Making the decision to try Air Canada 787-9 economy for the very first time wasn’t easy.
- On one hand, I’ve heard many interesting things about it.
- On the other hand, I had no real reason to go to Canada. The thought of having to try and explain the definition of “AvGeek” to a stone-faced Canadian border patrol agent was not something I was looking forward to.
Despite my anxiety, I decided to cowboy up and go for it. I’m glad I did. Air Canada’s long-haul international economy product is good. Not great, but good.
AC792
Los Angeles, CA (LAX) – Toronto, CA (YYZ)
Thursday, November 29, 2018
Aircraft: 787-9
Registration: C-FVNB
Duration: 4 hours 10 minutes
Seat: 37A (economy class)
A full review of my Air Canada 787-9 economy experience from Los Angeles to Toronto
A 4 hour flight between LAX and YYZ isn’t exactly what I would consider to be the ultimate test of a Boeing 787. That said, it was the perfect amount of time to get a sense of what it would be like on longer flights. And if I totally hated it? No problem! YYZ (and regaining feeling in your lower extremities) ain’t all that far away.
Arrival at LAX Terminal 6
Air Canada had only recently moved to Terminal 6 at the time of this writing. Everything was so well established that wouldn’t have known it when walking through the front door. It looked like they had been there for years.
Look. I love LAX, but Terminal 6 isn’t exactly the best place to hang out before a flight. There are people everywhere, the windows are small, and there’s nowhere to sit. I highly advise not showing up early.
This Air Canada 787-9 flight to YYZ was timed perfectly to match the departure time of their flight to YUL (or was it the other way around?). Making matters worse is that they were departing from adjacent gates large enough to accommodate nothing larger than a CRJ-200.
The boarding process
Gate 68B was a total zoo as they initiated the boarding process. So zoo-like as a matter of fact, bad I was almost starting to think that we were in for a massive delay. Thankfully the gate agents are experts of their craft, and they managed to get everyone herded in the right direction. Mooooo!
Economy class seat overview
Because the 787-9 is used their longest and most prestigious routes, Air Canada configured the economy class cabin to be spacious and comfortable (at least when compared to, say, Air Canada 737 MAX 8 economy).
Those of you who have flown Air Canada A330-300 economy will be right at home in these seats. They’re nearly identical – right down to the fabric pattern.
The departure
We ended up pushing off the gate 17 minutes late. There was no explanation for it, but I’m pretty sure it had to do with the rainy weather (which doesn’t exactly jive with the culture here in SoCal).
It took 16 minutes to taxi to runway 25R, and we took off at 12:23 PM. Better late than never I suppose.
Food and drinks
Was it from the shift need to hope that I’d at least get a free snack on this 4 hour flight to Toronto? Apparently. Because of this, I ask again: what is the purpose of Air Canada Rouge when there’s no difference in onboard service compared to the main brand?
Not only that, even WestJet serves complimentary snacks on all flights in economy (as I discussed in my Air Canada vs WestJet comparison). Why the heck is Air Canada being so stingy?
In flight entertainment
Even by 2018 standards, the in-flight entertainment system felt a bit sluggish and outdated. There are video screens at every seat. But they’re very dim and pretty much impossible to see in bright sunlight. The selection of movies and TV shows was mediocre at best. I didn’t even watch anything other than the flight map.
Despite the low-quality video screen, I appreciated the fact that the cabin crew came by with complementary earbuds.
Seat and cabin comfort
There’s plenty of leg room, the mood lighting is on point, and it’s a ton of fun to play with the button that controls the window tint. The 787-9 is a really neat (and very comfortable) aircraft. Dare to check out my Air Canada A321 business class review if you want to see what it’s competing against.
The descent and arrival into YYZ
The tail winds must’ve been strong, because we were only two minutes behind schedule by the time we began the descent into Toronto. Either that or they pretty much cannonballed it all the way east (with no regards to the speed limit).
It was 7:17 PM by the time we landed. From there it was a quick and bumpy 6 minute taxi to gate.
Pros and cons
The Air Canada 787-9 is far and away one of the most comfortable aircraft in the fleet – even in economy class. This ended up being such a nice flight that I was actually kind of bummed that it was only four hours long. I gotta do this again.
Pros
- The seats are actually quite soft by current day economy class standards. My butt didn’t hurt a bit.
- Even way back in economy class (behind the engines – where it’s usually the noisiest), the 787-9 is relatively quiet.
Cons
- In-flight entertainment is lacking. Not only is the video screen low-quality, the catalog of content isn’t all that great either.
- Snacks and drinks are extremely limited (at least on domestic / North America flights).
