Hawaiian Airlines have revealed their interiors partners for their new fleet of 787-9 Dreamliners. Working with Adient Aerospace, their Premium Cabin will feature a cutting edge hard product, including seats that can fold into a double bed!
The competition for Hawaii is hotting up. Just as we thought Southwest had nosed ahead, with their rock bottom fares from an increasing number of West Coast airports, Hawaiian have upped the anti again.
Now, not only do you get all the benefits of flying one of the best full service airlines in the world, you can even enjoy the absolute pinnacle of inflight comfort, with a business seat that converts into a double bed!
Due to be installed in the new ‘Premium Cabin’ on board their shiny new Boeing 787-9s, Hawaiian will be the launch customer for this Boeing designed product. Working in partnership with Adient, a world-leader in automotive seats, the joint venture aims to revolutionise lie flat seating and to give us all a new level of comfort on board.
Speaking about the choice of hard product, Senior Vice President of marketing for Hawaiian Airlines, Avi Mannis, said:
“We couldn’t be more pleased for Adient Aerospace and Collins Aerospace to join us in creating a distinctively Hawaiian cabin experience in our future flagship aircraft. Our guests will enjoy the island-inspired comfort and warm hospitality for which we’re known, while relaxing in seats that represent the cutting edge of innovation in seating technology.”
Adient Aerospace
Adient and Boeing announced their partnership towards the end of last year, with the joint venture, Adient Aerospace, gaining regulatory approval in mid-October. Together, they are developing a portfolio of seats for new aircraft and retrofits. Chief Executive Officer of the venture, Alan Wittman, commented on their goals, saying:
“Our focus is comfort, craftsmanship and operational excellence that will differentiate our products and services, all while offering more choice and better meeting the commercial airplane industry’s needs.”
Some of their new seating products are currently on display at the Aircraft Interiors Expo (AIX) in Hamburg, Germany. Their flagship product, the Ascent Seating System, will be debuted on the Hawaiian Airlines’ Dreamliner when it enters service in 2021. Wittman commented in a press release:
“We are excited to announce Hawaiian Airlines as our launch customer for the Ascent Seating System. We look forward to working with Hawaiian Airlines, providing a fresh perspective in cabin quality and comfort to improve the passenger experience.”
The Hawaiian Airlines Premium Cabin
The modular nature of the Ascent Seating System gives passengers more flexibility over how they arrange their seating. Notably, in the centre pair, both seats can be flattened together to create a double bed for couples to enjoy a more intimate in flight experience.
The first looks of the seat, as reported in Australian Business Traveller, show a cutting edge product, with all the mod cons and tonnes of storage around the seat. Hawaiian Airlines say that the seat will be ‘highly customised’ from the standard model.
Whether this will include functional adjustments is not clear. We fully expect Hawaiian to customise the look of the seat, as they’re renowned for their island inspired patterns and materials in their current premium cabin offering. We’re excited to see the finished product!
What about the rest of the plane?
Main cabin passengers won’t miss out either. Working with aircraft interiors giant, Collins Aerospace, Hawaiian are focussing on the Aspire seating for economy passengers. This seat is well known to be one of the most comfortable main cabin seats out there, with ergonomically contoured back and arm rests as well as more shoulder and hip room than most.
Colin Mahoney, Vice President of Business Development at Collins Aerospace said:
“This is a significant agreement for us as we build on a strong relationship with Hawaiian Airlines. As the widest seat available for a wide-body aircraft, Aspire is uniquely designed to provide their passengers with maximum living space,”
Hawaiian are expecting 10 new 787-9 Dreamliners to be delivered over the coming years, with the first due to enter service in 2021. They’ll cover major trans Pacific routes out of Honolulu, and with these products on board, are going to blow Southwest out of the water for comfort.
Are you excited to fly to Hawaii on the new Dreamliner?