American’s New(est) Business Class Seat Revealed

American’s New(est) Business Class Seat Revealed

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As I wrote about last September, American is having issues with Zodiac, the supplier for the business class seats on their Boeing 777-200 and Boeing 787 aircraft. Not only are they apparently having issues delivering seats within the promised timeline, but the seats also have issues, the worst of which is that they shake.

American-New-Business-1

American decided to suspend their 777-200 retrofits, though is continuing to take delivery of 787s with these seats for now, given that they couldn’t take delivery of the planes otherwise.

As has been speculated since the seat changes were first announced, B/E Aerospace seemed like the most likely manufacturer to take over the contract, given that they’re one of the few manufacturers large enough to handle an order of American’s size, and have also already worked with American (well, US Airways, to be more exact).

The most likely candidate for American’s new business class seat was the “Super Diamond” seat, which is B/E Aerospace’s version of a reverse herringbone seat.

Super-Diamond-Seat

Well, it’s now official. View from the Wing has confirmed that American will use the B/E Aerospace Super Diamond seat as their new business class product on their 787s, A350s, and 777-200s (which remain to be reconfigured).

This is the same product which Qatar Airways has in business class on their A350s, A380s, and 787s. The seats are also in a 1-2-1 configuration.

Qatar-Airways-A350-Business-Class-01

Qatar-Airways-A350-Business-Class-30

What makes this seat slightly different than your standard reverse herringbone seat is that it has a bit more tray table surface area, and the tray table slides out from under the TV with multiple positions you can adjust it to, which is nice, since the tray is fairly restrictive with American’s current product.

Qatar-Airways-A350-Business-Class-03

The seat is spacious in the fully flat position, and there’s plenty of room for your feet, since there’s not just a small cubby in which to place your feet. One thing I don’t like about this seat is the lack of privacy, as there’s not really a “shield” along the aisle-side of the seat. So the seat does feel fairly exposed.

Qatar-Airways-A350-Business-Class-68

There are minor variations to this seat, so I wouldn’t expect American’s to look exactly like Qatar’s. Virgin Australia is also using B/E Aerospace for their new seat, and they’re just finally putting that first plane in service.

Virgin-Australia-New-Business-Class-1

Virgin-Australia-New-Business-Class-3

Overall I’d say I prefer this seat slightly to the reverse herringbone seat American has on the 777-300ER. So color me very excited about this being the new seat.

Bottom line

The B/E Aerospace Super Diamond seat is probably the all around best seat in the market right now, so I’m happy to see this is the one American will be getting. At the same time, I can’t get over how inconsistent American’s product will be on international flights. They’ll have different products on the 777-300ERs, A330s, 767s, and 757s. Then there will be two types of products on the 777-200s and 787s. The lack of fleet commonality nowadays is sort of insane.

Hopefully American reveals the exact details of these new seats soon (including finishes, seat counts on various aircraft, etc.), as they seem to be quite far along in the design process.

What do you make of American’s new business class seat choice?

Conversations (13)
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  1. Neil Diamond

    @Lucky: I have yet to see you or anyone else comment on the fact the existing forward backward seats presumably allowed for somewhat more J seats in the given cabin space.
    So is AA going to reduce the number of J seats OR is there something about the new design that will allow AA to get roughly the same number of seats in the cabin OR will they extend the J class cabin a bit into coach which would be easy to do in the 787?

  2. nemme Member

    I think this is the seat China Airlines uses on their 773s. I loved it. Great service in the air; ground was a hot mess. Would def. take again.

  3. Aaron Diamond

    "Overall I’d say I prefer this seat slightly to the reverse herringbone seat American has on the 777-300ER"

    So the larger tray table wins out over privacy? Interesting.

  4. Jacob McCarthy Member

    Here is a picture of the customized B/E seat specifically for AA:http://www.star-telegram.com/news/business/aviation/sky-talk-blog/odn0zi/picture75458597/ALTERNATES/FREE_960/be%20seat%20for%20american

  5. nathan Guest

    't was about time, what were AA thinking when they chose these flimsy backwards/forwards facing seats. Why didn't they just then use the same BIZ class seat they installed in their 777-300 ? Think Cathay really cared ? So many other airlines already have Cathay's seats, so what's the big deal. Not high time BA joins the bandwagon. Their 8 across dormitory... time to get rid of it.

  6. elteetrav Gold

    This is great. Love the seats on Qatar's 787. This is a good decision by AA.

  7. Beachfan Diamond

    Glad to hear it! I saw hon Gary's initial post that one of the commenters said the cubby is tight because the table stores under the IFE.

    But. since I know your feet are as big as mine, if you didn't find the cubby cramped all be fine!

  8. Joey Diamond

    It's meant to be! Great choice for AA. I hope Delta and United will update their business class seats soon.

  9. Nolan Snoeyink Member

    They couldn't have picked a better seat. Fantastic choice, American.

  10. Mbfanos Guest

    Love it! Love it! Love it!!!!!!

  11. Kent Miller Guest

    Air Canada's Int'l Biz on the 787s also use the same seat configuration and model. However, the tray table on AA's configuration appears less restrictive than on AC's Biz; I am 6'5" and I kept hitting my knee on the table in the fully stowed away position during the night as I shifted in my seat during my sleep on AC.

  12. Donna Diamond

    Love it! Let's hope they go back and re-retrofit the planes with the shaky seats.

  13. Hannah Guest

    Virgin Australia has been utilising 'The Business' seat on their A330's since the first reconfiguration was completed last August. Although, they are predominantly using these domestically between SYD/MEL/BNE and PER. They have just taken delivery of the first reconfigured their 777, which will see this seat put into service internationally across the Pacific and to the Middle East as more reconfigurations are completed.

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Neil Diamond

@Lucky: I have yet to see you or anyone else comment on the fact the existing forward backward seats presumably allowed for somewhat more J seats in the given cabin space. So is AA going to reduce the number of J seats OR is there something about the new design that will allow AA to get roughly the same number of seats in the cabin OR will they extend the J class cabin a bit into coach which would be easy to do in the 787?

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nemme Member

I think this is the seat China Airlines uses on their 773s. I loved it. Great service in the air; ground was a hot mess. Would def. take again.

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Aaron Diamond

"Overall I’d say I prefer this seat slightly to the reverse herringbone seat American has on the 777-300ER" So the larger tray table wins out over privacy? Interesting.

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