Aircraft Interiors – industry development summary: Sep/Oct-2024

Approaching critical mass: Starlink signs with United Airlines and Air France

The rise of Starlink inflight connectivity (IFC) has been nothing short of astronomical.

Over the past two years the SpaceX subsidiary has won contracts to provide full-fleet IFC for United Airlines and Air France. It also completed installation on Hawaiian Airlines' Airbus fleet, and went live with Qatar Airways.

The significance of these developments is hard to overstate.

United is the single largest airline worldwide by available seat kilometres; Qatar Airways comes in seventh and Air France ranks 13th. Hawaiian, itself being much smaller, is now part of the 350 aircraft-strong Alaska Air Group.

The CAPA - Centre for Aviation Aircraft Interiors Database now estimates Starlink's backlog to have exceeded 2000 aircraft.

Should they all materialise, Starlink will emerge among the top four IFC providers.

Before the Starlink announcement United took a multi-vendor approach, splitting its mainline fleet between Panasonic Avionics, Viasat and Thales.

Thales has been gradually seeing its share fall as Viasat takes its place. Meanwhile, the regional fleet is connected via Intelsat's air-to-ground solution.

Air France took an even more diverse approach, with four in-service IFC vendors (counting Inmarsat as part of Viasat).

Intelsat is the largest partner, as it services Air France's 777, A330, and A220 family aircraft. Anuvu comes in second, servicing the A320 family fleet. Inmarsat/Viasat and Panasonic each have a single fleet type.

United (left) and Air France (right) IFC-equipped aircraft in service, IFC provider share

Source: CAPA - Centre for Aviation Aircraft Interiors Database.

The historical multi-vendor approach of major airlines is not just for spreading risks, but also due to circumstances unique to each supplier.

Viasat, until its merger with Inmarsat and its ongoing Viasat-3 network build-out, only had advantages in limited geographies. This explains why 74% of Viasat's serviced fleet are narrowbody aircraft in North America, and that it previously had a limited non-US presence.

Intelsat, with its historical strength in ATG connectivity, also has geographic constraints.

Previously Gogo and Aircell, Intelsat focused on building out its network of ATG ground antennas in North America. North American regional jets continue as Intelsat's most important segment, making up 42% of Intelsat-equipped fleet.

Intelsat's satellite 2Ku solution proved an initial success, with Delta Air Lines peaking at nearly 600 of its aircraft using 2Ku in 2021.

However, this has since drastically dwindled, with Delta mainline going for Viasat, and a global push has reaped limited progress.

Widebody IFC, meanwhile, has long been dominated by Panasonic Avionics.

Panasonic entered the market after picking up the realms of Boeing's mid-2000's 'Connexion by Boeing' IFC solution, which failed by being the right solution at the wrong time.

Panasonic established early dominance by building on Boeing's foundation while quickly establishing unmatched global coverage, via capacity agreements with satellite providers worldwide.

However, Panasonic has not had a breakthrough in the narrowbody market.

Region-focused and vertically integrated suppliers, such as Intelsat and Viasat, offer advantages in speed and cost - not to mention that Panasonic still has out-of-coverage areas, such as a lack of connectivity over polar regions, which is crucial to many intercontinental operations.

Narrowbody IFC provider share in service over the past 10 years, since 2015

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Source: CAPA - Centre for Aviation Aircraft Interiors Database.

Enter Starlink by SpaceX.

With more than 6,000 LEO satellites above Earth, Starlink is the single largest satellite operator worldwide. This allows for unprecedented coverage and capacity.

Assuming that Starlink properly manages bandwidth, it provides not only high-speed gate-to-gate connection, but also eliminates 'dark spots' in high-latitude regions.

This offers passengers a connected experience akin to that on the ground.

What remains to be proven is Starlink's economics.

As previously reported by CAPA - Centre for Aviation, questions remain unanswered regarding Starlink's 'free and frictionless' vision, which has been reiterated by existing clients, including United Airlines and Air France.

IFC is no cheap amenity, easily amounting to millions in annual costs - this cannot be easily compensated for with airfares.

