LHR-AUS Getting Upgraded.

lesfalls · Tue Oct 14, 2014 12:51 am

BA is going to upgrade its LHR-AUS service to 777-200 (It makes me happy

)

News link..... http://airlineroute.net/2014/10/14/ba-w15update1/

777Jet · Tue Oct 14, 2014 12:53 am

Great news for AUS! Well done! This is awesome news and the route is obviously doing well

Miami · Tue Oct 14, 2014 12:55 am

Not bad. Great upgrade.

Congrats to AUS.

SANFan · Tue Oct 14, 2014 12:58 am

Very encouraging news for the Texas capitol! BA did their homework on this route and apparently came up with a winner!

bb

DXBDFWHGA · Tue Oct 14, 2014 12:59 am

I'm so happy for Austin. Great news for AUS.

enilria · Tue Oct 14, 2014 1:01 am

Quoting lesfalls (Thread starter):
BA is going to upgrade its LHR-AUS service to 777-200 (It makes me happy )

News link..... http://airlineroute.net/2014/10/14/b...ate1/

This isn't until October of *2015*. I don't think that means anything. It's probably just a placeholder because the schedule isn't fully fleeted (aircraft properly assigned). It could also be because that is when the F1 race is in Austin and it is just for a week or two.

lesfalls · Tue Oct 14, 2014 1:01 am

Means another carrier could come to AUS

LAXintl · Tue Oct 14, 2014 1:02 am

Quoting lesfalls (Thread starter):
going to upgrade

= upgauge is the term.

upgrade is what you do with a passenger. upgauge is capacity sizing

at777 · Tue Oct 14, 2014 1:04 am

Maybe CLT will get the 787 then?!

Viscount724 · Tue Oct 14, 2014 1:06 am

Y class passengers will be happy. 9-abreast on BA 777s is more civilized than 9-abreast on the narrower 787, which is more comparable to a 10-abreast 777.

OOer · Tue Oct 14, 2014 1:08 am

Obviously BA has connecting traffic on the LHR side, but do they have any connecting passengers in AUS?

DeltaB717 · Tue Oct 14, 2014 1:10 am

Quoting LAXintl (Reply 7):
Quoting lesfalls (Thread starter):going to upgrade
= upgauge is the term.

upgrade is what you do with a passenger. upgauge is capacity sizing

This. It's petty, I know, but it bugs me! Calling an aircraft change an 'upgrade' is so subjective. You may think 787 => 777 is an upgrade, I may agree, and the person sitting behind both of us might think it's a downgrade. The term 'upgauge' is factual as the aircraft does, in fact, have more seats. Downgauge likewise.

N1120A · Tue Oct 14, 2014 1:13 am

Now they REALLY have no excuse to not start MSY.

Viscount724 · Tue Oct 14, 2014 1:17 am

Quoting DeltaB717 (Reply 11):
Quoting LAXintl (Reply 7):
Quoting lesfalls (Thread starter):going to upgrade
= upgauge is the term.

upgrade is what you do with a passenger. upgauge is capacity sizing

This. It's petty, I know, but it bugs me! Calling an aircraft change an 'upgrade' is so subjective. You may think 787 => 777 is an upgrade, I may agree, and the person sitting behind both of us might think it's a downgrade. The term 'upgauge' is factual as the aircraft does, in fact, have more seats. Downgauge likewise.

However, "upgrade" is also used when service is improved, which as mentioned in my previous reply, it arguably is in Y class due to the BA 9-abreast configuration on their 777s.

SANFan · Tue Oct 14, 2014 1:22 am

Looks like perhaps this will be a simple a/c swap between AUS and YUL for W15/16:

Quote:
London Heathrow – Austin Boeing 777-200ER replaces Boeing 787-8, daily service
...
London Heathrow – Montreal Boeing 787-8 replaces Boeing 777-200ER, 6 weekly service

bb

DeltaB717 · Tue Oct 14, 2014 1:36 am

Quoting Viscount724 (Reply 13):

Arguably is the key word. As I said, you may see the 777 as an improvement over the 787 (I wouldn't know as I've not flown on a 787, ever), but the person sitting next to you might be wishing for a 787.

thomasphoto60 · Tue Oct 14, 2014 3:21 am

Nice goin Austin, I had a feeling that an upgauge would be in order, just not this soon.

