cdt

What the heck is an AB6, anyway? I don't think I've ever flown on one.

I booked a nonstop on American from JFK to Montego Bay a few weeks ago and chose seats as far forward as I could get them - on a 757.

Glad I happened to look at it today - they've changed it to an AB6 and moved me to seats much farther back. Fortunately I was able to re-select seats farther forward.

Should I be happy this was changed to an AB6, or unhappy?

NoFlyZone

AB6 is an Airbus 300-600

AAFrequentFlyer

It is a wide-body, so actually you are on a bigger plane.

AA uses these primerly to the Carribean.

<b>http://www.aa.com/content/aboutUs/ourPlanes/AirbusA300.jhtml</b>

AAFrequentFlyer

And also check <b>www.seatguru.com&lt;/&gt; for best seat recommendation. </b>

AAFrequentFlyer

<b>primarily</b> - primerly???

rkkwan

AAFF - Speaking of AA's AB6, do you remember what's the rationale for them to buy those 35 planes? I always find it odd for them to get those since they were already flying a lot of 767s, and the DC-10s are still doing okay back in the late 80's.

So why introduce another type of widebody?

Well, I know AA didn't care about fleet commonality too much back then. There were ordering Airbus, Fokker, M-D, and Boeing back then... Still...

AAFrequentFlyer

To be honest with you, I really don't know, but,

I do remember reading something along the lines that they got an incredible deal, just not sure if it was from Airbus directly, or from Boeing.
The Boeing thing, if it happened that way, was a &quot;trade-in&quot; deal from another airline. (yes folks, airplanes are sold out of the used lots too )

I could be totally wrong on this.

cdt

Looks like one plus is that there are two of us flying, and we get two seats to ourselves, instead of sharing with a third person.

Of course, who knows how many more times they'll change before our trip (they already changed departure and return by about one hour each).

rkkwan

cdt - Sorry for hijacking this thread, but at least I'm bringing it to the top.

AAFF - I checked the database on planespotters.net, and it seems like all the AA AB6s were delivered new to them. So, I don't think they were resold by Boeing (like SQ's old A340-300s, more recently).

AAFrequentFlyer

Airbus must have offered a deal AA could not refuse......

simpsonc510

For my money, I prefer to fly on a Boeing plane. I just got off a two hour airbus flight last night (A320) and my back was KILLING ME!! I could hardly move for a while. It's better today, but still a bit sore. No question, it was the seat on the A320. These seats are not made for comfort, IMHO. The Airbus, to me, is extremely UNcomfortable. I've been on the larger Airbus planes also, and had the same feelings about seat comfort.

I am not looking forward to a longer flight from ORD to SJU for a New Years cruise!! It's a TED flight so no firstclass cabin. No upgrade possible UGH. The return flt if on a B767, which I MUCH prefer.

rkkwan

Seats are specified by the airline, not the plane manufacturer. A320 has a wider cabin than the 737, though both have a 3-3 seating layout.

rjw_lgb_ca

rkkwan: RE: The American A300s-- I was under the assumption that American bought the jets along with the gates and routes from Eastern Airlines in the latter's liquidation Fire Sale. Wrong...?

rkkwan

rjw - From what I read on planespotters.net, AA's A300 are all purchased new. Delivered from 88-89 onwards. And they are the -600 variety. Can't be from Eastern.

rjw_lgb_ca

Hmmmm.... You're right. I wonder what kind of discount AA got from Airbus to fly the 300...?

rkkwan

Well, not enough to stop AA from badmouthing Airbus after the crash in Queens, I guess.

Anyways, just want to revive a point I mentioned early in the thread. Bob Crandall had really gone crazy in the late 80's in getting all different aircrafts for specific routes. Type commonality means nothing to him.

During that time, they were flying:
727, 757, 747SP (two crafts specifically for AA60/61 DFW-NRT before the MD-11s arrived), 767, DC-10, MD-11, MD-80, A300, F100. How crazy is that?