737 for trans Atlantic Flights

I<3oil said:
Okay so 737 Max 8 on SW from Oakland to Honolulu was not bad at all. I’m 6’2 and still had a few inches from knees to seat in front of me and the 17.8” width was noticeably better than the 737-700 we just had flown on. Obvi wouldn’t want to go much longer in the plane but not bad for 5-6hrs flight.
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SouthWest has the largest standard economy pitch (space between seats/rows) of any US airline.

With a hedge fund now essentially controlling SoutWest, it is reasonable to assume SouthWest will add a few extra rows of seats to its 737 aircraft fleet, reducing space/ pitch between rows. Which may in fact be the difference between a tolerable long haul narrow body flight, and a "want to kill myself" long haul narrow body flight.
 
The small amount of personal space in standard economy is ridiculous. I think the airlines are trying to duplicate the passenger density of the old slave ships.

No wonder some passengers freak out and try to leave the aircraft mid flight.
 
Snagglefoot said:
I’m flying Dublin to Calgary non stop on a West Jet 787 this Sunday. I’ll try not to get into that middle seat of the middle row. :D
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Turns out the middle row was three seats across, 3,3,3. The seats were definitely wider than a 737. The middle section of toilets made it very convenient without long lineups. There was no first case or business class on this version. And yes, it was amazingly quiet compared to the 737.
 
k1xv said:
The small amount of personal space in standard economy is ridiculous. I think the airlines are trying to duplicate the passenger density of the old slave ships.

No wonder some passengers freak out and try to leave the aircraft mid flight.
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That is what the market, not the airlines, drove. When an industry has as profit margin of 3%, as it did for years, that’s 4 seats on a 150 seat 737. One row is 6 seats. 4% increase.

The airline that added that one row increased their revenue by enough to go from loss to profit.

Airlines, like American, that famously, in the late 1990s, increased their seat pitch, lost money compared with those that squeezed in more seats.

People buy on price, and then complain that the airlines squeeze them - well, if people would stop chasing the cheapest ticket and buy the seats that have more room, then all the airlines would have kept those larger seats.

But the public didn’t.

So, the airlines didn’t.
 
Snagglefoot said:
On some Airlines, if you don’t pay more to upgrade your seat when you check in, you’ll be sitting in the honour guard section lining the path to the toilets.
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And your point?

Should the airlines leave the area near the toilet empty?

Would anyone actually pay double for a flight that didn’t have seats there?

Because every seat on an airplane is a part of the revenue. Sure, they charge a bit more for the more desirable seats, like Delta Premium Economy, that has the 36” seat pitch, and for seats that are farther forward in economy, with the 31” pitch, but when the margin is as thin as it is - they need every seat.

Or, stop complaining about how airlines treat you and just buy a Gulfstream.

Lots of room to stretch out. Leaves when you want, goes where you want, no connections, no crowds.
 
Astro14 said:
Or, they show up “pre-medicated” with a combination of alcohol and Ambien in their system. Happens often. It’s an “influencer” travel “hack” that often has disastrous consequences.
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Don't really like flying, On long haul flights I took enough Adavan (?) to be comfortably numb. Once so comfortable that I needed mild assistance to leave the plane. Learned that 2 was enough and the third in flight was Overkill.
 
Astro14 said:
And your point?

Should the airlines leave the area near the toilet empty?

Would anyone actually pay double for a flight that didn’t have seats there?

Because every seat on an airplane is a part of the revenue. Sure, they charge a bit more for the more desirable seats, like Delta Premium Economy, that has the 36” seat pitch, and for seats that are farther forward in economy, with the 31” pitch, but when the margin is as thin as it is - they need every seat.

Or, stop complaining about how airlines treat you and just buy a Gulfstream.

Lots of room to stretch out. Leaves when you want, goes where you want, no connections, no crowds.
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No worries. Just updating some folks on how to improve their experience. The are ways to get seats that a person perceived as better for them. It’s going to cost a bit of money is all.
 
Snagglefoot said:
No worries. Just updating some folks on how to improve their experience. The are ways to get seats that a person perceived as better for them. It’s going to cost a bit of money is all.
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Yeah - this has been true for ten years, that you can buy a better seat, and the whole thing is scaled, e.g. $110 more for an aisle in economy plus, but $90 for a middle.

