Emirates wants to reinvent Economy Class seating

When it comes to innovation, many airlines place their focus on the front of the plane. New First Class suites draw attention, and making Business Class even better broadens an airline’s appeal with corporate travellers. Down the back, there’s typically less room to move, so to speak. But for Emirates, Economy Class is ripe for reinvention.

‘It was Emirates that took the Economy seat and completely redesigned it,’ says the airline’s President, Sir Tim Clark, of where Economy Class stands today. He’s speaking with Point Hacks and other media in Melbourne after the Australian Open men’s final. In this interview, he reflects on how much further the carrier could innovate, and how far it’s already come.

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The journey to Emirates’ current Economy seat

Reflecting on Economy seats of yesteryear, the Emirates boss highlights that ‘seats used to weigh about 29-30 kilos,’ including the inflight entertainment system. Today, ‘we’ve got that down to 13kg.’

‘The weight that we took out (was) simply by getting the manufacturers to look at (a few things). For instance, in the old days they would have two large circular beams underneath (the seat). We’ve got them to think, well, we can do this in one. With the metallurgical improvements that were coming along, particularly with aluminium and titanium, (this) allowed the seat to be able to be subjected to 16 g-forces to get through certification.’

‘Once we crack that, we can make the seat slightly smaller. So we get articulation, (we) get lightness of seats. We brought the seat pan … down to about 13 inches. (We) added a bit more on the cushion, which allowed us to make the seat look far more presidential, fill the backs and did all sorts of things.’

Clark continues, ‘we were working with our friends in SICMA at the time,’ now part of Safran Group. ‘That became the benchmark. And we saw that start moving through the industry, not just with us but in the low cost (airlines, which) are very keen on getting as many seats as that they could. But since then, apart from a few bits and pieces, nothing has really changed.’

‘It’s now 20-25 years since we’ve got into this, and I thought, we’re missing a trip or two here. We have to deal with issues, and particularly, long-haul travel. So if you’ve got people sitting in a very tight cabin for 16 hours – our Auckland-Dubai is 17 hours – we’ve got to do better than we’re doing at moment (in Emirates Economy). So that’s very much on the drawing board.’

However, it’s not as simple as just designing an improved seat and watching it take off. ‘Supply chain, FAA, IASA, all the regulators which are now really concerned about innovation because of the problems they had,’ pose a challenge. ‘It’s not an easy process,’ Clark suggests.

Where to next in Emirates Economy?

So, with weights coming down and seats frames getting stronger, is there much else that Emirates could realistically improve for its passengers who aren’t flying flat?

‘In Economy, to be quite honest, I’ve been pulling the remains of my hair out,’ Clark quips. But jokes aside, there is indeed something brewing on the horizon. ‘I’ve had a prototype – a new Economy seat – which I’ve done myself,’ the Emirates leader tips.

‘I’ve had it out with manufacturers,’ Clark says of his frustrations in trying to enact change. His goal has been ‘to try and bring (them to) the table, to recognise that we need to (resolve) all the things that really niggle Economy passengers.’ For instance, ‘seat recline … pitch. Something needs to be done there,’ hinting that Emirates may become more generous in these aspects if its prototype becomes a reality. ‘I’ve really recognised that.’

Clark is asked for specifics as to how Emirates would improve Economy seat recline. After pausing for an extended moment, he quips with a smile, ‘I’m not telling you!’

‘I’m working on something … I hope it comes to fruition … but that requires a lot of seat geometry to come into play. Look, at the moment, I’m confident I can get it out of the hangar doors. But there are, as I said, regulators, there are all sorts of other people.’

A key challenge will be ’16 g, it’s a real problem for us, and rightly so. You’ve got to be able to (withstand) 16 times the force of gravity impact and take it. Then you have … head strike, and whether the head moves in the yaw. You can’t go beyond five degrees to the centre in the yaw when you strike a screen, et cetera. All this has got to be tested. So I can’t say, well it’s going to be successful or not.’ But ‘if it is, it’ll be a game changer.’

Learning from where other airlines have tried to innovate

With Sir Tim hinting that Economy Class recline could be fundamentally changed, how will Emirates make sure that travellers are better off after that innovation? I raise an issue faced by Cathay Pacific some years ago. The carrier replaced its traditional-style Economy seats with shell-based pods. It was a good idea on paper, to allow for recline without it impacting the passenger behind. But the design didn’t properly consider that by having the seat slide forwards within the pod, it uncomfortably jammed your knees into the seat in front.

‘Well, the trick is to take modern technology, and our learnings in geometry and load,’ Clark begins to explain. The goal being ‘to be able to come up with a seat that will hopefully meet the kind of expectations’ that travellers have today. Clark jests that ‘the manufacturers will do as we ask, (but then) claim it for their own, and start marketing it.’

Nudged as to whether the planned comfort innovation could be a pre-reclined seat, Clark imparts, ‘that’s difficult.’ Clearly, he isn’t one to spill the beans until he’s ready to announce.

‘I’m not saying how we’re going to do it, because already what we are doing is a challenge to the regulators. But if we get it, it allows us to do all sorts of things with the seat.’ This will be one to watch.

Also read: Emirates Business Class transitions from middle seat to private suite

Imagery courtesy of Emirates.