My Copa Airlines Aircraft Swap, With A Plot Twist

The same thing happened to me last week! Except my flight was a 7-hour red-eye from Buenos Aires to Panama. Everything looked fine at check in, I tracked the incoming flight on FlightAware and it showed there as a MAX 9, and then we board the plane and see we're actually on a 737-800. Given that this flight leaves at 1:30am I was very much looking forward to having a lie-flat seat and was extremely annoyed that we were given no notice.

Miami - PTY is not a route that needs a bed so swaps will be very common. I do not know why it would be needed on a 2 hour flight. Why would any communication be needed? The product is not specifically advertised for that route.

@ SMR -- See comment below from Mark. It seems the airline doesn't care much how long the flight is when swapping planes. And who said anything is about "needs?" It's about managing expectations. If you buy a ticket and you're told you'll have Wi-Fi, power outlets, etc., and you don't get that, it seems to me that's worth communicating.

No airline should sell two cabins that are as different as what is on their -800 and on the MAX9. It is simply nowhere near the same level of service.
Being on-time was indeed a blessing but that doesn't change that you should have received some type of compensation - unless they want to consider the -800 as their "base" service and the MAX9 as an extra freebie for now.

lots of good articles today.

Due to fly max in early December from EZE to PTY. IT is an overnight flight. Fingers crossed!

Copa competes in markets as far as deep S. America to the northern tier of the US, markets for which lie flat products are available and the norm on nonstop flights to the US and Canada.
If Copa wants to compete in those markets at even reasonably comparable fares, they have to provide comparable service.
No US or S. American airline could get by with putting a domestic 757 or A321NEO on a route to deep S. America that was sold on a widebody as lie flat business class

You were definitely being watched over. Sucks on the updated interior but at least you weren't delayed for hours. It ain't like Copa is pouring Dom P while you wait onboard lol.

@Tim Dunn. The reality is that COPA at least typically prices its J product FAR lower than, say, AA. Especially to Brazil where you can often find last minute one way fares of $1800 vs $5000K on AA to GRU. In my opinion they tend to price accordingly to the product and offer an option that's in between overpriced lie flats on AA, UA, DL etc or flying in economy. As well, they often have redemptions available at saver rates and are a good option when nothing else is available.

connecting in the middle of the night in Central America knocks a whole lot off of the price.

I agree.. but Copa has never ever been a customer focused airline. The only good thing I can ever say about Copa is they have nice business class catering. They pay their FA’s and Pilots 3rd world wages and it goes to show from the lack luster onboard enthusiasm and I’m sure the same goes for call centers and service centers. When that plane swap happened , no one anywhere was even remotely concerned about communication. I do not think they need to on a short route since a lie flat seat isn’t really needed or priced different is it ? But going on a 7 hour journey .. yeah they should but with Copa. It will never happen.

Fuuuuuukkkkkk. That sucks Ben. Sorry to hear that.

I traveled to Medellin, Colombia via Panama City in May on COPA. The flight down was uneventful. The flight back, however... I got to the airport early and shortly thereafter, my flight disappeared from the display. It took hours to find out that the inbound leg had suffered a bird strike and thus my flight was cancelled. It took more time to get rebooked for the next day (although I got a better routing than my original one). It took still MORE time to get their complimentary hotel booking for the night (although it was a VERY nice hotel with a VERY nice dinner and breakfast). C- at best for communication, but A+ for accommodations.

MIA is not a route where the MAX9 is guaranteed to operate (and does not need to be to due to the short flight time). If you want to fly the MAX9 with lie flats, routes like LAX, SFO, GRU (and more in the future) will work.

Reasons for swapping can vary but if this does not affect passengers in terms of fitting in the plane, there is really no need to communicate, especially if it happened a short time before departure.

I have taken that flight, PTY - MIA on the COPA Max 9. It is a relatively short flight. Barely worth having the lie flat seat. I only used the recliner feature. That was it. Now the PTY - ASU flight would be a different story, but they always use they older planes instead. Go figure.

You get what you pay for. And there is a huge market for people who want a bit of extra space and don't mind the connection, times, and lesser product. Quite frankly, I am happy paying $1800 vs $5000 from IAD to GRU for a bit less product and schedule. As well, I don't have to connect in the god awful nightmare of MIA.

The AA crew taxiing behind the Copa saw smoke coming from his wheels. I happened to be listening to MIA tower on LiveATC and caught the whole thing. Copa crew didn’t understand until another pilot translated into Spanish for him. That’s when they kind of half-ass called to go back to the gate.

Well lucky it's a 2 hour flight, not like Dallas to Incheon South Korea 15 hours

hopefully you get to review the other products that you wanted to review this trip!

Change in capacity is termed as a change in gauge, so the correct term to the aircraft swap would be upgauge / downgauge.

4 hours delay would mean extra time to review the product LOL

So is J priced differently on the flights which are scheduled to be operated by 800 and MAX?

He actually said that.

Wouldn’t it just be easier to pick a flight on an Airbus?

I've traveled with Copa quite a few times. There are not great with communication, good mostly great no. There website / phone apps don't function well and you must wait an amazing amount of time to speak to a human via phone. When landing in Panama City,Panama as well David, Panama. I've encountered issues at their desks, misunderstandings as well having to return on following next day to board the same flight. The attendant's at Logan Airport Boston could not assist with paperwork for traveling during pandemic. Language barrier, partly and no communication between ground crews and CDC.... Good company but they do need a bit of up grading with technology and communication.

You didn’t miss much either case without WIFI since it is an intranet service for IFE only. No emails, no nothing

Copa is an all-737 airline.

So you know a link where I can view what cities use the lay flat seats between the US and Panama please?