Travel question: Will standards be lower on our replacement aircraft?

Q We booked fights to Miami with Norwegian Air for July 2019. I have just received an email saying the carrier is now Privilege Style. How can Norwegian Air justify the change to an old aircraft with no in-flight entertainment for nine and a half hours as an acceptable substitution?

Sara P

A You are one of many people who have contacted me about Norwegian’s “wet-lease” arrangements this summer. The airline would very much like to be exclusively flying its Boeing 787 Dreamliners between Gatwick and the US, but issues with the Rolls-Royce engines mean that is one of many airlines which is having to charter in extra capacity while its planes are grounded.

A Norwegian spokesperson says: “Like all affected carriers, we have taken the decision to hire additional aircraft to avoid cancelling flights during the busy summer period. Customers will be proactively contacted by text message to inform them of any changes to their journeys, and the aircraft type is also clearly visible on our website at the time of booking.

“We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause but we believe that the most important thing for our customers is to get to their destination as planned.”

The key question is: how will your journey be affected? Having looked at the specification for the 19-year-old Boeing 777 belonging to Privilege Style, I would not regard this as a downgrade. The plane was retired by Singapore Airlines five years ago, and appears still to be configured in the same way – with high comfort standards, particularly in business class.

I am not sure where you heard that there is no in-flight entertainment. That is incorrect, though the IFE is more primitive than on Norwegian. And the meals and cabin service should be the same.

Some have complained that during last summer’s disruption, passengers booked on Norwegian were offered refunds if they did not want to fly on the replacement aircraft. That was a one-off dispensation because cabin standards were clearly inferior on the planes used last year. This year the airline feels the replacements are sufficiently high-spec.

You mention the age of the aircraft; it would not be allowed to fly if the authorities were not completely satisfied with its safety. And were you to cancel and fly on British Airways, there is every chance that you would end up flying on an older aircraft. (BA, by the way, is also chartering planes to fill gaps in its schedule because of the 787 groundings.)

Every day our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles a reader’s question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder