LH476 MUC-YVR First Arrival

For all Plane Spotters out there, just a reminder that Lufthansa's 476 is arriving for the first time, Munich-Vancouver direct!  Estimated arrival is early at 1640hr.  A330-300, perhaps the first scheduled LH 330 aircraft?

Keep checking the arrival time!

 

The Xtra-Wide-Body Roll-out!

Filled up with a load of news feeds, most of us probably noticed that this morning was the surprise roll-out of the A350 XWB!  I guess the rumour of a surprise, non-traditional roll-out was true - a never publicly announced event with the aircraft appearing directly from the paint hangar.  

The final look of it gives me a mixed feeling, but overall a pretty hot plane.  I have to say that I'll need more time to get used to the shape of the nose; it is quite pointy, while the body is wide.  The bunch of pito tubes surround the nose can be a little too ... fierce.  The curvy wings are the highlights!  The hot looking smooth curve attached in a great angle makes the aircraft looks amazingly good!  

In the past, I had been assigning genders to aircraft types, with Boeing's mainly the males and Airbus' mainly the females.  This time, the A350 is definitely a tough, male looking piece, while the 787 now becomes an elegant lady.  And let me emphasize again, I ain't one who goes only Airbus, or only Boeing, or only Bombardier.  I appreciate all for making flying possible!  The contribution and effort deserve a great applause!  So, my descriptions and gender assignments of the planes are not jokes.  Think about it, if they are not rivals, but partners, sharing their great knowledge, we may be flying on even better planes and the airlines might have better operational efficiency!   

Looks like it'll be a great Summer, with the A350 and Cseries flying out!  Next target, Cseries roll-out and test vehicle livery!  


Photos obtained from Airbus.com

The hot wings!  Best winglet ever!

The overall look. 
The curve winglets can be seen either from the front or rear angle. 
The side views would only give a regular usual winglet appearance.

Overall looking great!

The overly pointy nose. 
I guess the mechanism of it would make it more efficient in the air?

The many pito tubes around the nose.  A fierce warrior.

 

    

NGOReview Flights & Airports: WS1862 YVR-HNL

Considering that WestJet operates under a low-cost carrier (LCC) model, which offers less traditional services, the overall score can be perceived as good.  Though in reality, the price of fares for WestJet is equivalent to most full-cost carriers, which I expect to have more complimentary services to be offered.  I would assume that the savings through the LCC model (e.g. single fleet operation, non-unionized, etc), could have allowed lower fares.  Now that it is more or less the same prices, I would expect more complimentary services.  The two things that beat other carriers would be the complimentary allowance for 1st checked baggage (for this particular route), and of course, WestJet's usual great smile and fun atmosphere! 

NGOReview Flights and Airports
Flight	WS 1862		Airline		WestJet	Date	25 Apr 2013	Status	On Time
Origin	YVR		Destination		HNL	Aircraft	B737-800	Seat	2C - Extra Leg Room
Services				Comments					Score (Out of 5)
Friendliness		Airport		At Check-in ·     Ground staff were not too friendly; person directing traffic at check-in looked frustrated, though  he did provide useful information ·     Check-in agent did not give a great smile, provided standard, average services Hold-room Boarding ·     Pre-board announcement was in a friendly and clear tone ·     Special needs priority, followed by priority boarding for extra-leg room and exit rows ·     Boarding agent showed great smile, and referred to my name (not sure if name referral is only for priority boarding PAX)					3.5
		Inflight		·     Flight attendants offered great smile during boarding, but the smile went away during flight (though still provided some smile) ·     Crew made several jokes during boarding to loosen the wait time					4
Crew Announcement				Prior take-off ·     Clear and audible, friendly tone ·     Constantly joking and getting PAX involvement  After take-off ·     Clear and audible, friendliness tone well-maintained ·     Provided rundown of the flight (tablet for rent – inflight purchase – complimentary drinks and snacks, … etc) ·     Constantly joking and getting PAX involvement					5
Terminal Service				·     Common use facility at YVR – nothing really tailored for WS specifically ·     Special assistance priority boarding ·     Partner with YVR Premium Plaza Lounge – discounted rate with WS boarding pass					4
Safety				·     I have to give great applause to the safety demonstration!  The live PA was with great enthusiasm; made a joke regarding the auto inflate function of the life jacket, that “if it does not work, you’re really having a bad day!”  That got a large crowd of laugher.  In my opinion, absolutely appropriate as it caught PAX’s attention on the safety demo!  As a Canadian carrier, French PA is required.  A repeated demonstration was performed, with French instruction, and the staff who repeated the demonstration kept her enthusiasm, and wasn’t showing any rush or frustration in redoing the steps.  ·     While approaching HNL, the flight attendant reminded PAX of all the emergency exits!  WHAO!  Big applause!  Don’t recall that being mentioned in other carriers that I’ve been on!   ·     Shortly after landing, a PA was made, welcoming PAX to HNL and advising to keep seat-belt on.  The PA was suddenly stopped as the flight attendant beside the one making the PA spotted a PAX stood up for the overhead compartment.  The PA was continued after the PAX was directed to sit down.  This was the first time that I’ve witnessed such great attention for safety!					5 + 1 Bonus = 6
Cabin Style				·     Standard cabin design, white-coloured side walls with no special patterns, WS logo in front of row 1, nothing outstanding ·     Regular leather seats, which in my opinion leather seats are not as comfortable (lack cushiony).  The dark grey leather seats make the cabin looks rather old and too traditional ·     No complimentary blankets and pillows (blankets available for purchase only) ·     As a new service commencing April 2013, the first 3 rows are redesigned as extra legroom with 36in space at 45CAD extra (while non-extra legroom seats are reduced to 31-32in) ·     Cabin looks clean overall					3
Inflight Food & Drinks				·     Complimentary pop, coffee, snack bites and cookies ·     Coffee, I have to say gave me a surprise!  It was pretty good.  ·     Inflight purchase available – selections not too interesting, the usual ready-made sandwich, poor quality cup noodle brand, chips, cheese set, snack box, candies, chocolates, and specialty liquor ·     Lack of hot entrée food (E.g. pasta, rice bowl)					3.5
Crew Uniform				·     Standard design, nothing fancy or unique ·     Neat overall					3
Inflight Entertainment				·     No in-seat or overhead TV as it is a newer aircraft and the company is in the process of implementing a new entertainment system ·     While boarding, I overheard several other passengers commenting about no TV’s ·     Flight attendants, making it sound positive, advised that complimentary inflight magazines are available and tablets are available for rent.  There were, however, a great selection of magazines, outside of the traditional inflight airline magazines.  Interchange of new magazine selections were distributed half way through the flight.					3.5
Total Out Of 45									35.5
Percentage of Satisfaction									79%

 
Note:  Review(s) completed and copyrighted by registered user of spotting-aeroplane.blogspot.ca. 
Reviews based on personal experience and does not represent other individuals' views.