Publisher of The Hunting Report Don Causey is seeking reports from hunters who have flown the SAA Airbus from the USA to South Africa.

In particular he is looking to document the crowded seating conditions, and the longer flight due to the aircraft being slower than the 747 it replaced.

If you are interested in helping his collection of feedback that will be published in the next THR please email me and I will send you the email address to comment.

It will be worth your time to comment because the more "motivation" SAA receives, the easier it is for them to address the problem.

jim

Jim, I'ld be glad to comment upon my return. I am dreading the flight over but a boat ride takes too long.

please post the address or better yet give us a link

EyeDoc,

THR website:

http://www.huntingreport.com/

Also I emailed you the addresses.

jim

I'm all for complaining about the AirBus, but...

SAA isn't about to change anything. Reconfiguring the planes would cost millions and take them out of service during the change over. And until they amortize the cost of last years "up-grades" they aren't going to be swayed by complaints. Replacing the planes would cost even more.

What I feel we should be doing is finding an alternative route or carrier. Let Luftansa or BA or whoever know we are not happy with SAA and want better service and we MIGHT get some help. I stress "might" because I don't expect much from the other carriers either.

Their bottom line is the ultimate decider.

Vote with your pocket book.

Having flown once on the Boeing and once on the Airbus, my main complaint on comfort would be the seat. The first thing I noticed was the seat was made by Recaro. Seeing the name was enough to realize this may not be too comfortable. I don't know what animal life Recaros are desinged around, but I'm sure it's not humanoid. I work for a police Dept and our old cars had Recaros. When we were drving these cars there was more compliants of back pain with these seats than any other vehicle driven. I noticed on the Airbus seats that there seemed to be some type of support bar across the the last third of the seat cushion towards the back rest. After several hours I began to feel it. After 18 hrs I wanted out. If the seats were more comfortable I think the whole flight would be more bareable. The next complaint would be related to the seat as well. As any one who's flown the Airbus can say the entertainment screen is a poor design and once the person if front reclines you have to slum down in the already uncomfortable seat to see the screen, that is if it's working. In all I think the flight would be alot more bearable with a better seat video box or not.

I sent Ms. Gordon an email comparing their 31" seat pitch to Air Namibia's 86 cm (33.85"), which they report is the same as Singapore Air's. (Air Namibia uses Singapore Air for connection service from the US.) She has not responded yet.



Also Don Causey emailed and reports that SAA is "beginning to react". He is following up on the slower aircraft issue too.



Thanks to all who have flown and made their complaints to THR.



jim

It's too bad Ms. Gordon and all of SAA don't want to beat and lead the competition, isn't it?



A few years ago, SAA was head and shoulders above the rest for quality and service. No longer true today. With such a trend of sub basic service, I wonder if their mechanics will also look for short cuts and call that a "strategic" move too?

Just out of interest I would like to hear from Saeed when he return home to Dubai as Emirates the UAE national carrier uses Airbus extensively, maybe Saeed can give a report on their seating situation and other services as from ALL reports I have heard about Emirates whom also fly into NZ that they are top notch, so is it the plane or the seats or what, or is it the particular carrier ( SAA ) perse to blame !!



Peter