Roughly a week ago, I reported on a story broken by JonNYC, about how Delta may be ditching its planned new flat bed narrow body business class, due to certification issues. There’s now an update, as Delta has confirmed this, and we have more information on the timeline.
This is the ultimate reflection of just how much of a headache aircraft seat certification issues have become, as we’ve seen the continued evolution of seats…
Delta may swap out A321neo business class seats
Delta has a large fleet of Airbus A321neos, which are primarily used as the new domestic workhorse for fairly high demand routes. However, the airline also plans to introduce a subfleet of A321neos with a special configuration, intended specifically for premium transcontinental flights. These planes will feature flat bed business class, premium economy, and economy, so they’ll be pretty swanky planes.
While both American and United are introducing herringbone seats in business class on these types of aircraft, Delta’s plan has been to install reverse herringbone seats. Reverse herringbone seats are better than herringbone seats, plain and simple, so that’s good… well, if it actually happens.
We know that Delta has been having major issues with getting its new business class seats certified. The airline actually took delivery of its first plane with the new cabins in 2024, and immediately put it into storage. With no end to these issues in sight, Delta decided to just reconfigure these planes with an astronomical 44 domestic first class seats, and fly them on domestic routes out of Atlanta (ATL).
Recently, the belief has been that certification would take a couple of years, and that these planes would be in service with their intended configurations in 2028. However, the plan has shifted since then.
The always reliable JonNYC was first to report that Delta may abandon the the Safran Vue seat for the A321neos, and instead go with the Thompson Aero VantageSOLO seat, which is the same seat you’ll find on JetBlue A321LRs and Iberia A321XLRs, and very similar to what you’ll find on American A321XLRs.
Danny Lee at Bloomberg now confirms this report. Delta’s Chief Marketing and Product Officer, Ranjan Goswami, stated that Delta will now go with whichever supplier secures approval first, and expects certification to come no later than mid-2028.
While we’ve seen airlines switch seating suppliers, it’s interesting to see Delta essentially pitting two competing seating manufacturers against one another, and making a race of it. While seat certification can be complicated, I have to imagine that the Thompson Aero VantageSOLO product will win the race, given that it’s already being flown on the A321neos of a US-based carrier. So while customization also requires certification, that’s a much smaller hurdle to overcome.
This is a rather unfortunate outcome for Delta
Someone much smarter than me has long been claiming that while these planes will be delayed quite a bit, this will give Delta a massive advantage over competitors, over the roughly decade-long seat cycle, so it’s worth the wait. Unfortunately it looks like we’re instead going to get the worst of both worlds — Delta delayed a new fleet type by several years, only to likely end up with the same seat as everyone else.
We’ll see how this all plays out. I’ve written about how aircraft seat certification has become such a process. I recommend checking out that post, but the idea is that many seats just don’t meet the FAA’s standards in crash tests, meaning updates have to be made.
This is something that FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford even addressed in a recent interview, talking about how many new premium cabins are failing human factors tests, causing delays in safety certifications.
What’s kind of wild to me is the disconnect between regulators and aircraft seating manufacturers. Safran is a very well regarded aircraft manufacturer with a lot of experience, so I find it interesting how they can invest so much in designing a new seat, only for regulators to not give it their seal of approval.
I understand how as seats become more advanced, the certification also becomes more confusing. But why is there such a disconnect between what regulators expect, and what seat manufacturers are delivering? It just seems like that issue shouldn’t be so common.
Bottom line
Delta is having serious certification issues with its new A321neo flat bed business class seats. The first plane that was supposed to get these seats was delivered in 2024, and it spent well over a year in storage, before Delta decided to just install temporary cabins, and fly the plane on other domestic routes.
The claim has been that it’ll be 2028 when these planes are actually flying with their intended cabins. However, with no real timeline for which these seats will be certified, Delta is now pitting seat manufacturers against one another. A Delta executive claims that rather than being committed to the Safran Vue product, we’ll instead see the Thompson Aero VantageSOLO seat also in the running, and whichever seat gets certified first wins.
This could mean that Delta will go from its planned reverse herringbone seats to herringbone seats, which is quite a downgrade. But when you can’t actually get the seats certified otherwise… well…
What do you make of the prospect of Delta switching its new business class seat concept?
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