V-Flyer

Because I'm crap, I didn't make a note of which aircraft it actually was, but it appears the brand new (ala: new paint job, too) A346's have two more 'modifications' in the Upper Class cabin:

1) A new seatbelt. While still retaining the lap-belt function, it now has a car-style buckle, rather than a traditional airline one. Red release button and all. I've got a photo, and will post it later on. The Ottoman seatbelts are unchanged.

2) The tables. Mmmmm... You now press the button on the console, and:
Table pops out,
Table automatically raises itself into the air,
Table automatically folds down flat,
ALL on it's own, all slowly and nicely controlled.

To replace it, is the same as before - twist, slide, clunk. But it was enough of a nice improvement for me to play with it at least 3/4 times today [y]

Originally posted by preiffer

2) The tables. Mmmmm... You now press the button on the console, and:
Table pops out,
Table automatically raises itself into the air,
Table automatically folds down flat,
ALL on it's own, all slowly and nicely controlled.

Well then, there goes a J seat for the traveling electrical engineer...

IOW, one more thing to break.

GJ

New table will be fun when I keep pressing the table release button accidentally.

I had these when i flew to JFK back in January. I'm 95% sure the aircraft was G-VWEB

i must have opened the table at least 20-30 times by accident that must have started to annoy the pax next to me.

Rob

Pointless, IMO. The existing table was prone to break - requiring the 'safety card trick' to prise it open. Agreed.. another thing to break.

They would do much better moving the buttons on the suite - move the seat / table ones and move the Bed mode one so when someone sits in the Ottoman they don't keep pushing it.

Yeah, that is more annoying...keep releasing the table when you knock the button. Its now going to be more annoying when I do this for the 57th time during a flight.

As Alan Partridge would say though, 'nice action....thats a quality action'

Dean

The perspex over the buttons prevents this now?

Exactly Decker - they've had protectors over the buttons for quite some time now, preventing any accidental pressing of buttons.

Unless your leg has finger-shaped bumps running up and down the length of it, that is [:?]

Am I right in thinking you are in SF ? And they used an Airbus instead of a 747-400 ?

Ah, sorry - confusion added my me! [:I]

I flew into LAX, and then got a VX First connection up. [:)] Definitely still a 744 on the SFO route!

Thanks for that, Paul. Enjoy SF.

Chuck-

You should have filmed a little video clip for YouTube. People do it of the loo seat at the Park Hyatt so a VS table wouldn't be that unusual.

Just been on G-VWEB for VS201; and had the new table and seatbelts.

The seatbelts thing is an interesting one. Footage from real and simulated aircraft emergencies has shown apparently intelligent adults, who allegedly paid attention to the safety briefing, completely unable to open their standard design airline lap belt. Instead, they frantically push for an imaginary button at their hip-side.. like a car style seat-belt.

So it sort of makes sense to have the same design of belt in aircraft. But I would have thought consistency was even more important. Has someone decided that all aircraft are going to go down the car-style route, or is it just a few new birds in VS fleet?