UA Cuts Capacity on US-Australia Routes

United is to replace the 747-400 aircraft it uses on its Australia-US route with smaller 777s. Updating its fleet with smaller aircraft will reduce capacity on the trans-Pacific route from 374 to 269 :(passengers per flight, which should in turn increase yields. The carrier will roll out its fleet replacement on 4/1/14 on routes from SYD and MEL to SFO and LAX. "The 777 will be the ideal aircraft for our Australia routes in terms of both capacity and customer amenities," said James Mueller, United's VP of Atlantic and Pacific sales..

Remember, last I heard our 747s have no AVOD. That's a loooong flight to deal with that. Also, on the bright side, our 747s were recently moved to always fly in and out of SFO only, with the exception of LAX-SYD. They'll soon move them back to fly to PVG, NRT, and FRA out of ORD.

That is correct...no AVOD in coach on the 747s. Not too happy about this, will make getting to Australia impossible for nonrevs.

Ok, sorry for the cluelessness but...AVOD? What is that?

This certainly disappoints me. We have added UA to our DL benefits and were hopeful about Australia. Not so hopeful anymore (there are 5 of us, so everything is a challenge). Maybe we need to plan a trip before April? ;)

Audio Video On Demand - basically the TVs in the seats.

Keep in mind as well, Australia isn't the kind of place where loads are ALWAYS bad. Winter and summer can be pretty rough, but I've seen some Australia flights that were wide open, and I'm sure they would still be on a 777.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by spongebue

Audio Video On Demand - basically the TVs in the seats.

---

Thanks spongebue! Heavens, I'm spoiled these days and can't imagine flying that far without AVOD! Earlier this year our herd was sitting on the aircraft waiting to take-off for HNL (from HOU) and a maintenance issue caused a delay. Finally realized we could wait for the replacement part, but part of the crew would then time out before landing AND passengers would miss their Guam connections. Solution? (While hubby is fuming that all they need to do is "reboot")...Leave without the part - we just won't have ANY audio/video AT ALL, and power outlets in the seats wouldn't work! One of my kids actually cried - he had been sooo excited to play games! I almost cried when I thought about what might happen with my toddler and 1st grader used up the battery life on their portable dvd players! Thankfully the 2 - 3 hr batteries lasted the whole flight somehow, and I learned that it is still safest to take the portable dvd player as long as I'm traveling long distances with a toddler.

At least there's still hope on the Australia flights. No winter or summer is something I can work around. I think it would be more enjoyable (if we get on) to wait for the 777 comforts.