Profit per passenger has been notoriously thin, compared by IATA to "barely enough for a coffee in many parts of the world".

Not to mention the lost revenue from IFC portals, which Starlink would like to do away with for its 'frictionless' vision. Portals not only allow airlines to charge for connectivity, but also provide an exclusive high-focus touchpoint valuable for advertising.

How will Starlink clients recoup this lost revenue? Is it possible that passengers will pay in other ways, such as having their data monetised? Or will we see more airlines adopt Delta's sponsorship model?

For now, legacy IFC players are continuing to embrace GEO while betting on phased array to allow multi-orbit connectivity. Smaller players are also entering the market, with AirFi's LEO solution recently entering service on an Atlantic Airways' Airbus A320.

Cathay Pacific replacing the 'Cirrus': a look back at the original reverse herringbone

In mid Oct-2024, Cathay Pacific officially put into revenue service its new Aria Suites, a highly customised version of the Collins Elements platform.

On the surface, this may seem like any other product announcement. However, for those in the aircraft interiors space, this event marks a major development: Cathay Pacific has begun to replace the Safran Cirrus.

The Cirrus platform is the original reverse herringbone product - Cathay Pacific was only the second airline worldwide to adopt Cirrus.

Cirrus first entered service in 2009 as the 'Envoy' seat onboard US Airways' (now American Airlines), Airbus A330-200.

Cathay Pacific followed in 2011, putting Cirrus on a factory-fresh A330-300.

In the 2000s most business class seats were side-by-side seats, which neither provided direct aisle access nor went flat. Even those that were flat were often at an angle, leading to passengers sliding down when they were sleeping.

According to the CAPA - Centre for Aviation Aircraft Interiors Database, the most popular long haul business class seat types in 2009 included the B/E Aerospace (now Collins Aerospace) Minipod, Recaro CL6510, and EADS Sogerma (now Stelia) Evolys. These were configured as 2-3-2 angle-flat products.

Airlines regarded as premium during the era experimented with maximising density while boosting business class standards. Some early innovations included British Airways' Club World in 2000, and Virgin Atlantic's Upper Class Suites in 2003. These attempts gave birth to two main modern-day business class categories: staggered and herringbone.

Staggered layouts were optimised and popularised by Sogerma and Sicma (now Safran).

Etihad Airways debuted the Sogerma Solstys as 'Pearl Business Class' in 2006.

Emirates Airline debuted the Sicma Skylounge on its A380 in 2008 and has remained loyal to the platform for more than 15 years, recently adding the latest iteration of Skylounge to its retrofitted Boeing 777.

Herringbone took more drastic tweaks to arrive at its current form.

The Virgin Atlantic Upper Class Suites were commercialised as 'Solar' (also known as 'Solar Eclipse') by the manufacturer Contour. In 2005 Air Canada and Air New Zealand became the first to deploy these inward facing seats - others followed, including Cathay Pacific, Delta and Jet Airways.

While the Solar seat was groundbreaking, it's angle wasn't optimal for all aircraft. On the narrower Airbus A330/A340, the seats had to be installed in a 3-abreast 1-1-1 configuration. Only the Boeing 777 and lower deck of the Boeing 747 permitted a 1-2-1 configuration.

Cirrus's arrival in 2009 marked the start of the modern herringbone seats.

Designed by JPA Design and manufactured by Sicma, Cirrus was a window-facing platform, hence the 'reverse' in 'reverse herringbone'. It allowed 4-abreast 1-2-1 layouts, whether on an Airbus A330 or a Boeing 777.

Cirrus enjoyed early success, scoring orders from Delta, Air France, EVA Air and China Eastern Airlines, among others.

This put B/E Aerospace in a defensive position.

Three years after Cirrus's introduction, B/E's most premium business class offering was still the 'Diamond' platform, which lacked direct aisle access. B/E's response came in the form of the 'Super Diamond' model.

In 2012 Qatar Airways became the first to fly the Super Diamond. Air Canada, China Airlines, and Virgin Australia soon followed.

Cirrus and Super Diamond went neck-to-neck for years, until a series of reliability and quality hiccups hit Sicma's successor Zodiac (now Safran) in the mid 2010s.

Cirrus started losing steam.

In 2016 American Airlines, successor of the Cirrus launch customer US Airways, defected to the Super Diamond. The backlog of Safran reverse herringbone seats started declining, and has been since approximately 2018. New iterations, such as the Cirrus NG and Aries, have failed to reverse the trend.

Meanwhile, Super Diamond, along with its derived Elevation and Elements, continued to see consistent growth.

Widebody reverse herringbone seat supplier in service, over the past 10 years, since 2015

Source: CAPA - Centre for Aviation Aircraft Interiors Database.

Although Safran may no longer lead the reverse herringbone market, it still excels in other seat categories.

The firm's focus has shifted dramatically since it partnered with United Airlines and Acumen to roll out the groundbreaking Polaris seats in 2016. Safran later commercialised the platform as 'Optima' to sell to other airlines.

Optima was the first of a new hybrid staggered-herringbone layout, an attempt at further optimising usage of cabin space by combining the best of two popular concepts.

This proved a success, with Optima making up 39% of Safran widebody business class line-fit activities over the past five years. The ever-successful Skylounge staggered platform held a solid 31% share.

Safran widebody business class seats line-fitted in the past five years

Source: CAPA - Centre for Aviation Aircraft Interiors Database.

Compare this to Collins, which is doubling down on its reverse herringbone success.

Collins achieved 69% of widebody business class line-fit activities being reverse herringbone seats during the same period.

Collins Aerospace: widebody business class seats line-fitted in the past five years

Source: CAPA - Centre for Aviation Aircraft Interiors Database.

Safran has not conceded defeat in the reverse herringbone market - the Versa platform launched with Air France in 2022. On a related note, the first set of Visa inward herringbone seats is currently being installed on an Air New Zealand Boeing 787-9.

Looking beyond Safran and Collins, the Adient Ascent, JAMCO Venture and STELIA Opera WB have all posed credible threats.

In Sep-2024 Thompson Aero Seating became the latest contender, announcing its new VantageNova platform.

Other latest global interior news

Asia Pacific

• Cathay Pacific now offers free Wi-Fi to business class passengers.
• China Southern Airlines adds new Boeing 73H configuration, with full cabin AVIC seats.
• Japan Airlines now offers free Wi-Fi on international business class.
• Thai Airways to introduce premium economy class.
• Thai Airways chooses Airbus HBCplus Ka-band connectivity for 12 Airbus A321LR.
• Qantas Airways announces A330-200 economy class retrofit plans.
• IndiGo receives first aircraft with IndiGo Stretch business class.
• Singapore Airlines announces new long haul cabin products across 41 A350-900 aircraft.

North and South America

• American Airlines postpones Boeing 777-300ER retrofit programme until after summer 2025.
• Breeze Airways considers adding four seats to Ascent cabin.
• Delta Air Lines expands Delta Sync to 330+ more aircraft.
• LATAM selects RECARO R7 for upcoming Boeing 787 business class.
• Southwest Airlines unveils new seats and configuration in Dallas hangar.
• Copa Airlines selects Inflight Dublin Everhub wireless-IFE for its Boeing 737.

Middle East

• Etihad Airways plans to retrofit its 777s, 787s and A380s.
• Flyadeal plans to install premium economy seats on new long haul aircraft.
• Qatar Airways becomes first airline to sign for Thales FlytEDGE.

Europe

• Brussels Airlines to introduce new cabin interiors for Airbus A330s.
• Lufthansa receives first aircraft with Allegris first class.
• SAS to reintroduce European business class.
• Finnair unveils new short-haul cabin on Embraer 19.
• British Airways completes Boeing 777-300ER Club Suites installation.
• Iberia debuts Thompson VantageSOLO for world's first Airbus A321XLR.
• Turkish Airlines chooses Airbus HBCplus Ka-band connectivity for 14 Airbus A350s.