Originally Posted by
Adam Smith
Given the lead time on seats these days, I would bet heavily against the new product being ready for installation now. I suspect we'll see it first on a 781 or XLR before any refits. AC has shown, with the XM seats, that it can and is willing to keep things in service long past their original design life. The priority will likely be making sure they have the seats ready to go into the new aircraft as those roll off the assembly line before retrofitting any of the existing frames.
I thought the structural maintenance check interval for the 787 is 12 years as opposed to 10 on previous generation aircraft? That would put them starting in 2026 (unless they decide to do some earlier) which is right when any new cabin on the 781 would be rolling out anyways. Are seats removed on the structural check or one of the earlier c-checks?
Regardless, it would seem to be a pretty big missed opportunity for AC not to introduce any planned cabin revision at that time. Unless they are willing to push out cabin retrofits by another 10-12 years, it would mean adding what I imagine is a pretty substantial labour cost to the lifetime ownership pricetag of these birds.
Whatever the timeline, I'm still hoping that AC gets ambitious with its next premium cabin.