Again, kudos AUS.

TWA772LR · Tue Oct 14, 2014 3:32 am

Is this at the expense of a DFW or IAH frequency or downgauge on one of those routes?

Quoting OOer (Reply 10):
Obviously BA has connecting traffic on the LHR side, but do they have any connecting passengers in AUS?

If there is, it is negligible or pax are connected through AUS because they missed a flight. AUS truly is a destination city.

Quoting lesfalls (Reply 6):
Means another carrier could come to AUS

I can see LH A332 service, or a seasonal Condor service. Germans love Texas, specifically the hill country.

Quoting N1120A (Reply 12):

Now they REALLY have no excuse to not start MSY.

MSY to London or Paris will happen eventually, but the question is, will it be a full service carrier or a holiday/charter carrier?

slcdeltarumd11 · Tue Oct 14, 2014 3:45 am

Quoting SANFan (Reply 14):
Looks like perhaps this will be a simple a/c swap between AUS and YUL for W15/16:

That is crazy to think about! Austin is getting the larger plane than Montreal! Cool for Austin to have a 777 clearly they are killing it on the route and its got a great future.

jetpixx · Tue Oct 14, 2014 4:10 am

Freeing up a 787 for the $2.1 million incentive from RDU? Hmmm

zrs70 · Tue Oct 14, 2014 4:12 am

Is the 777 equipped with international F? If so, will there be an appropriate lounge in AUS?

LimaNiner · Tue Oct 14, 2014 4:13 am

Pardon my ignorance: is there enough information to tell if this is a 3-class or a 4-class jet? Asked another way, are BA adding First to LHR-AUS?

OEH68 · Tue Oct 14, 2014 4:21 am

It is certainly not an "upgrade" for J pax. The Dreamliner features BA's Thale AVOD system and a much nicer and more modern cabin. The 777 CW cabin goes under the name "sleeping dormatory", and is not popular among BA's business pax, also the 777 is more noisy and doesn't feature the improved air quality they claim the 787 has. So I doubt many travelling CW will see this as an upgrade.

sq_ek_freak · Tue Oct 14, 2014 4:44 am

Great news, I assume this will be done with a 3 cabin 777??

NolaMD88fan · Tue Oct 14, 2014 5:13 am

Agreed N1120A. Too bad this looks like a aircraft swap with YUL for now.

laca773 · Tue Oct 14, 2014 5:33 am

Quoting LimaNiner (Reply 21):
Pardon my ignorance: is there enough information to tell if this is a 3-class or a 4-class jet? Asked another way, are BA adding First to LHR-AUS?

I don't believe so. It's a 3 class market JWY. If it indeed does get upgraded, they will continue with a 3 class a/c. DFW, and IAH have 4 class a/c operating there which makes complete sense. These are very busy premium markets.

Does anyone know how AUS is doing for BA? Is CW nearly all revenue seats?

kjet12 · Tue Oct 14, 2014 6:02 am

Quoting LAXintl (Reply 7):

Quoting lesfalls (Thread starter):
going to upgrade

= upgauge is the term.

upgrade is what you do with a passenger. upgauge is capacity sizing

I work in airline operations and our airline never, ever uses the term "upgauge". We call it an upgrade of equipment when using a larger aircraft, and downgrade of equipment when using a smaller aircraft. I think the term is used at some airlines, but not others.

Thenoflyzone · Tue Oct 14, 2014 7:04 am

Quoting enilria (Reply 5):
I don't think that means anything. It's probably just a placeholder because the schedule isn't fully fleeted

Exactly. Things can change 20 times over between now and Oct 2015.

This doesn't necessarily mean that AUS is doing well. It could mean YUL is doing poorly in winter and they wanted a 787 for the route.

If AUS is doing so well, why not upgauge the flight as of next summer?

