VIRGIN AUSTRALIA: Weird Business Class shower curtain divider reported.

Virgin Australia used to have a very elegant divider between its Economy and Business Class cabins. Smart, eye-catching purple perspex panels adorned the bulkhead, and a magnetic ‘rope’ blocked the aisle. As part of its AU$110 million upgrade to its Boeing 737 fleet, Virgin Australia is removing that bulkhead divider to cram in extra seats. The problem is that there is currently no visual or actual barrier between the Economy and Business cabins. Solution—install a weird Business Class shower curtain!

This is the old screen and ‘rope’ divider picture above. Below is how most cabins currently appear with no visual or actual barrier between the two cabins.

So, what to do about that? Presumably, Virgin Australia wants to put in some kind of barrier, because economy passengers are rioting zombie-like to get to the forward toilet. And the solution they have come up with is this:

Really? A shower curtain? Although this looks like an installation on an older 737, if the overhead bins are any guide. Just to orient you, the view above is from Business Class back towards Economy.

Weird Business Class shower curtain is a temporary solution

Fortunately, according to Virgin Australia, this is only a temporary solution, as quoted in a Yahoo news report. The permanent solution will replace the weird Business Class shower curtain with cabin dividers mounted from underneath the overhead bins on either side of the aisle. But that is not scheduled to happen until 2026!

2PAXfly Takeout

Virgin Australia has been immensely sure-footed since its rebirth after going into administration and being purchased by Bain Capital. It has scored successive profits and the major coup of entering international flying without the investment by selling 25% of itself to Qatar Airlines and wet leasing its aircraft.

Could this be the first sign that things are not going well after Jayne Hrdlicka’s departure? According to some passengers, it’s a small thing, but certainly a misstep.