One of the best ways to understand how aircraft cabin interiors are advancing to meet the needs of the modern traveler is to talk to a busy seatmaker.
The leading provider of economy class seats Recaro Aircraft Seating also supplies premium economy seats to some of the world’s top airlines, and is growing its footprint in business class cabins.
And so, Runway Girl Network posed a series of design-focused questions to company CEO Dr. Mark Hiller during the recent 25th Anniversary celebration of Recaro’s Americas facility in Fort Worth, Texas.
Business Class
For starters, technological advancements on the ground are shaping seat and cabin design in the air, with Dr. Hiller noting:
[I]n business class, until about 10 years ago, there was a requirement from the airlines that every seat should be the same due to their booking systems. They said they could not market different business class seats and could not really show them to the customer.
Now they are much further advanced [in terms of booking technology], and some airlines are asking for really different seats — wider seats, seats with different pitches. And we see also requests for business class-plus. Also, due to that, first class is further reduced.
And so, going forward, we will see more segmentation through business class compartments.
Lufthansa, for instance, is seeking to disrupt the premium cabin space by giving customers the option to pay extra for certain types of seats, such as those offering a longer bed or more privacy, when its Allegris next generation of business class product rolls out.
Passengers booking Allegris will have the option to pay for special features like a longer bed or a business-plus suite. Image: Lufthansa
“That’s one example,” said Hiller, “but also that the first row may be used with a different pitch, using the monument to have additional storage or even a widescreen. So, features like that.”
Accommodating Airbus NPS
On the Airbus A350, where Recaro holds a 50% market share for economy class seats, the decision by Airbus to create a New Production Standard A350 featuring four more inches of cabin width provides more space to imagine.
But the change can also be a little bit challenging because, explained Dr. Hiller, for the A350 NPS alone, “the next batch has different dimensions, which means for us it might be a completely new program. So, it’s still called A350 but in terms of certification, in terms of the engineering work, it’s a new program.”
Frame sculpting adds four inches to the A350 cabin width. Image: Airbus
Coupled with industry’s supply chain constraints, and niggling issues like IFE obsolescence — not to mention aviation’s ramp-up post-Covid — and: “We have new cabins, better cabins, different fuselage, this is asking for more engineering capacity.”
Even so, in business class, Recaro, with a current 10% market share, believes it’s able to grow faster than the market if it has the right products and services. “And this is where we are investing right now,” he said.
The Recaro CL6720 business class seats that will break cover on LOT’s refurbished 787-8s look sleek. Image: LOT
Some new business class customer announcements are forthcoming, he added.
Premium Economy
Traditional premium economy seats feature manual seat actuation as opposed to automatic. But some new premium economy products are coming to market with electric actuators, which, as they do in business and first, increase the weight and maintenance costs associated with the seat over its lifecycle, irrespective of the system’s capabilities.
“Overall, for us, it’s very important to have a lightweight premium economy product. I would say our product is really in a sweet spot of comfort, lightweight design, and living space. We have a recliner seat,” explained Dr. Hiller. Recaro’s popular PL3530 long-haul premium economy seat, and its successor, the new PL3810 recliner feature manual seat actuation.
“There are also fixed backrest seats on the market,” noted Dr. Hiller, “but they are way heavier because they have an additional structure around the seat. In those instances, you’re also losing space, which means if you go for an extra-large pitch it might be okay and if you are willing to have more weight on board. In terms of really having an efficient and comfortable product, we think we have the optimal solution there. This is also proven by Emirates, which has our premium economy seat.”
“We have been delivering premium economy for almost 20 years,” he continued. “So right now, our premium economy seats are flying, for example, with British Airways or IAG group so to say, with Emirates, Air Canada and many others. Also, an airline out of Asia. In total we have around 20 customers already flying our premium economy product.”
