Game of thrones

Back then, Capps told me that the potential to refit the A330 product on the similarly-sized A380 upper deck is “always a consideration for us, but really we made the decision for the business suite on this aircraft in the context of the A330. It’s obviously favourable that it could be an option for A380 for us in the future, but really this was about the A330. ” Six months later, Virgin Australia’s new ‘The Business’ is in play across the Pacific, and has utterly eclipsed Qantas’s A380 and 747 Skybed Mark III product, which is getting on for a decade in service (VH-OQA, Nancy- Bird Walton, no relation, was delivered in September 2008). From a purely seat and surround product, the only competition is American Airlines, which has its own soft product and service reputation to deal with, despite recent improvements.

So, will we see Qantas’s A330 product on its A380s – and indeed, its incoming 787-9 fleet? The real question is “should we”, and I’m going to argue that we shouldn’t, despite quite liking the Qantas product when I’ve flown it.

Well, liking it in an even-numbered window seat, that is, and there lies the problem.

Just about every seat in the Virgin Australia cabin is the same. Some point together, some point towards the window, but passengers have the same legroom, same shoulder space, same sleeping position, and same amount of privacy.

That can’t be said for the Qantas Business Suite, where the staggered layout means that there are real winners and losers on board. The winners are the people with a table between themselves and the aisle. These seats are more private and are protected from the aisle, compared with the other seats that are immediately next to the aisle.

And I do mean immediately: on my first flight on the new Qantas seat, a flight attendant went flying after tripping over an outstretched foot from the passenger in the aisle-side seat in front of me.

On day flights some passengers like the seats immediately next to the aisle for extra work space, but this zero-sum game with winners and losers isn’t really there on the Virgin seat.

Now, this might sound like a very nice problem to have, along the lines of “my diamond shoes are pinching” and “my tiara is too tight”. But the airline economics reality is that being able to command a yield premium on ultra long-haul routes through having a better product on board in business class is key.

If Qantas replaces its A380 and 747 product with the A330 Business Suite, it won’t have that in hard product terms. Now, if this seems a turnaround since being so impressed with the product six months ago, that’s a fair cop. The build quality of the Qantas seat is indeed impressive. The materials blend style and functionality into a type of beauty. Everything works. (And it was delivered on time. ) The problem is, just as fully flat in business class has become the basic standard – with zero of the seatmakers at this year’s Aircraft Interiors Expo telling me they are actively designing and producing angled lie-flat seats — just offering a fully flat bed with direct aisle access is no longer sufficient. Just ask regular travellers on Delta’s Boeing 767 aircraft, which have an earlier, smaller model of the Vantage seat, in a layout similar to (but narrower than) Qantas’s A330.

In aviation, business class is evolving ever faster, and products installed just a few years ago are already being discarded. Most 787 launch business class products from premium airlines are being discarded or shunted onto regional routes in favour of newer seats.

Qantas’s problem is that it can – and may well be tempted to – certify its A330 seats for the A380 relatively speedily, although it would be the first Thompson Vantage or Vantage XL customer to do so on the superjumbo, let alone the on-their-way-out 747-400 fleet. But if it does, then the problem is that the seats aren’t really cutting edge now, and certainly won’t be in a few years. And the same problem is rearing its head with upcoming deliveries of the 787-9.

At the risk of oversimplifying, it’s the aviation equivalent of getting an iPhone 6 when the iPhone 6S has been released: sure, it’s more economical, but pretty soon you’ll be wishing you’d plumped for the better, more functional model.