LATAM has announced plans to overhaul the economy cabins of its Boeing 787 Dreamliners, in what amounts to a significant investment.
In this post:
LATAM updating 787s with new seats & entertainment
LATAM will be retrofitting some of its Boeing 787-9 aircraft with all-new economy cabins. This amounts to an investment of roughly $15 million per aircraft, which isn’t exactly chump change. The plan is for four 787s to be reconfigured in 2024, with more planes expected to get a makeover in future years — this won’t exactly be a fast project.
These new LATAM cabins feature a full redesign, with new seats and cabin finishes. All seats will feature headrests and 6″ of recline. Not much more is said about the actual comfort of seats, other than that they’ll feature seat upholstery made with 57% recycled leather.
As before, there will also be LATAM+ seats, which are the carrier’s best economy seats. These seats are at the front of the cabin and offer more legroom, greater recline, dedicated overhead bin space, priority boarding, and more.
On top of that, the inflight entertainment on these aircraft is being overhauled, with the introduction of 12″ high-definition touchscreen entertainment monitors. LATAM is also introducing bluetooth connectivity for headphones, which is pretty cutting edge in economy — we’re starting to see this frequently in business class, but it’s still quite rare in economy.
LATAM is promising the largest selection of onboard entertainment in the region, with over 170 movies, 550 TV show episodes, 100 music albums, and content from HBO Max, Paramount+, Disney+, and more. LATAM will also introduce Panasonic’s Arc product as the new interactive 3D map (which, as an avgeek, I’m particularly excited about).
This is a nice product investment, but…
Like I said above, it’s a pleasant surprise when an airline specifically invests in economy seating, since all too often we see airlines only focus on improving premium cabins. Of course this assumes that there’s not some major catch that hasn’t been disclosed yet, like the cabin greatly being densified, etc.
While I’m happy to see this change, I do wish LATAM would also focus on reconfiguring its existing fleet with the new business class product. LATAM introduced a great new business class seat back in 2018. While you’ll now find this product on all Boeing 767s and Boeing 777s, a majority of Boeing 787s still don’t have these seats.
I suppose the airline just doesn’t think it’s necessary to spend the money to reconfigure some of its existing jets, especially since the carrier’s “old” business class is already very competitive in Latin America. Then again, it’s a bit surprised to see the airline spending $15 million per jet in economy, while not investing in business class.
Bottom line
LATAM will be investing quite a bit of money in reconfiguring its Boeing 787s with a new economy class product, at the cost of $15 million per jet. This includes all-new seats, plus new inflight entertainment with bluetooth audio. This is an impressive investment, as it’s rare to see airlines spend so much money specifically on economy.
What do you make of LATAM’s new 787 economy class?
It’s just incomprehensible that they will spend 15 million dollars updating the seat’s upholstery and these planes (or any other LATAM long haul plane) still don't have WiFi in 2024.
The new latam business class sucks seats are narrow and most people can’t lie flat in them
Last month I flew SCL-JFK in LATAM's "old" business class. It does look dated but it's surprisingly comfortable. It also has more storage space than any seat I've experienced. I didn't use the IFE other than the airshow so I can't comment on it.
On a side note.. the "rumor" among crew members is that 787-8 will be receiving the new business class in the near future, but the number of J seats will be reduced since only the space between doors 1 and 2 will be left for it.
Curious to know your preference between Panasonic's Arc (LATAM, Vistara, Finnair) and Flightpath3D (Cathay, Virgin Atlantic, Air France)
I think the phrase you’re looking for is ‘chump change’ not ‘chunk change’.
@ Alan -- You're of course correct, thank you! It has been a long day...
You published 12 posts today Ben. Wow! That's a lot of writing.
And you were publishing posts yesterday around 7pm, which is way past your bedtime. Thats how I know your on the road right now lol, probably on your way to Vancouver to try out LH's new Allegris product. Yes, I'm very observant ;)
Enjoy!
As a frequent Latam passenger I strongly prefer the old business class seats in the 787 vs the new seat in the 767. The later is too narrow and I cant find a comfortable position. It is much more private but not worth it for me. I haven’t tried the new seat in the 777 though
As a very infrequent Latam passenger, I 100% agree.
I have to be honest- with many airlines, the "new" business class seats look much better but are less comfortable in the sitting position, and even more so in the flat sleeping position. Like Lucky's dad, I found myself preferring to sleep in the non-flat, reclined position. I'm sure many people enjoy the privacy and direct aisle access that have become standard. I miss the...
As a very infrequent Latam passenger, I 100% agree.
I have to be honest- with many airlines, the "new" business class seats look much better but are less comfortable in the sitting position, and even more so in the flat sleeping position. Like Lucky's dad, I found myself preferring to sleep in the non-flat, reclined position. I'm sure many people enjoy the privacy and direct aisle access that have become standard. I miss the older business class seats. I'm sure (?) I am not alone...