Air Canada business class 787-9: Flight Review
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| Air Canada business class 787-9: Flight Review |
I have been looking forward to this flight for a long time. Over the years, I’ve had the pleasure of flying in Air Canada’s Business
Class a couple of times, on various
widebody and narrowbody flights.
However, those widebody flights all took place on
aircraft with AC’s older “Classic Pod” seat,
which is still pretty decent but is showing its age. So, when I found a
pretty enticing deal using Aeroplan
points to fly on their 787 in Business. or rather, Signature Class,
1. An introduction to the air Canada business class 787.
Air Canada’s new International
Business Class seats were first introduced in 2014 on the 787s, and have since
been refitted onto the 777s as well as a
slightly modified version on most of the A330s too. Today, AC uses the
term “Signature Class” to differentiate
their lie-flat Business Class seats from
the recliners on their current
narrowbody fleet.
The 787 for today is this 5-year-old one, registered as Charlie Foxtrot November Oscar Golf, and was the second -9 model delivered to Air Canada back in 2015.
Now, Air Canada Business Class tickets, regardless of whether you’re paying with cash, Aeroplan points, or even on last-minute upgrades, give you free access to their Maple Leaf Lounge. Unfortunately for me today, I had a pretty tight connection which left me just enough time to get that gate shot and board with zone 1, so no lounge visit this time.
A review of the Signature Class product aboard Air Canada 787 Dreamliner, on a 14-hour journey across the Pacific from Toronto to Seoul.
2. The features of the business class cabin on the 787.
Regardless, I could not wait to see what Business on AC’s 787 was like! The Business Class cabin on Air Canada’s larger Dreamliner seats 30 passengers in a 1-2-1 layout, and my seat is 6K.
These seats are all Super Diamond pods from Collins Aerospace, and fold completely flat!
With that in mind, Air business class Canada had this bedding kit waiting at every seat, which I’ll open up later in the flight. As you’d expect, the legroom is phenomenal, no matter how tall you are, and one of the best parts for me personally is this perfect engine view. Also waiting at the seat was Air Canada’s CleanCare kit, some complimentary headphones to use on the flight, and this bottle of water.
As everyone settled in, I couldn’t help but admire just how fresh the whole cabin looks. It’s certainly a far cry from the 767 I flew on in 2019. Each seat also had two overhead reading lights and some proper
air vents.
As the rest of the plane boarded, this short video on Air Canada’s safety precautions played, which was new to me. I’ve flown AC plenty of times in the past two years and hadn’t seen that before in Economy or Premium Economy.
3. The amenities offered in the business class cabin.
Eventually though, one of our very friendly cabin crew came around handing out menus for today’s flight. Now, arguably, this is where you’ll find the biggest difference when flying in this seat domestically versus internationally. Though AC’s domestic Business meals are still really good, you do get larger ones with more choices on the long-haul flights.
We ended up sitting at the gate for a bit longer than expected due to “operational issues”, which the captain described on the PA regardless, that only meant more time here in this fantastic seat so I couldn’t be happier. We eventually pushed back about half an hour late, so please enjoy this incredible view and sound of these GEnx engines, starting up and taking off from runway 23.
For me personally, that engine view and takeoff sound were worth every single Aeroplan point I used for this! Let’s take a look around the rest of the seats.
In the compartment on the side, you’ll find the headphone jack, a USB port, a handheld touchscreen remote, and a universal power outlet. Also on the side are some seat controls, which also had the call button and light controls.
Further back, you’ll also find this armrest and a reading light. Down by your feet is plenty of storage, with a place for the literature pocket contents, lots of space for your feet in the sitting position, and another storage pocket where I put the headphones. On the aisle side of the seat is this armrest that moves up and down, and also has space for a water bottle.
The actual tray table slides out nicely from underneath the in-flight entertainment screen and folds out for plenty of table space! This being a flight in 2021Air Canada business class 787, the literature pocket just had an air sickness bag and a safety card for the 787-9. Also, another 2020 specialty that continues to this day is the Air Canada CleanCare kit, which had a complimentary mask, wipes, and sanitizer.
I think it’s a really nice touch still, and these aren’t exclusive to Businesses by any means.
These complimentary headphones for Business were also very nice - they were adjustable and pretty good quality. Each Business Class pod also came equipped with the newest version of Air Canada’s in-flight entertainment, which has a great selection of stuff to watch, both Canadian and otherwise, plus the much-improved moving map, all on this massive touchscreen!
Air Canada business class is 787 When it came to the food on board, I was tempted to go for the omelet since it’s always a solid breakfast option, but seeing as I did just have one of those on my previous flight from Montreal, I went for the cold breakfast instead.
This came with a plate of fresh fruit, yogurt, granola, and almonds, as well as a croissant, cheese plate, jam, and butter, plus a cup of coffee to drink. That also included Air Canada’s actual metal cutlery, and as a whole, this was a very nice breakfast. Just for comparison’s sake though, I think I’d want to try another flight at a different time of day or even internationally just to see how different the food might be… my bank account willing, of course.
4. The comparisons and contrasts between the business class cabin on the 787 and other airline business class cabins.
This particular Aeroplan redemption cost about 25,000 points from Montreal to Toronto to Calgary in Business, and seeing as I had some saved up from cancellations in 2020, I think these points were very well spent.
With 30 seats in Signature Class, there are actually two lavatories, with one in the front and one in the back on the right side of the plane. As a whole, the cabin itself looks very sleek, and putting this video together 8 months after the flight, I can’t help but get excited picturing a single-aisle version of this on their upcoming A321neos! I think especially on these trans-continental flights, they’re going to be.
In the Signature Class bedding kit, you’ll find a mattress pad, pillow, and blanket, and the seat folds into the lie-flat position in about 20 seconds or so.
And settled in under this super soft blanket, the bed is very comfortable!
The foot room is slightly restrictive if you're anywhere above maybe 6 feet 4 but, Air Canada business class let’s be real, it’s an actual bed in the sky, and I’ll never get over how cool it is to be lying flat with a view like this.
Also, to my surprise, you could actually adjust the firmness of the seat slash mattress. That’s another really cool feature I didn’t think was possible on an airplane.
In the fully flat position, the seat feels decently private too, Air Canada business class although since some carriers have done it already, I wonder if AC would ever consider putting doors on these pods. As the views outside transitioned into the ever-familiar Prairies, the crew handed out this bag of snacks just before we started our descent, and that included a bag of chips, chocolate, and another wipe.
Also on the descent, we were given some complimentary earbuds in these compostable packages to take home. On descent seemed like an
odd time to hand those out, but it’s more free stuff so I’ll happily take ‘em! Here’s our arrival in Calgary, landing on runway 35R.
5. The conclusion of the essay.
Well, that was Air Canada’s 787 Signature Class, and I’m honestly pretty blown away. Air Canada business class Air Canada always has such consistently good Business Class service, so that coupled with the still very new-feeling seats makes for a really enjoyable flight! Like I said though, flying this domestically gets you just a part of the overall AC Signature Class experience, and I’d love to try it on a long-haul flight someday.
Even if I couldn’t quite make it to the lounge in Toronto, the food on board was really good, the seat was super comfortable, and our cabin crew was fantastic. So, this was well worth the wait, and Air Canada’s 787 Signature Class is pretty much everything I’d hoped it would be.
Thanks very much for reading what was finally a look at Air.
Canada’s best version of their Business Class seat, and I’ll catch you next time.