Let's wait and see how this plays out before we jump to conclusions.

The AUS subsidies havent even run their course yet, and ppl on here are already asking for a second TATL flight.

stylo777 · Tue Oct 14, 2014 7:09 am

Quoting TWA772LR (Reply 17):
I can see LH A332 service, or a seasonal Condor service. Germans love Texas, specifically the hill country.

LH doesn't have any 332 in their fleet, but they do have 333. Nevertheless, AUS would be a good candidate for the upcoming 'Jump' project with all-paid-off-343 in leisure configuration (18C-19PE-261Y)

AIR MALTA · Tue Oct 14, 2014 7:41 am

At the same time, Seoul goes from a 772 to a 787. Is the route struggling?

anstar · Tue Oct 14, 2014 7:48 am

Quoting AIR MALTA (Reply 29):
At the same time, Seoul goes from a 772 to a 787. Is the route struggling?

I've heard Seoul and Chengdu are both not performing well.

speedbird217 · Tue Oct 14, 2014 7:57 am

Quoting kjet12 (Reply 26):
I work in airline operations and our airline never, ever uses the term "upgauge". We call it an upgrade of equipment when using a larger aircraft, and downgrade of equipment when using a smaller aircraft. I think the term is used at some airlines, but not others.

In Network Planning we use both terms but most people just refer to an upgrade/downgrade depending on aircraft size.

Always entertaining to see people correcting other people over things they clearly don't know as much about as they pretend to...

aviationaware · Tue Oct 14, 2014 8:27 am

I tend to also be more on the sceptical side. Might just be a short term upgauge or placeholder.

From what I have heard, the route is performing decently, but not necessarily good enough to get a bigger airplane most days.
But then, it could be opportunity costs. Maybe using the 772 over 788 on the AUS route adds less costs than using a 788 over 772 on another route saves - who knows. BA will know best.

But I certainly wouldn't read anything into this plane swap with regards to BA starting another route to MSY or similar. That will only lead to disappointment.

eta unknown · Tue Oct 14, 2014 8:33 am

Quoting LAXintl (Reply 7):
= upgauge is the term.

upgrade is what you do with a passenger. upgauge is capacity sizing

Nope. "Upgauge" isn't in the vocabulary of any of the airlines I've worked with.

1400mph · Tue Oct 14, 2014 9:20 am

Quoting anstar (Reply 30):

Chengdu looks like it's going to need time and governmental action ( Chinese visa ) should assist.

Seoul is performing well.

LHRlocal · Tue Oct 14, 2014 10:00 am

Good news for AUS i guess - but i am confused....
This was one of the routes lauded as being a 787 route, one of the routes that was not possible on anything else as it was not supposed to be economically viable on anything but a 'game changing' 787. Your perfect long and thin 787 route...

Which will now be flown by a 777.

Am i missing something? How has this perfect exaple of a 787 route become economically viable on a 777?

Thanks,
LHRlocal

BlueShamu330s · Tue Oct 14, 2014 10:24 am

Quoting lhrlocal (Reply 35):
Am i missing something?

Speculate to accumulate, develop a market to generate a demand, call it what you will.

That's what BA have done with AUS, as any airline does opening a never before served route.

So yes, you missed it.

Rgds

LHRlocal · Tue Oct 14, 2014 10:35 am

I'm not sure,
LHR-AUS was a 787 route from the get go. Fuel costs was a major factor in preventing anything else operating this route. Fuel costs haven't plummeted, but now we see a 777.
So, are we saying that because the route has operated for a year or 2, we now have a sufficient customer base to cover this?

Just want to understand how a perfect long thin 787 only route is now anything but

LHRlocal

NolaMD88fan · Tue Oct 14, 2014 11:05 am

Just to summarize where the 8 787-800 aircraft BA currently has are currently routed and planned changes.