I just assume that folks know that is how it works now, but then, I travel a lot…
 
Snagglefoot said:
On some Airlines, if you don’t pay more to upgrade your seat when you check in, you’ll be sitting in the honour guard section lining the path to the toilets.
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Do they always allocate the seat near the back ?

That's not been my recent experience. On short haul flight of 3 hours I don't much care where I sit so what I've done for the last 4 flights is to check in a soon as online check in becomes available which for Easy jet is exactly 30 days before the flights depart. Each time We have got two seats together - A and B or E and F and they have been close to the centre of the aircraft.

I reckon if you let the airline allocate seats then it's done by an algorithm not a human. So would they allocate them at random or to a particular pattern. My guess is they would start in the middle and allocate seats from there in order to keep the aircraft in balance. So if you check in early then odds are you get to sit near the wings.
 
“ The small amount of personal space in standard economy is ridiculous. I think the airlines are trying to duplicate the passenger density of the old slave ships.

No wonder some passengers freak out and try to leave the aircraft mid flight. “



I always fly first class so I don’t feel like a sardine on any aircraft.

I’m 6’2” so not too tall but I like my space.
 
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Hermann said:
Don't really like flying, On long haul flights I took enough Adavan (?) to be comfortably numb. Once so comfortable that I needed mild assistance to leave the plane. Learned that 2 was enough and the third in flight was Overkill.
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Holy smokes man, that’s a heavy duty tranquilizer!
 
SubieRubyRoo said:
Keflavik, Iceland to Seattle is the world’s longest 737 route. Just over 7 hours. 😖
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I believe this has been surpassed by both Copa and Gol. Copa flies PTY-EZE and PTY-GRU, and Gol flies BSB-MIA as well as BSB-MCO.

A quick web search indicates that Gol's BSB-MCO is currently the longest at 3289 nautical mi/ 3,784 statute mi and a block time of 8 hours 25 minutes on the MAX-8.

We go to GRU 1-2 times a year and considering Copa flies to Austin, we'd probably take them if it was cheap enough. For the same price though we're taking a widebody on one of their competitors.

Kind of feel the same about Aeromexico, we've taken them twice and their 787 is nice enough, but the return flight is a daytime flight GRU-MEX and you end up having to spend the night at MEX. But if it's cheap enough....
 
Brons2 said:
I believe this has been surpassed by both Copa and Gol. Copa flies PTY-EZE and PTY-GRU, and Gol flies BSB-MIA as well as BSB-MCO.

A quick web search indicates that Gol's BSB-MCO is currently the longest at 3289 nautical mi/ 3,784 statute mi and a block time of 8 hours 25 minutes on the MAX-8.

We go to GRU 1-2 times a year and considering Copa flies to Austin, we'd probably take them if it was cheap enough. For the same price though we're taking a widebody on one of their competitors.

Kind of feel the same about Aeromexico, we've taken them twice and their 787 is nice enough, but the return flight is a daytime flight GRU-MEX and you end up having to spend the night at MEX. But if it's cheap enough....
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I was referring to SimpleFlying.com's list of longest 737 flight routes that was updated in late May '25, so who knows.
 
Astro14 said:
That is what the market, not the airlines, drove. When an industry has as profit margin of 3%, as it did for years, that’s 4 seats on a 150 seat 737. One row is 6 seats. 4% increase.

The airline that added that one row increased their revenue by enough to go from loss to profit.

Airlines, like American, that famously, in the late 1990s, increased their seat pitch, lost money compared with those that squeezed in more seats.

People buy on price, and then complain that the airlines squeeze them - well, if people would stop chasing the cheapest ticket and buy the seats that have more room, then all the airlines would have kept those larger seats.

But the public didn’t.

So, the airlines didn’t.
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When American had "More Room Throughout Coach" it worked on me. I gladly paid more to fly on American, and amassed over 300K miles doing so in the process.

Now, flying American is misery. I prefer Delta, the seat room isn't that much better, but the service standard is higher.
 
SubieRubyRoo said:
I was referring to SimpleFlying.com's list of longest 737 flight routes that was updated in late May '25, so who knows.
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Yeah I've found that SimpleFlying's articles are sometimes not that accurate. KEF-SEA great circle route is 3148nmi per gcmap.com and shows at 7:07 at an average mach of .77. Of course, actual airline routes will differ, and approach/departure is not flown at cruising speeds, nor is it straight.

http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=kef-sea&MS=wls&DU=nm&SG=.77&SU=mach
 
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