Mini TR: My MAS 737 had Eyebrows...

[yflyer]

Just a short two-post TR on a recent trip to KL on MAS...

I've had fairly good luck on MH flights to KUL...more often than not, I get the new planes with the Sky Interiors...







I was on row 5 on this flight (1st row in Y), which had good legroom.



I fell asleep in my seat for most of this midday flight. I was not woken up for beverage service, but the cabin crew were nice enough to leave a pack of peanuts on the seat next to me...



Two runways in KUL in use today for landings / take-offs...an Air Asia Airbus flew a parallel approach and landing right next to us as we landed.



A view of the KLIA2, and an Air Asia plane with QPR colours...

[yflyer]

After a string of MH flights with the new interiors, I knew my run of good luck had to end at some point...

My return flight KUL-SIN was operated by this aircraft...



Looking out from the terminal, I noticed that this was the aircraft in old MAS livery. It had winglets, though, which meant a new gen 737, but wait, this aircraft even had the old eyebrow windows above the main cockpit windows! I was intrigued...

I noted the rego, 9M-FFE, to check after the flight...

On boarding, I noticed the comfortable looking J class recliners, black leather in 2-2...



Y was 3-3- in grey leather...nothing like anything I had ever seen before on MAS...



What was going on here?

Seat pitch in Y did not look too great either...



No fabric covers on the headrest either...just exposed velcro...



But this was a short flight, and in any case, I had the first row bulkhead, which had plenty of room...



And this plane had a very unusual partition between the cabins as well, which meant that my feet were upgraded to the J cabin...



The flight to SIN hugged the western coastline of Malaysia...

"Weather conditions at Changi are cloudy with a bumpy descent expected, please belt up..."...no kidding...



But in the event, it was a fairly smooth approach and landing...

Interesting winglet paint scheme...



Later after landing, I googled the aircraft rego, and it turns out 9M-FFE is one of the oldest 738's in the MH fleet, just over 14 years old, first flown in 2001, and originally operated by South African Airways before coming over to MH in 2011.

Not a plane I am keen to fly again, but a nice change of "scenery" on this short sector.

And just to make the contrast more stark, the final pic of this TR is of SQ A380, 9V-SKD, operating SQ406 SIN-DEL, which was taxiing for take-off just as we landed....



Thanks for reading!

[SQflyergirl]

You make an important point, and noticed what i picked up a while back and I got called crazy for saying it but to me getting a new BSI plane is BAD

As you have noted: The bulkhead in 5 is tighter on the MS/MX new ML birds, yet it's really nice on the old birds. Same with row 1 (especially on the port side)

The reason I say this is because if I'm in J - I'm always in row 1, and in Y, I'm always in row 5. For the the rest of the seats I'd agree it's better to be on a new bird. Just that for ME: gimme an old bird ANY DAY.

[9V-SIA]

Yup. I just flew MI's 738 in Y.

I miss their old A320 cabins ( the blue ones ).

New aircraft a bit short on legroom. And smaller windows too.

I like the wifi IFE though

Thanks for short TR.

[flyguy]

Malindo's 738s easily beat MH 738s hands down with very good seat pitch for EY and PTV in every seat - and the usual sky interior on its Boeings.

[SQGamespeed]

Thanks for the TR. In my own experiences with MH 738's in recent years, the look and feel of the cabin is like a night and day difference between the older and newer aircraft.

I like the Sky Interior myself. First flew on it with Lion Air a couple of years ago.

[SQ22]

Thank you yflyer for the quick TR. It was a good read. A silly question here: Does the Sky Interior refer to those nice mood lighting in the cabin?

How are MH's flights affected in light of the twin disasters last year? I understand many cabin crew have resigned so I presume operations must have taken a big hit.

I will post my own KL trip report tonight.

[yflyer]

You make an important point, and noticed what i picked up a while back and I got called crazy for saying it but to me getting a new BSI plane is BAD

As you have noted: The bulkhead in 5 is tighter on the MS/MX new ML birds, yet it's really nice on the old birds. Same with row 1 (especially on the port side)

The reason I say this is because if I'm in J - I'm always in row 1, and in Y, I'm always in row 5. For the the rest of the seats I'd agree it's better to be on a new bird. Just that for ME: gimme an old bird ANY DAY.

Yes, it the older plane did seem to have more generous legroom in the bulkhead row!

I prefer the 777-style overhead bins on the BSI planes, but it does seem that these days, newer Y seats on 737's (or any other aircraft type for that matter) inevitably means less legroom and less seat cushioning...

[yflyer]

Yup. I just flew MI's 738 in Y.

I miss their old A320 cabins ( the blue ones ).

New aircraft a bit short on legroom. And smaller windows too.

I like the wifi IFE though

Thanks for short TR.

Thanks, 9V-SIA! I thought the wifi IFE was quite good too...

[yflyer]

Malindo's 738s easily beat MH 738s hands down with very good seat pitch for EY and PTV in every seat - and the usual sky interior on its Boeings.

I've not flown Malindo...good to know that they have PTV's in each seat!

I've flown Garuda (And was happy with the experience), but not the other airlines in Indonesia...

Thanks for the TR. In my own experiences with MH 738's in recent years, the look and feel of the cabin is like a night and day difference between the older and newer aircraft.

I like the Sky Interior myself. First flew on it with Lion Air a couple of years ago.

Thanks, SQGamespeed! I am a fan of the Sky Interior myself. I just wish MH would be consistent about turning on the IFE on short sectors like SIN-KUL / KUL-SIN. Sometimes it is on, other times all you get is the welcome screen...

[yflyer]

Thank you yflyer for the quick TR. It was a good read. A silly question here: Does the Sky Interior refer to those nice mood lighting in the cabin?

How are MH's flights affected in light of the twin disasters last year? I understand many cabin crew have resigned so I presume operations must have taken a big hit.

I will post my own KL trip report tonight.

Thanks, SQ22, and looking forward to reading your TR too!

The Boeing Sky Interior (BSI) is the new interior cabin decor for their 737's. It has 777-style overhead bins and more attractive lighting etc.

I'm not in the airline industry so I would not be in a position to comment on how recent events have affected their business or load factors, but from a customer perspective, I am no more anxious about safety on MH than I am when I fly any other airline, and would not hesitate to fly MH if price and schedule made sense....