Recaro PL3530s shine on Emirates. Image: Emirates
Overall, the adoption of premium economy continues to see strong momentum. “And what typically happens — and I notice from very many discussions over the years — there have been a couple of first movers: Virgin, British Airways, and some others have been first movers on it. Others were thinking about it, but they were concerned about cannibalizing business class or whether they would be able to really upsell from economy class. In some instances, this took them quite some years to decide. But they figured out that, if they’re not doing something, but their competitor has the product already, they’re losing to the competitor. So, then they went for it. Then they figured out that it’s very profitable in terms of space required, with a ticket price premium,” explained Dr. Hiller.
“And then the next question comes — how to increase the number of seats on board? That first question comes up: what should we cannibalize, the business class or the economy class? And airlines have gone in both directions. Some cut out a couple of economy class seats for the premium economy. Others even took out a couple of business class seats or a row of business class seats to add two rows of premium economy. Both directions are possible. But overall, I would say every airline has proven that it’s a very, very profitable segment. Also, the pandemic has further put a focus on it and what the airlines are reporting is that the cabin is now booked from the front. It’s premium, premium economy, and if there are seats left over its economy class.”
The premium economy is a little bit of a sweet spot between even for companies who might be affected by the crisis, putting the focus on cost, and on the other hand for business travelers, it’s really very suitable.
Some frequent flyers would like to see more accommodation made in premium economy for flying partners, especially given the bump in premium leisure travel post-Covid. This would require a different approach for the armrest console.
But Dr. Hiller says airlines are in fact asking for consoles. “They’re even a little bit larger, a little bit more premium with the cocktail table, with more stowage and so on. So, this would go a little bit against that design concept then. And also, the airlines are asking for privacy ears or wings. So sometimes it’s towards the aisle, sometimes it’s to have every seat a little bit more like a mini-pod or whatever.
“And this is something before the pandemic, for privacy reasons, that we came up with — some wings on economy class and premium economy. Then during the pandemic, it was a topic to support a little bit more distance and separation, and now it’s there in every seat program for premium economy. We’re having discussions how this will look like. There is a really nice seat flying with Delta.” (The US major rather famously selected a highly customised version of Recaro’s CL4710 recliner, with winged privacy, for domestic first class.)
Domestic first class seats on the Delta A321neo are pitched at 37″ Image: Delta
In economy class, where Recaro holds a 30-35% market share, RGN asked what program changed the game for the seatmaker, in terms of obtaining signature market share?
“There was one product which manifested it and that is the CL3710. We launched it in 2014, with first delivery in 2014 and then ramped it up,” he repllied.
Economy Class
“There are many data out there about the market but if you look at Airbus and Boeing deliveries on the A350 and 787 in terms of units delivered for economy, we have a market share that’s as high as 50%. So, every second A350 or 787 will come with Recaro economy class seats and it’s mainly CL3710,” added Dr. Hiller.
Impressive comfort and ergonomic design on the CL3710 as seen aboard Etihad A350-1000. Image: Etihad
As to whether Recaro would look at serving any other aspect of the aircraft interior space, Dr. Hiller confided: “We want to be the seating expert, the seating specialist. So, if there is something needed to do for better seating, we will do. For example, we are able to produce our own front row monuments. It’s not that we have a business case for generating front row monuments, but it’s something we need to have, need to understand and need to be able to offer especially for the business class and for business class-plus, which goes very well together with a front row monument.
“If there would be further products needed, we would do the same. We start with the seat and develop the best seat.”
Related Articles:
- Recaro Aircraft Seating CEO flags continued shortage in IFE parts
- Recaro “the best” over aircraft seat lifecycle: Udvar-Hazy
- Recaro stretches out with muscle-exercising seat demonstrator
- LOT embraces its heritage — and Recaro — with 787-8 refurb plan
- Recaro cuts 10% weight with PL3810 premium economy seat
- Air China goes full nose-to-tail Recaro on updated A350
Featured image of PL3810 credited to Recaro Aircraft Seating