LHR-AUS changed to a 777-200 in Oct 15
LHR-YYC
LHR-CTU
LHR-HYD
LHR-EWR changed to a 777-200 in Mar 15
LHR-PHL changed out to 767 Oct 14 to Mar 15.
LHR-YYZ
LHR-YUL begins Oct 15. changed from a 777-200.
LHR-ICN begins Oct 15. changed from a 777-200.
LHR-MAA

Thenoflyzone · Tue Oct 14, 2014 11:09 am

Quoting lhrlocal (Reply 37):
Just want to understand how a perfect long thin 787 only route is now anything but

Either BA grossely underestimated the AUS market, or the aircraft swap is to help out the other route, that is now in need of a 787.

YUL has gone a 767 during previous winters, so the latter could very well be it.

It could also be just a temporary upgauge for the F1 race. Either way, like I said, the timing of this announcement is way off. If YUL does poorly in winter, and AUS is excelling, why not make the swap as of this winter season?

It is highly irregular to upgauge a route during the slower winter TATL season, so that cant be the main cause. Because of that, I believe this aircraft change has nothing to do with AUS.

[Edited 2014-10-14 04:21:39]

gdg9 · Tue Oct 14, 2014 12:16 pm

Quoting thenoflyzone (Reply 39):
Either BA grossely underestimated the AUS market, or the aircraft swap is to help out the other route, that is now in need of a 787.

Why do you think they underestimated it? They opened the route with an aircraft that had a decent capacity, got things up and running, now the route is doing well and they are putting a bigger aircraft on it. Isn't that how things should work? Why open a route with a 777 or 747?

dtw2hyd · Tue Oct 14, 2014 12:38 pm

Excellent news. BA proved P2P works!!! This must be nibbling into Whale's lunch. Is there any similar sized city close to DFW/IAH BA can try, or BA 788 will be always welcome at DTW.

Thomaas · Tue Oct 14, 2014 1:01 pm

Didn't BA start the route with a 777 ?

skipness1E · Tue Oct 14, 2014 1:15 pm

Quoting DeltaB717 (Reply 15):
As I said, you may see the 777 as an improvement over the 787 (I wouldn't know as I've not flown on a 787, ever), but the person sitting next to you might be wishing for a 787.

Not in economy... this is an upgrade!!

sw733 · Tue Oct 14, 2014 1:18 pm

Quoting lesfalls (Thread starter):
BA is going to upgrade its LHR-AUS service to 777-200

Interesting...and I thought there was a serious lack of seating in the gate area NOW!

Thenoflyzone · Tue Oct 14, 2014 1:23 pm

Quoting dtw2hyd (Reply 41):
BA proved P2P works!!!

LHR to anywhere on earth is hardly point to point.

Thenoflyzone

29erUSA187 · Tue Oct 14, 2014 1:57 pm

Just a little bit of advice from a SAN guy.... The 777 gets very boring very fast. Sure it's nice to have a TATL 777, but I would rather have a 777-300ER or a 787. They're prettirr to look at, more modern, and I'll bet the pax prefer them too. But on the other hand, congrats to AUS

superjeff · Tue Oct 14, 2014 2:09 pm

Quoting OOer (Reply 10):
Obviously BA has connecting traffic on the LHR side, but do they have any connecting passengers in AUS?

Partner AA is probably number 2 in AUS (after Southwest), and they do have limited connections availbable beyond AUS, but this is probably primarily an O&D / LHR Connect market, as there is really nothing that cannot be easily connectable at DFW (only 186 miles / 250 km) away.

civetfive · Tue Oct 14, 2014 2:29 pm

Quoting jetpixx (Reply 19):

You do realize that AA serves RDU-LHR currently, and there's no way that RDU currently justifies a second, metal-neutral frequency to LHR. I wouldn't be surprised to see RDU shift to BA in the near future, but I just cannot see a 2nd flight to LHR (or anywhere else in Europe for that matter) right now.

Tristarsteve · Tue Oct 14, 2014 3:10 pm

Quoting NolaMD88fan (Reply 38):
LHR-YUL begins Oct 15. changed from a 777-200.
LHR-ICN begins Oct 15. changed from a 777-200.

I thought that ICN was going to be a B789 route?
The BA B789 enters service Oct 2015

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