My seat? 22D, on the aisle three-quarters of the way down the economy cabin. There are three seats per row on each side of the aisle in economy. Seat Guru has seats at a reasonably slender 17.2-inch (43.6cm) wide (rival planemaker Airbus has made a minimum 18-inch width a line in the sand on its planes). My seat had an okay 30-inch pitch (the space between a point in the seat and the same point in the one in front), but with any slight recline the knees were hard up against the one in front.
Fellow passengers? A mix of leisure travellers, those (like me) heading to Sydney for work and a smattering of transit passengers going on to more exotic locations. I lost the "lateral lottery" in that my row mates were travelling to beef up a 10-a-side rugby side playing a tournament in the Philippines. Kurt and Jordan were excellent travel companions but were big units and I've had a good summer, so it was a bit tight. With elbows tucked in during breakfast nobody felt their space too invaded, though.
The food? A special interest of mine for professional reasons. Qantas had made a big deal about revamping its economy food late last year; promising more choice, bigger meals and more elegant and quicker service. The verdict? They've pretty much nailed it. In Oz, you'd say an economy class cooked breakfast "is what it is" but the meal is bigger since the revamp and something like rhubarb and yoghurt in a dish is a better look than yoghurt from a plastic pottle.
The flight home later the same day better showcased the improved menu which has plenty of variety (especially if you go online and pre-order on flights from Australia) and could be washed down with what was on the impressive drinks trolley. Qantas wanted meals served more quickly to clear the aisles. Depending on where you're sitting that's happening, but it's clearing the more simple trays away that appears to speed things up a bit overall.
The service? Qantas operates its Tasman operation using New Zealand-based subsidiary JetConnect to save money by avoiding the higher legacy costs of its home-based operation. The six cabin crew on my flight were predominantly Kiwi, very friendly, and efficient. An early morning midweek commuter flight across the Ditch doesn't exactly have that holiday joie de vivre but the crew make it a more pleasant experience than it would be otherwise.
Entertainment? Seat-back touch screens worked well, a mix of movies still on at the cinema and a good range of TV programmes.
The toilets? Two down the back (and one for business). The Katherine Mansfield is just under six years old so they were in pretty good nick and well maintained during the flight.
Would I fly this again? Being shoe-horned into economy on board narrow-body aircraft is a fact of life on international routes now as they're cheap to operate, which helps keep fares down, but while a good thing, the food and the service seemed a bit big for the plane.
Grant Bradley is the Business Herald's aviation reporter.
