Qantas Takes Away Legroom On World’s Longest Flight, Going Back On Promise

In late 2027, Qantas will launch the world’s longest nonstop flight, from Sydney (SYD) to London (LHR), using specially configured Airbus A350-1000ULRs, in what’s referred to as “Project Sunrise.” With a flight time of well over 20 hours, these flights will be an absolute marathon, especially for those in economy.

Fortunately the airline has been promising especially generous seat pitch in economy, though guess what? Well, the airline has now backtracked, and if you want more legroom, you’ll probably have to pay for it. Qantas management’s ability to overpromise and underdeliver never ceases to amaze me, and I don’t think the airline gets enough criticism for it.

Qantas Airbus A350ULRs will have less seat pitch than promised

Since 2022, Qantas has been hyping the passenger experience on its new Airbus A350-1000ULRs, promising how all passengers will “experience a new standard of comfort” on these planes. As part of that, the company has explicitly been promising 33″ of pitch in economy, with no strings attached. For example, here’s a direct quote from former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce:

“Economy travellers will have an OLED 13-inch TV screen, foot net and convenient storage space within arms’ reach to store glasses and personal items. The team has spent extensive time testing ergonomics, lumbar support and breathability of the seat fabrics in the new Economy seat which will have 33 inches of legroom.”

Typically on wide body aircraft, 31″ of pitch is the standard, so a couple of extra inches can make a difference. But really, it makes sense to offer a little more space, given the absolutely wild lengths of these flights, plus that they’ll come at a premium in terms of pricing. As it turns out, the airline now has a new strategy, and is now just promising that more than 70% of economy seats will have 33″ or more of pitch.

As reported by Executive Traveller, what’s going on here is that rather than offering everyone in economy 33″ of pitch, the airline will instead have sections with 32″ of pitch, 33″ of pitch, and 34″ of pitch. Qantas will offer an “economy plus” cabin, with 34″ of pitch, but that’s only made possible by reducing seat pitch by one inch in the back of the cabin, so that will have 32″ of pitch. Meanwhile the center of the economy cabin will have 33″ of pitch.

Qantas is great at hyping, bad at delivering

Qantas is a funny airline, because I know a lot of Australians have fond feelings about the company, given that it’s the national carrier (though there’s no denying the carrier’s image has taken a toll in recent years).

I know some people think I dislike Qantas, or something, but that’s not at all the case. I find most Qantas employees to be absolutely lovely, and I think the airline has great lounges. My issues with the airline is that I think the onboard product is just whatever (aside from the friendly crews), and I don’t love all the ways the airline has tried to screw its workforce over the years.

But as someone who has been covering the industry for close to two decades, what stands out to me most about Qantas is the never ending hype. I get it, it’s smart for airlines to try to generate good publicity from what they have planned, because good marketing can shift loyalty and passenger perception.

But I just can’t think of another airline that so consistently overhypes what it’s going to do. We’re talking announcing things so many years in advance, and also, often not actually following through on promises.

This is of course the perfect example of that. The airline promised 33″ of pitch for everyone in economy, but has now backtracked on that. Similarly, earlier I wrote about how the airline promised a Qantas First Lounge Heathrow, claiming it would have amazing apron views, and direct boarding from the lounge. As it turns out, the airline had never actually secured a space, so that was all just fantasy.

My goal isn’t to be overly critical here, but instead, to be balanced. All too often, media gives an airline credit for the announcements they make, but then don’t call them out when they don’t deliver on those promises. So they get the good publicity from taking some “liberties,” but not the bad publicity associated with making baseless announcements. So I at least try to be balanced here, and call things as I see them.

Bottom line

Qantas is getting closer to launching its Project Sunrise flights, between Sydney and London, using Airbus A350-1000ULRs. The airline has been promising a new level of comfort, including 33″ of pitch in economy.

Unfortunately the airline has now backtracked on those plans. It wants to introduce an extra legroom economy section, but rather than taking out a row of seats, the airline is instead simply reducing seat pitch in the back of economy, which will now see 32″ of pitch.

While that’s still a respectable amount of pitch compared to other planes, I wouldn’t want to be stuck in one of those seats for 20+ hours straight. And it’s also sad how the airline spent years hyping all of this extra space, only to then go back on that promise.

What do you make of Qantas’ changes to its A350 seat pitch?