Wonderful review Scott! In the past few years, Air Canada has backed down on snacks on-board their flights. Every time I have flown a wide-body across the country (777-200LR/787-8) I have not received a snack. “Rapidair” flights (Toronto-Ottawa/Montreal and Toronto City-Montreal) have full drink and snack service. Some of their Air Canada Express flights do have a snack and drink service. When flying Victoria-Calgary on the Q400 i only received a drink, but Calgary-Kamloops which is a shorter flight and on a smaller aircraft I had both drink and snack. Not sure if they will reinstate the snacks on mainline flights, but one can only hope!
Thanks Brandon! It’s kind of funny how it usually plays out in this industry – when airlines are new, they are generous with all kinds of perks (such as snacks). As they age and become more established, the perks are stripped away until there’s really nothing left other than basic transportation. Air Canada needs a serious competitor IMHO, and I can only hope that WestJet will eventually grow into that.
Great report. I would have happily met you for a coffee. I’m only 20 minutes away from Pearson.
It will be interesting to see how the Westjet 787 offering will differ. The cabin pics look good. A lot of controversy about the cancellation of the YYT-DUB route, though.
Thanks Randy – yeah, too bad I didn’t stay in Toronto very long. It’s been many years since I’ve had a proper look around, so maybe next time. But yeah I can’t wait to give that WestJet 787 a try!
I would choose the B737-8 MAX because I need a break from 787s
I need to take a 777
I haven’t had the chance to try a 737-8 MAX yet so it’s likely I’d choose that over the 787 if I had to do this again anytime soon. Unfortunately, I haven’t heard many good things about the MAX…
Better than a 787 if you ask me.
never mind, I’ll take a A320 over the death cruiser. And one time when I was flying to TPE from YVR on ACA 787-9, on the way, a volcano erupted 5 minutes after we passed it. So if we had flown 5 kts slower it would be, ditching in the ocean.
You’re like the only person I know who hates the 787. Haha! It’s not that bad of an airplane actually!
Excellent and fun review as always. I am looking for a flight from LAX to Toronto currently and there is still one 787-9 service per day. You mentioned that the 787-9 Y cabin was “quite spacious and comfortable”. But published spec (i.e. seatguru) shows the Y seats to be only 17-inch wide (i guess that’s average width for 787) with a dismal 30-inch pitch (which seems below average for both domestic and international standards). Just wondering if the seats felt more spacious than these numbers suggest?
Thanks Dennis! Yeah, I’m fortunate enough not to be super tall (just 5’-10”) so I don’t normally have issues in tight airline seats. Except when it comes to Air Canada Rouge and any United A320 I’ve experienced lately…
Honestly I didn’t have any issues with these seats, and I was perfectly comfortable for the entire flight. It was much better than Rouge in my opinion. As long and you’re not really tall you should be fine!
United A320 are really comfortable.
You spelled “uncomfortable” wrong. 🙂
oh ya, what is your favorite type of aircraft, by favorite is the Boeing 777-200ER.
I’m a pretty big fan of the A350-900 right now. Sexy airplane! #omg
Hi Scott – So i took the 787 flight from LAX to YYZ, and it was better than expected. At 6’1, the legroom was actually ok (perhaps due to slim-line seat and my low expectations) for the full 4.5 hour flight. For a long-haul flight, I think the seat width could be more problematic if you have a seat-mate (of any size).
By the way, the return trip was on a 30 year old 767-300ER
Glad you had a good experience Dennis! I completely agree about how iffy this might be on a long haul, but I am hoping to try it soon (just to see if it’s survivable). Haha! Hopefully the 787 was better than the 767 though.
I’m glad that I’m not alone in thinking that the 787 is great, even in 3-3-3 Economy! As you say, it’s quiet and spacious (or at least it feels that way thanks to the Sky Interior and large windows).
Speaking of the windows, I actually like the dimming system! It’s really nice how you can block light for your seatmates, yet still be able to get a decent view. The 777X dimmers look even better: they dim faster and actually go fully dark. I just don’t like the fact that the crew can lock them.
And is it weird that I like both loud AND quiet engines? I love sitting at the back of an MD-80, next to the JT8D’s or hearing the growl of the GE90, yet I find amazing how quiet and relaxing the current generation of engines are. I especially appreciate it on an overnight flight.
I actually hadn’t heard that the 777X windows will go full dark. That’s pretty cool (although, like you, I don’t like that the cabin crew can control it). Eventually all aircraft will have electronically-controlled dimmers, but I’m just glad that I’ll be dead and gone before that happens. Haha!