Steerpike

I find it helpful that they hand out blankets and pillows on long-haul/international flights. Some combination of the two usually helps me get more comfortable ... sitting on the blanket and using the pillow as a lower-back support often works! I haven't encountered any lasting issues with shitty economy seating; within a day of arrival I'm back in the swing of things. Depending on the direction of the flight, I've found that staying awake and standing as much as possible are helpful. But it does seem that different airlines have different seat designs. My two flights on BA's A380 in economy were both very uncomfortable and I suspect it's not the plane but the seat chosen by BA (I assume the seats are determined by the airline, not the plane vendor?)

spouse of scouse

Oh believe me Steerpike, I've tried to make friends with economy seats and long haul flights but have failed miserably. I've had 3 neck and back surgeries and just can't tolerate sitting upright for so long.

The only time I arrived in halfway decent shape was flying with Singapore Airlines from Singapore to London, the flight was half empty so they gave me a row of 4 seats in the middle to myself. I put all the armrests up, begged a couple of extra pillows and blankets, and slept for 10 hours of the 14 hour flight.

Steerpike

Three neck and back surgeries ... yikes! You have my sympathy!

spouse of scouse

Thanks It started with someone slamming into the back of my car at 100kph, and just escalated. I'm pretty much ok though, except if you put me into a little seat on a big flight!

markonline1

Giantaxe

BA recently cancelled the Oakland to Gatwick route so I'm not surprised to hear it's increasing its capacity on its San Jose route.

scrubbedexpat091

If project sunrise goes forward at QANTAS appears they will select the A350-1000.

https://www.qantasnewsroom.com.au/me...4212xxHkRRUv2M

scrubbedexpat091

Not my video, but in 20 odd years of flying in and out of San Diego, I have yet to ever experience a runway 09 departure, it's a fairly uncommon departure most of the year.

Pulaski

It's good to see Kalitta in the news - for providing the charter aircraft for the Wuhan evacuation.

If this is the actual plane it would have been an "interesting" flight as it doesn't appear to have any windows. Another news site has a different picture, apparently in Wuhan, also showing an aircraft without windows. Of course this isn't surprising as Kalitta is primarily a freight airline, though it does also have the contract to transport deceased servicemen (and women) on their final journey.

civilservant

That's a -400F. I'd be surpirsed if the ride was that comfortable back from China

chawkins99

I saw this on the news this morning including pictures from passengers. It looked like a transport plane from the inside although it had regular passenger seating including seatback TV screens.

scrubbedexpat091

Aircraft used N705CK which is indeed a 747-400F originally built for Korean Airlines cargo in Sept 2001 and stored in 2014, until Kalitta leased it in 2017.

They outfitted it with temporary passenger seats to do this flight which routed China-Anchorage-Riverside, California and then went on to Seattle where it hasn't moved since arriving yesterday evening.

Total of 201 passengers, although they had enough seats for 240 passengers.

Looking at photo taken inside the plane on FB, they did have windows just not in the typical location of a passenger plane.

They could have probably just saved some work and chartered a plane from a passenger airline.

Pulaski

Maybe, but Kalitta already has a contract with the US government. ..... And as the passengers may have an infectious disease it could have turned into a PR disaster for a commercial airline.

caretaker

Easier to hose this one out than a regular passenger plane, too.

markonline1

My colleague went to the dr the other day with a cough he has been struggling to clear for a few weeks. As soon as he mentioned he worked at an airport, she left the room and came back in goggles, face mask and protective clothing where she then proceeded to draw blood. That sample was then sent to the CDC where he had confirmation 2 days later that he did not have the Corona virus LOL.