Lots of Lufthansa longhaul equipment changes coming summer 2014

Detroit's due to the auto business I'm guessing...and Detroit's on the rebound the past couple years in that sector (even if not the whole city)

I believe the PHL -FRA is operated by a A340 and since it wasn't mentioned I presume it's equipment will remain. Is that the "old" business class I want to avoid? What about PHL - MUC?

@ Larry D -- Yep, Philadelphia to Frankfurt is operated by a two cabin A340-300. Philadelphia to Munich is only operated by US Airways and not Lufthansa, though they fly a nice A330 on the route with Envoy Suites.

GM has offices in FRA and DTW - my guess is that makes it worth it

AM I wrong that they are replacing all their crappy business class cabins? I fly IAH-FRA all the time and use GPUs to escape the misery but I thought I read on here that LH is putting in a competititve J produce on a priority (ie, 2013) basis.

@ cahbf -- It's slowly supposed to start happening, though even optimistically it'll be 2015 before most of the fleet is done.

Extra 747 capacity comes from the 748 and A380 deliveries I reckon.
Detroit must be cargo?

I hear a lot of the 747's will have new C product, so can't wait to fly it finally out of BOS (it's been a looooong time coming)

"why LH fly to DTW" ?

LH flies to DTW / ATL / DFW, three major rival hubs. They realize the importance of 1-stop connections instead of forcing all pax to do 2-stop connections that include a hub-to-hub.

And there's always a population that appreciates quality over alliance loyalty.

It looks like the 346 to DTW is for a fairly small window of about 2 months. So there is maybe some sort of special event. Or a lot of cargo scheduled for that window as everyone is speculating.

I know at this point I'm just being repetitive, but Detroit's routes are a result of its automaker presence - not just the big 3, but smaller manufacturers of parts, etc. Hence the direct routes to Germany, France, and Asia. The direct flight to the Middle East is owing to its large middle eastern population.

At least one of the two BOS FRA flights is always via 747 in the summer so seasonal increase is only one 747. Yeah--agree with Bos Flyer, bring on the new C!

There's nothing like watching the LH 747 take off or land from Castle Island in South Boston. 😉

via ‏@airlineroute:
Lufthansa to fly Boeing 747-400 aircraft on Frankfurt - Rio de Janeiro route from 30MAR14

So, count another 747 there....

Do you think the 747 on the YVR-FRA route will have the new FC?

@William - Yes, it will as the old F B744s are being taken out of service and all B744s will lose F by 2015 and become two class only.

@Bosflyer - No, the B744s are not getting new C before the changeover to two cabin only configuration in 2015.

The A343s and A346 are getting the makeover now and some will be flying out of FRA with new C and F - example is the changout to YVR which has traditionally been A343/A346.

@Lucky ,

For an idiot like me, does that mean that BOS loses any shot at new F or J? Is the older J product on the 747-400 or A340 still fairly nice? I was thinking about booking a family trip in the spring BOS to Italy via FRA/MUC on LH one way, return on another carrier just to change it up.

@ Lucky:

"if I stay in Seattle past next summer."

What?

@Stephan,

I am pretty sure the 747 will be new C product, LH is accelerating change to new product

Miami has the A380 year round and year round that plane is packed and almost no F/J availability except for Lucky 🙂

Oops sorry, summer is 747-8 and packed too !

@BOSFlyer - Pretty unlikely given the schedule for refits. The A346 are going to MUC. A388 are getting new C soon but B744 are last in line. Sorry.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/21566240-post559.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles-more-lufthansa-austrian-swiss-other-partners/1333570-new-business-class-retrofit-routes-etc.html

Please let us know when the time comes.

@Ed - the dreaded "sliding C seat"

@ Lark -- Still not sure where I'll move next year!

Leaving Seattle already? I've thought about leaving Texas many times. On the other hand all my stuff is here, and moving stuff is a pain in the ass. At least Texas isn't as bad as Oklahoma, Arkansas, or Louisiana. Maybe that's not really saying much. The main thing keeping me from considering a place like Seattle is that I've been living in a city with three hundred days of sun per year and on those rare occasions when the sun does not shine it really pisses me off. Whenever the sun does shine it gets mind numbing hot, but I guess you can't have the good without the bad.

Not only does LH fly out of DTW but they operate a lounge there (which UA Star Golds can access even if flying domestically) so it must be a fairly important station for them.

Uhhh... I don't see a second daily IAH-FRA flight... C'mon, Lufthansa, not all of us have Ben's luck and we also want to fly LH F 🙂

Thanks for the informative posts. I am looking at LH flight from Philadelphia to Frankfurt on a two class A340-300. I was wondering if there is any way to tell if this is the newer version with the lie flat seats or the older angle-flat seats. I cant view a seat map on the United we site.

@ Martin -- Unfortunately none of the two cabin A340s have the new business class yet.

I also read that FRA-DFW will go from A330 to A340 with no first class. I am concerned because I booked United award travel on LH First Class DXB-FRA-DFW before the devaluation. I will change my flight date to December of 2014. Do you think they would revert back for the 2014 fall schedule? With the United devaluation on partner airlines, I guess I can try to find a flight to another region on the return? I don't want to lose my first class flight back home on LH.

@ Romer Galang -- There's no way to know for sure, but I would guess that the route will permanently stay two class. I could be wrong, though.

You should be able to route through another city, though, to get first class.