Dallas-Sydney, World’s Longest Flight, to Upgrade to World’s Largest Aircraft

flying that long on a plane aint fun , I don't care what size it is , I flew Singapore airlines san Francisco to hong kong 14 hours , 747-400 by the time we landed I felt like a complete zombie , I suppose it would be a different story in first class with the nice beds and all , but I don't have ten grand to throw around ,problem is when you see the adds for airlines that just started using the a380 , all you see is how wonderful the first class cabin is , guess what ? 80 % of passengers fly economy , and on an a380 its no different than a 747 or any other wide body , just a whole lot more people to deal with .

better load up on the peanuts .

Love it when the wind's out of the north; that's when I get to see this big bird on its slooow climb to altitude curving over my house in north Fort Worth heading from DFW. Seeing that 'roo lit up on the tail is so cool! Then I remember those folks will still be on that plane when I wake up the next morning...that's when I gladly head off to my comfy bed!

Maybe they'll get around to what cruise lines do , a captain's dinner, nice meal,complimentary drinks, and a decent show?

15 hours on a plane, whether a 707, 757, 747, or 380 or whatever, is a long time, regardless of whether in 1st class, coach, or the pointy end.

Wear comfortable shoes.

In 1993, I flew from Sydney to Los Angeles in a Qantas 747-400 and it was the worst airline flight I've ever had in my life. The seats were like concrete. Fortunately, we were by a door so we could stand up now and then, but we were sitting on our jackets for padding on the seats. Troop seats in a C-130 and the unpadded ejection seat in an F-4 were both far more comfortable. Neither my nor my wife's call button worked and for two (2) hours during the 13-hour flight (which was daytime), no cabin crew were to be seen anywhere and when they finally reappeared, they were surly, at best. For the last 90 minutes before landing, they were bragging nonstop on the PA about their new streamlined baggage claim and immigration procedures, but clearing immigration and baggage was a nightmare.

I complained (politely, but firmly) to Qantas about the flight and got a very snotty letter saying that baggage claim was the responsibility of LAX and immigration of the INS, but the PA announcements all boasted that it was a Qantas innovation. The letter also said that they had the "very latest" seats, which does not mean they're comfortable. Around the time I received their reply, an article in a travel magazine said that they were replacing all the seats in their 747-400s. Gee, I wonder why.

By contrast, our flight from LA to Auckland was with Air New Zealand, also in a 747-400, and it was superb in every way.

No doubt some of you will say that Qantas is the best airline of all time, and that's fine if you enjoyed your flights with them, but it was the direct opposite in my experience and I wouldn't fly with them again if they offered to pay me.

I hope for their victims', I mean self-loading cargo's, sake that 15 hours from Dallas-Fort Worth to Sydney is MUCH better than my flight on Qantas. I don't think they'd want to have that many pissed-off people trapped in a confined space for that long.

The only way I'd ever take that flight is if it was declared a child-free zone. Can you imagine 15 hours of screaming meemies? AAAAAAGH!

So next time I'm bored, I'll book:

DFW-DXB on the Emirates A380
DXB-SYD on the Qantas A380
SYD-DFW on the Qantas A380

A 3 leg round the world trip on the A380.

Shuffling the deck chairs I think. Shedding 5000 plus staff, reducing international routes, retiring the 767 fleet and a number of 744s, loss of $400 million in six months etc. They could never carry a full PAX load or freight with the 744 over that distance and had to divert on a number of occasions. A380s becoming available due to the cutting back on flights to LHR from MEL. Don't think they will take up the additional A380s. Time will tell.

A388 does not compare to the 744 on long routes. The cabin air is far superior (on the 388) and the bathrooms are bigger.
I was in coach MEL - LAX and while it was coach it was far superior to anything else I have been on. The 787 has a much improved cabin air system so it is not Airbus specific, nearly a system that was designed 20 years later

Wow better then the 747

The article states that " Qantas Flight 8 currently leaves DFW at 9:55 p.m. and arrives at 8:15 a.m. the next day after making a stop in Brisbane." Wouldn't that be 2 days later? They are forgetting the International Date Line. When I flew LAX-SYD, we left Wednesday night and arrived Friday morning.

From an east coast USA passenger almost anything that eliminates a stop at LAX is a huge benefit. I will be interested to see how this works. The QF A388 fleet is pretty much fully burdened right now. They have 2 more aircraft on order so maybe that is the answer. The other possibility is reducing or eliminating the HKG round trips a couple of times a week

This has to a brutally hard flight to work for both flight and cabin crew.

Emirates also announced about a month ago that they too will be bringing the A380 to DFW.

Great, Now you not only get to be on the plane the longest of all flights, but you get the most people too. Sounds wonderful (sarcasm).

I wonder how long the dfw-syd flight will be, right now it stops in Brisbane, but without that stop, it will be even longer.