Qantas about face on crappy business class seats on A330

Well, that didn’t take long.

John Borgetti must wake up some mornings and just laugh – thanking his lucky stars he no longer works for Qantas.

Stung by criticism over the business class seats in its latest Airbus A330s, Qantas is reportedly looking to upgrade the big bird to more spacious seats, including fully lie-flat beds on international versions of the plane.

The move would close the gap between Qantas and Virgin Australia, with the later offering angled beds in its A330 business class, as both airlines race towards turning their lucrative but competitive east-west route into all-A330 services.

Australian Business Traveller kinda broke the story, and their readers revolted. My favourite post is by Skipp – comparing Qantas proposed business class to Perth on the A330 and the low cost carrier Scoop’s offering on an east coast to Singapore business fare:

. . . and they wonder why passengers don’t love them anymore.

Knight in shining armour Joyce has ridden to the rescue. In-between fighting off that devil Dixon at Tourism Australia, Joyce has assured us that the new A330’s will have proper business class, with proper seats that convert into proper beds.

Problem is – this whole debacle makes them look like they can’t manage an airline – oh, right, that’s what Dixon et al have been implying.

For even more of a giggle – see Ben Sandilands and for  details – Australian Business Traveller