I was most excited to be flying home from Los Angeles on the second flight of Air New Zealand's brand new Boeing 777-300ER. I had read glowing reviews of first and business class, and apparently even we in cattle would experience greater comfort.
As my legs are short I usually
have no problem flying economy. I can fling my feet around, I can reach down and rummage around in my handbag and I can slip past my fellow passengers when I want to walk around.
That was certainly the case when I flew to LA a week earlier on the older plane, which was quite comfortable by aircraft standards. I typed away on my laptop for a couple of hours, then slept just fine. The meal was nice enough, the film selection excellent, the seats suitably squishy. Most importantly, it was possible to step over my neighbours to walk around and, I felt I could breathe.
So how would the much-hyped new plane compare? As a lone traveller I wasn't going to get my hug on in the innovative cuddle class. Instead I ended up in one of the new economy seats, the window seat to be precise, which meant getting the couple in the middle and aisle seats to de-wedge themselves so I could plonk myself, my book and my laptop down.
Unfortunately this wasn't so easy because economy class on the new plane is noticeably smaller. As the seats are like La-Z-Boys, there is precious little room to stow a Macbook under the seat in front of you.
