Completely agree. I recently took BA J for the first time in a long time after doing almost all J travel with CX, QR, NH and JL and really noticed how cramped it felt, particularly leg-room wise (and I'm not a big guy). I think including the doors on the BA J product makes the overall experience in the cabin feel like a capsule hotel and borderline claustrophobic...

Completely agree with your priority, I think the reasons could be 1) a gigantic screen can more easily be a selling point, you can see most social media posts/articles highlight the screen and the door as the major advancements of Aria, 2) with all due respect to Ms Vivian Lo, I don't think with her height she would emphasis or understand the importance of footwell space at the "other end of the seat".

I think the good news is, CX's A350 aren't getting Aria any time soon, so pax who value footspace and storage can still choose A350 in long haul flights (basically what I've been doing since A350 was introduced).

Rumours said 779-X will have new business class but not Aria, though I guess the design would be largely the same.

However, in 8 or 10 years time, if CX decided to take the same approach in retrofitting its A350, I worry it would lose its competitive edge over competitors in terms of hardware.

But the Room and JL new biz seat also have small and confined footspace.

What I would expect CX have done, is finding a way to install the door and large screen on the current Cirrus III seat design. There might not be such a product in the market, but (as Vivian Lo told us) they spent 6 years doing this, wasn't there enough time to customise a better seat than Aria? It's a bit funny when CX said Aria took 6 years to curated but all they have done was: buy an existing product in the market, add some glamorous lighting, better finishes, and new functions to IFE. Yes it's not bad, but 6 years?! Maybe I'm too demanding.

The middle seats are more private than before if you consider the privacy screen that goes full way. But once it's retracted, I actually thought it was less private than the existing version due to the angle of the seats.

I guess that's good then, you can have it both ways if you're traveling solo or as a pair.

The Starlux J one was impossible for us (a pair) to really do anything useful. On the other hand I would highly recommend Starlux F (the middle two) for a couple.

If CX did end up attaching doors to a Safran Cirrus III it will end up almost identical to a VS A35K Safran Cirrus III suite. For the A339s they really the JPA Airtek Aria seat to make them stand out from B77W Rockwell Collins aria seats. The current Aria suite Rockwell Collins Elements will get comparisons by the Taiwanese customers on HKG-TPE since JX also uses the same seat on their A359s. Thanks for telling me about the small legroom on NH Safran Fusio seat and JL Safran Unity seats. Had CX opted for JPA Airtek the legroom space will not be an issue

my 2 cents

1.when i watch content on my own ipad/laptop, i prefer to relcine the seat a bit (who doenst, right? haha); for what it's worth, based on my experience with the seat, if u pull out the table and recline the seat at the same time, your knee is basically kissing the the structure that suports the table (given the table not only slide out but also slide a bit down)

2. the main seat control panel - i would preferr it to be located somewhere else tbh; if it's like a few button thinggy doing simple things etc to a relcine/upright position, it's fine. but i assume it's inteded to do more than that e.g. lighting options and all that. The panel itself is in a fixed position which i dont regard as the most convenient place to house such item (and weird viewing angle given the seat width). of coz one can say you can manage those as well on the 24 inch screen as they have integrated into the IFE...but to me, the simpler the better ....instead of going across devices just to do one simple thing/something straight forward (espeically when you already have something playing on the screen already and have to interupt it)

3. the armest - it just didnt function exactly it's designed to be. maybe it's just me.

4. the sliding console looks "fancy" (?) but for the size of storage that it opens to (medium rectangular space), i couldnt wonder if there's easier/better way to open up that space. it's like you move 80% of the surface area just to unlock 20% of it....can it just be a simple flap to get the same thing done? after all, with that sliding mechanism, you have to pay extra attention to items you place on that large(r) surface and prevent watever you place there from dropping on the floor. i thought a human centric design is to make life easier ..rather than tasking pax with more decision making processes....(and i see online there's already malfunctioned ones after merely 3 commercial fights)

5. Tri stowage gets a bit smaller. any PED above a screen size of 13" would be a no go.

6. Charging surface - i thought it's marked but i couldnt exactly locate it. is it just me?


4. my favorite items

(a) lighting

(b) the 4K camera - amazing one i would say, could even see the plane ahead of us at night during approach (AVgeek mode is on); but anyone knows a reason why it's not servicable on gate to gate basis?

(c) touch free trash bin - finally! Hello 2010!


Anyways, call me old fashioned. when they first launched PEY, i rmb they put an information card in the seat pocket "educating" pax the new features and stuff.
with so "many" new features in this 'suite" which you have put in , i think it would be a nice touch to have one in the seat and introduce them to pax proactively.
(so at least pax are not breaking your door already once they hop on the plane!)

i know we are in 2024 now and everything has to be/should be "on the screen" but there are also the less tech saavy pax out there.

when you have supposedly spent so much efforts on a new product, wouldn't it be better to introduce them to your pax with simple tools or other means when they are already literally on the plane (beyond social media channels - not all pax go on youtube to "discover" your USPs themselves). btw, just to be clear, i aint referring to crew not educating pax. we all know how much they have been informed on this new product as well :)

I think they had to find some unique selling points. The giant IFE screen, customising different seating modes etc are all great, when it comes to making the promotion videos.

Perhaps we are a bit jaded to flying J, I think sleep quality is the top priority. Unless you’re flying JFK/DWF, you’ll mostly be eating and sleeping. There’s not much time to enjoy these tech after 8 hours of sleep anyways.

Yeah
If CX just added a door or curtains to the current design and upgraded the tech it would have been less costly and also would have guranteed that they have the best J seat in the sky.

I guess they did not get any tall males to try out the seat or take feedback from tall customers during the trials.

I know Alex Mcgowan when he did the role spent a lot of time and energy and sleeping and foot space.

One thing that has REALLY annoyed me in the seats of many airlines that have doors installed is the crashing and bashing of these slamming shut (or open) while trying to sleep. I saw the "gap" between door and frame on Aria and was hoping that a cunning way to avoid this has been devised..

not sure if i have ever read or heard anyone complain about small footspace in the new NH/JL biz seats.

Tried the new NH seat and it is by far the best biz seat , for me at least.
Super wide,super spacious, like an F seat.

I thought Aria suite was originally designed for 777-9 but is now launched on 777-300ER only because of delivery delays

I read in Chinese social media, major criticism towards the Room include small and confined footspace, super hard bed surface, no legrest available, and backward facing seats.

is that expected that A350-900 and A350-1000 version will get Cirrus seats + Aria doors and 24" screen ?