplane lavatory. I’ve updated my Cathay Pacific Flight 879 post to include the video, but wanted to feature it as a unique post today on BoardingArea. I hope you enjoy it!

CX Trip Report: Introduction & American Airlines flight to San Francisco

CX Trip Report: Check-in and British Airways’ Terraces Lounge San Francisco Airport

CX Trip Report: Cathay Pacific flight 879 San Francisco-Hong Kong

CX Trip Report: Amenity Kit Review – Cathay Pacific First Class men’s kit

CX Trip Report: Cathay Pacific “The Arrival” lounge Hong Kong Airport

CX Trip Report: Regal Airport Hotel Hong Kong

CX Trip Report: Cathay Pacific “The Wing” First Class lounge Hong Kong Airport

CX Trip Report: Cathay Pacific “The Pier” First Class lounge Hong Kong Airport

CX Trip Report: Cathay Pacific flight 884 Hong Kong-Los Angeles

After leaving Cathay Pacific’s “The Wing” I headed for the intra-terminal train station as the airport is absolutely enormous and a walk to “The Pier” didn’t seem appealing. As with the previous lounge, First Class and Business Class have separate and unique entries.

I took the escalator down one level to reception, presented my boarding pass containing a re-entry stamp and was welcomed into the lounge. Some reviewers dislike the dungeon-esque feeling being downstairs as there really are no windows with a view (one row of frosted windows exists where you can see the silhouettes of aircraft on the ramp), but I found it warm and exclusive.

Several groups of seating areas with comfortable leather chairs and couches were situated throughout the space, some surrounding televisions and others set up as if they were in an entertainment-free living room. Wait staff are just as attentive at The Pier as they were at The Wing and moments after finding a seat, I was approached and asked what I wanted to drink.

After a while, I went to check out The Haven, the same buffet-style restaurant as is found at The Wing. The layout here, though, is more appealing offering a true restaurant feel with a unique area for tables and another for buffet service. I probably should have mentioned this in my review of The Wing, but its setup was more reminiscent of what you’d find at a Holiday Inn Express – an area with uninspired seating next to a buffet counter. Yes, it was much busier at The Wing when I ate there, but this setup provides a lot more space and definitive sections.

Still in the breakfast hours, I went for a sort-of Eggs Benedict dish without the hollandaise sauce and ham (yes, it really was ham this time!) with a couple wedges of watermelon.

After eating, I wandered around a bit snapping a couple more pictures of the entry to three of the six Daybreak rooms – private enclaves where you can sleep or lounge and watch TV – and the ample section of computer workstations. Now here’s where I’m a bad blogger… I did not get a chance to check out the Daybreak rooms or shower facilities as I had to make my way back to the terminal for boarding. Next time!

If you only have time to hit one First Class lounge on your trip with Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong, I’d recommend The Pier over The Wing right now, but reserve the right to change my opinion once the remainder of Level 7 opens over at The Wing. I had a far more soothing and enjoyable experience at The Pier. Next up will be the final installment of this trip report reviewing my flight back to Los Angeles onboard a Cathay Boeing 777.