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Real life dispatch question

Started by Will, Thu, 21 Mar 2019 17:52

Will

I'm flying to Shanghai soon, and the airline I'm taking is in the process of renovating its fleet. The newer interiors will all have excellent seats, based on customer reviews of the planes that have already been updated.

But unfortunately, it looks like I'm flying on an aircraft that still has the old interior. (This is based on the seat configurations on the airline's booking page.)

So, my question for those with real-world dispatch experience is this: when an entire fleet is getting upgraded, how accurate is the reservation system's prediction of equipment? Is it more normal to ignore the upgrade and book into the old configuration until the whole fleet is finished? Or to feed real-time configuration data into the reservations software, so that passengers will see their actual seat configuration when buying a ticket?

I'm hoping my old-style aircraft gets a mechanical difficulty and the airline swaps in one of the renovated ones, but how likely is that? (Not how likely is it that the aircraft breaks, but how likely would it be that a replacement aircraft has a different cabin than the original aircraft?)

Will /Chicago /USA

beat578

Hi Will
I have no reallive Dispatch experience at all, but given the fact that you can choose your seat at the point of reservation on most airlines, I guess it must be quite accurate. When I flew to canada last year for example, I knew that I will have a Dreamliner on one way and a 777 on the backway and I also knew exaclty what seating configuration they have, so I could book my seat.
I would be surprised if they don't have all of therir layouts in the system, because they have to shedule every plane for month in advance to fit in all checks and everything...
I still hope for you to catch a new one!
Regards Beat LSZH

DougSnow

It can change day of based on aircraft rotation, so take it with a grain of salt.  While they would rather keep the cabin configs the same, but if they can't and remain on time, they won't.

Will

Well, I hope I get swapped into the new config.

I booked the seats knowing about the renovation, except that I thought the renovation was complete. Turns out, nope, far from it. So big disappointment. I need to go that day, on that airline, so it's not like the seat was why I bought the ticket. But still, quite a letdown. Sitting in a nicer seat makes a big difference on a 14.5 hour flight.

Will /Chicago /USA

localiser

Will,

I asked a dispatcher today - the website will give you the planned aircraft type/config and if there are any subsequent changes you should get an email from customer services.

If you're really unlucky you might find out at the gate!


Will

A surprise at the gate might be just what I need, since I'm booked into the older model!
Will /Chicago /USA