AA had originally arranged for Zodiac to build a modified "Concept D" Business Class seat to be used in the 787-8 and for the full 47 aircraft fleet 777-223ER refit. Difficulties in supplying the one of a kind “orphan” seat meant some 787-8s were parked awaiting seats to go into service and delays in the 772 refit. AA ultimately terminated Zodiac's contract in mid-contract.
787-8s and 19 772s are equipped with the Zodiac “Concept D” Business Suite seats. The seats face forward and aft in a “yin & yang”design, and the seats that are connected to each other at the head (seat, vs. foot, end) currently transfer motion between seats. Additionally, Center privacy screens were not passenger or cabin crew operable as delivered, So ground crew arbitrarily placed these in an up, down or varied position as they saw fit.
AA has stated they will have these “motion over the ocean” and divider issues remediated, but any” to the seat fixture will require extensive proof testing and FAA approval (STC). It’s likely the manufacturer with a terminated contract isn’t interested in working with the issue?
The initial Zodiac equipped 772s were split among aircraft with 37 or 45 J seats. AA has now settled on a standard of 37 Business class seats on the 772 and is refitting the 772s with 45 J seats to 37 as Premium Economy is installed. All 772s will offer 37 J seats.
AA sought a new manufacturer for its Business seats, and ultimately came to an agreement with B/E Aerospace to use their Super Diamond Solo seat. The Super Diamond is used in the 787-9 and the 28 772s without Zodiac seats.
B/E Aerospace also confirmed last night that it would be making seats for all three seating classes on Amercian (sic) Airlines’ new A350s.
(AA cancelled the A350orders in April, 2018, when it announced a new order for 47 787 Dreamliners, with options for 10 more. The assumption B/E will stall Super Diamond Solo seats in both new 787-8 and 787-9air raft.)
David Thomas, the airline’s regional director for the UK/Ireland, Middle East and Africa, told the Belfast Telegraph it started working with B/E Aerospace after problems with former supplier Zodiac Aerospace. - May 3, 2016: Gary Leff, View from The Wing.
Link.
American Airlines chooses new business seat for Dreamliner
JonNYC confirms the Super Diamond seat will debut on American Airlines Boeing 787-9 aircraft.
Longboater confirms these will be used to refit the remaining 772 aircraft not receiving the Zodiac "Concept D" seats.
State of the seat: N783AN was fitted with these seats and has been flying a few months (February 2017). Of 47 retrofitted, expect ~23-24 to get the current retrofit / CIP Zodiac "Concept D" seat. The remainder will receive the B/E Aerospace "Super Diamond" business seat, which are the seat selected for the
A350 and 787-9.
True Premium Economy will be added to the 777-223ER during the next three years as well (and "out of the box" on delivered 787-9,
A350).
Link Star Telegram article.
From Brian Sumers' blog <
link> 2 Feb 2016:
"Our goal is to have lie-flats on widebodies systemwide over the next year to year and a half," Fern Fernandez, American's vice president of global marketing, told me at the end of January. "We will catch up."
"We are just not far enough through [the retrofit] now," Andrew Nocella, American's chief marketing officer, told me. "We are disappointed by that. We are committed to getting it going as quickly as possible. It's hard to change an aircraft program midstream but in this particular case it was necessary."
From Gary Leff's "View from the Boarding Area": (24 Sep 2015)
"We have started looking for a new vendor to supply Business Class seats for our B787-9 aircraft and the remainder of our B777-200 retrofit aircraft. Zodiac has not been able to deliver new seats in a timely fashion according to the terms of its contract." AA spokesperson Laura Nedbal.
That means there will be two different new business class seats on American’s reconfigured 777-200s:
American says this will not alter the (delayed) timeline for reconfiguring 777-200 aircraft.
They will not be changing seats for the ~23 77D (772) or the 787-8 aircraft.
Here’s the full detail on American’s seat plans for ...777-200 aircraft:
"The B777-200
260-seat configuration (15 aircraft) that we are retrofitting now will be completed with the Zodiac "Concept D" Business Suite.
The B777-200
289-seat configuration (34 aircraft) will be mixed between the Zodiac Business Suite and the new Business Class seat. We have not finalized the exact numbers, but expect the Zodiac Business Suite will be on no more than 10 (more) of the 289-seat aircraft (
total 23).
We will keep
13 aircraft in a 260 seat configuration, which will be one subfleet. For the 289 seat configuration, if we mix seat types, the seat maps may be different, but the configuration will remain the same."
AA spokesperson Laura Nedbal
See aa.com's
Boeing 777-200 Retrofit page for more information and renderings
Estimated time of completion (revised Dec 2014): end of 2017?
Program details: - AA's Boeing 772 / 777-200ER / 777-223ER CIP (Cabin Improvement Program) / refurbishment began Q1 2014 with the test article. First flights with the new configuration were October 2014. (Delayed from September)
- Zodiac's inability to supply "Concept D" Business seats has slowed CIP refit to a crawl; 4 of 47 772s completed by July 2015
- Early May 2016 saw 14 Zodiac fitted "77D" in service
- Inaugural use of Super Diamond yet unknown
- End of 2017 sees 47 772 refurbished, three class (J, PE, MCE & Y) aircraft
If you're flying in Business Class on our redesigned 777-200, you'll enjoy: (applies to Zodiac aircraft, and to Super Diamond, equipped 772s)
- Our Business Suite, which features seats that transform into fully lie-flat 77-inch beds and provide infinite adjustability in the upright position, including a unique z-shaped lounge position for increased comfort
- Aisle access at every seat for ease in moving about the cabin
- International Wi-Fi capability keeping you connected anywhere on the globe
- Dual universal AC power outlets and USB ports at every seat
- A 16-inch touchscreen monitor offers up to 250 movies, more than 180 TV programs and more than 350 audio selections
- Bose® QuietComfort® 15 Acoustic Noise Cancelling® headsets for use in
- flight
- A walk-up bar stocked with a selection of snacks and refreshments
- Amenity kits filled with inviting and rejuvenating products
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