Please enjoy this Op-Ed contribution from Amaury Barberot, the CEO and president of Expliseat

For years, the regional aviation sector was the industry’s “middle child” — essential for connectivity but often overlooked in the rush to innovate and compete on the long-haul experience. Today, that narrative has flipped.

In North America, the regional cabin is no longer just a feeder service; it has become a high-stakes competitive arena where the “premiumization” of the fleet is a matter of survival.

Across the United States and Canada, regional aircraft are flying more frequently, for longer sectors, and with a far higher proportion of premium and connecting passengers than ever before. They are essential to revenue integrity, brand continuity, and day-to-day operational resilience. And yet, the cabin architecture inside many of these aircraft has not kept pace with this new reality.

The seat, long treated as a fixed constraint, has become the limiting factor.

The experience continuum is no longer optional

The premiumization of North American regional flying is not a branding exercise. It is a structural defense mechanism.

Legacy carriers have invested heavily in creating a seamless experience across their networks, from long-haul widebodies to narrowbodies and increasingly to regional jets. The objective is to eliminate experience “cliffs” that break loyalty, depress yields, and weaken the hub-and-spoke model.

For a passenger, the regional leg is often the first or last impression of a journey. A disconnect here does more than create dissatisfaction; it undermines the perceived value of the entire ticket. This is why airlines are extending connectivity, power, storage, and comfort expectations into the regional cabin.

Next-generation seating plays a foundational role in maintaining this experience continuum. It enables features that passengers consider basic, while preserving comfort on flights that exceed two or three hours. It does so without compromising the tight economics that define regional operations.

The math behind premium regional cabins

Regional airlines operate under some of the most demanding cost constraints in commercial aviation. Every kilogram matters, and every investment must earn its place. To justify the “premiumization” of a cabin, math must work beyond the marketing department.

In high-cycle regional operations, removing 1,000 lbs from an aircraft can generate well over $100,000 per year in fuel savings, depending on utilization, sector length, and fuel price assumptions.

This liquidity provides the necessary capital to fund the very upgrades — better cushions, larger bins, and advanced connectivity — that keep passengers loyal. Without a fundamental shift in seat weight, the business case for a truly premium regional retrofit often fails to close. The industry requires a solution that allows for a “throne” feel without the weight penalty of traditional materials.

Without meaningful lightweighting, the business case collapses. With it, experience, revenue, and operations reinforce each other.

Escaping the aluminum constraint

For decades, aluminum seat structures defined a narrow set of trade-offs. Airlines could choose slim and light, or comfortable and heavy, but rarely both.

That constraint no longer reflects what regional cabins are expected to deliver.

Advanced architectures using titanium and carbon fiber composites allow seat designs that are structurally lighter without appearing minimal or fragile. This shift enables deeper cushioning, and improved ergonomics, while stripping away up to 30% of structural weight.

These materials change more than aesthetics. They redefine how airlines think about lifecycle cost. A seat can finally look and feel “heavy” to the passenger while being incredibly light on the manifest.

In North America’s regional environment, this combination is not a luxury. It is a prerequisite.

From industrial robustness to technological resilience

In the North American market, “robustness” is often measured by a seat’s ability to survive the reality of outstation maintenance. Regional jets frequently “sleep” at smaller airports, away from the massive MRO (maintenance, repair, and overhaul) infrastructure of primary hubs.

In this context, the industry is moving toward “technological robustness.” Seats are engineered with fewer moving parts, modular logic, and materials that resist cycle fatigue. Forget about the traditional plastic used in most conventional seats. On the opposite advanced materials like carbon fiber composite have extended fatigue performance.

For airlines, this resilience has a direct operational impact. Fewer seat-related issues mean fewer last-minute aircraft swaps, fewer knock-on delays, and a more predictable daily operation. For passengers, it means cabins that feel consistently modern and comfortable, not progressively worn down by month six of service.

Reliability here is part of the passenger experience.

The challenge of multi-platform integration

Validation in the North American market requires solving the “nose-to-tail” puzzle. The fleet diversity across major carriers — ranging from various iterations of the Embraer E-Jet to the CRJ family — presents a massive engineering hurdle.

A carrier’s brand identity must remain consistent whether a passenger boards a jet in Toronto or a connection in Chicago. Achieving this requires more than just a good product; it requires the industrial capacity and engineering grit to certify advanced structures across multiple floor paths and varying emergency requirements.

The ability to provide a unified aesthetic and ergonomic standard across diverse regional platforms is the ultimate test for any seating provider. It is no longer enough to offer a “regional seat.” One must offer a regional solution that scales across a fragmented fleet.

The future of regional aviation isn’t just bright. It’s being built in North America.

The region’s legacy carriers have demonstrated that regional cabins can be premium, profitable, and operationally robust. The next phase of this evolution depends on recognizing the seat as a strategic enabler rather than a fixed cost.

By moving beyond legacy aluminum architectures and embracing new generation seating technologies, airlines unlock a virtuous cycle: better experience, stronger revenue protection, and more reliable operations. Regional fleets, with their intensity and scale, offer the ideal platform to validate these innovations before broader deployment.

About the Author

Amaury Barberot is the CEO and President of Expliseat, a position he assumed in 2021. A École des Mines de Paris graduate, he brings a wealth of experience from his roles at Tata Steel, Bouygues, and the French Navy.

Joining Expliseat in 2012, Amaury initially led the industrialisation of the composite tube, a key component of the TiSeat. He progressed through various roles, serving as Director of Industrialization, Director of Programs, Director of Sales, and COO.

His tenure has seen significant achievements, including winning the JEC Award in 2014—an international recognition for excellence in composites. Amaury Barberot’s leadership continues to drive Expliseat’s success and innovation in the aerospace industry.

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Featured image credited to Expliseat