Newly redesigned first class seats will reportedly be installed into new Delta A321neo aircraft!
I like the power port and headphone jack placements. Power outlets are currently located near the floor — which lends itself to someone tripping over tangled cords. My only concern is that my elbow will constantly bump into the cord when I work on my laptop.
For those using corded earbuds, the closer headphone jack location is a small but nice improvement.
There’s good and bad to the curled, privacy partitions on each seat.
Fellow introverts will likely appreciate the solitude of being left in our own little worlds. 🙂
Plus, they likely provide a sturdy place to rest your head and get some sleep. Also, to me anyway (since Delta is not talking) it appears that the hard shell seat will recline that is these will not be like the universally hated Air France premium economy seats that slide forward inside the shell.
But the shields don’t appear removable, unlike the dividers in most lie-flat business class seats. So when traveling with a companion, there will probably be plenty of leaning forward and backward when trying to have a conversation. That’s probably intentional though; it looks like Delta is making its business class more for solo business travelers.
I also wonder if the privacy barriers might be slightly claustrophobic. Will they cause your space to get a little “breathy”?
I’m digging the new drink table, too. Here’s the existing set-up, with a Hawaiian example:
The current, circular space easily gets crowded with two beverages. Plus, it juts out into the row — practically encouraging spills as opposed to preventing them.
But the new table and its placement appear a nice solution.
PaxEx.aero says seat width won’t be reduced and tray tables 25% larger than the current models will be installed.
Do These Sit Well With You?
What do you think about the new first class seats? Please share your thoughts in the below Comments section!
— Chris
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Chris a few quick observations:
1) In another rendering on the FC seats, it shows that there are actually 2 AC power outlets (the one shown above and the existing ones near the floor)
2) The current FC seats actually have a drink extender that slides in and out from below the main drink holder. It looks like this is sadly being removed, which isn’t really an improvement as we are actually loosing space for our drinks.
The one thing I haven’t really been able to discern yet is the leg room. When I look at the back of the seat where the next passengers legs and feet will reside, the gap from the shell of the seat to the floor appears to be fairly narrow. It doesn’t appear there will be much room that allows you to stretch your legs out underneath the seat in front of you (if any at all). I personally do not like sitting in row 1 on most DL planes because of the lack of space to stretch my legs. If this happens to be the case on these seats, I would not be a fan.
Why does it look like there are leg rests that come out? In other words- why the seat that trails down to the floor? As a short girl I’d welcome a leg rest that came up, but not love a seat that goes straight down so I can’t tuck my feet in right at the bottom of the seat.
@Lara S.: You know, I wondered the same thing. I haven’t seen any data points or anyone else mention a leg rest. But the images certainly give that impression.
There is a slot in the divider that sits on the console. One photo I saw makes it look like there is a retractable partition that comes out of the slot that would be a privacy screen in addition to the wings. Is that right?
I like these seat for the reasons stated in the post. I especially appreciate the larger area for setting drinks. Even with the tiny extension which a few Delta fclasss seats have, there just isn’t enough room. Other airlines offer don’t have the same problem.
I don’t know how people can say width isn’t reduced. Not only is there clearly less padding, but the width looks reduced. Besides a width reduction the legroom is also very suspect. Don’t forget that Delta has already been reducing recline in first-class.