Agree, Im not sure I understand the new NZ product. It seems they are focusing more on advancements to the economy cabin, but the Business Premier cabin feels severely lacking. Firstly the biggest complaint with the current BP cabin is the herringbone layout where customers are facing away from the window, yet the proposed replacement is also herringbone facing away from the window. Surely reverse herringbone facing the window wouldn't take up any extra space, or am I missing something?
It also appears that nearly every other business product announced by other carriers includes fully closing doors for all business class seats, yet it seems the NZ product announced simply has little privacy partitions vs actual closing doors?

After waiting so long, I'm quite disappointed to see what NZ announced, it feels like they could have achieved a far better product by just buying a business class seat out of a catalogue from a seat manufacturer, which other airlines like Etihad have done, and their product looks far superior to what NZ have announced. Perhaps NZ are budget constrained and cant afford to keep up with what their competitors are proposing, so have gone for more of a minor upgrade.

I've spoken to quite a few colleagues who are also frequent flyers with NZ, and most share the same disappointment. Many actually think that what NZ announced is perhaps a distraction from the actual product they will release, to surprise their competition with a product which puts NZ ahead of their completion vs years behind by the time its finally installed, but I'm not convinced. I just think NZ have been far to conservative for far too long and by the time they install their new cabins they will already be several years behind what they competitors offer.

How they won airline of the year is actually somewhat surprising, it certainly cant be based on onboard product, although I do find their staff incredibly helpful which perhaps swayed the judges?