Originally Posted by
GaryZ
. . . Not only will most couples not be able to sit together. . .
This is a common issue on most recent business and first configurations. I think they've determined that most business travelers, who PAY for these seats, tend to travel by themselves and value the privacy. For those who have a companion, some setups have center seats that can either be private or not by use of a divider that pops up.
Looking at the photo of the seats, it looks like the US configuration will offer this in the middle section. The seats will still be angled toward each other at the feet, so you won't actually sit side-by-side, but it's certainly closer together than the Virgin Atlantic- (with the exception of a few seats on their 744s), Air New Zealand-, Air Canada-style lie flat business seats which puts your feet at the aisle, rather than your head.
This really could be a game-changer for US internationally. As magiciansampras points out, I too hope they fix the soft product in conjunction with this. They could develop a nice little boutique US-based business class. (Assuming they don't merge with UA, which I still think is a distinct possibility.)