Maintenance Providers Tackle Aircraft Seat Densification Challenges

Seat densification trends coupled with increasing demands for connectivity can add complexity to the cabin, however, some experts suggest advances in this sector can also lower maintenance costs.

More airlines are choosing to densify the cabin, evidenced by several operators—such as British Airways, Cathay Pacific and United Airlines—transitioning to 10 abreast seating from nine abreast on refurbished Boeing 777s, offering newer but narrower seats. Reportedly, some refurbishments have led to an extra 20 seats in the economy cabin on those 777s.

Concurrently, airline passengers are seeking more connectivity, which brings increased touchpoints around the seat. Doug Backhus, vice president of cabins, modifications and maintenance at Boeing, says adding more seats enables airlines to offer competitive pricing and offer passengers more choice and flexibility to add further travel options.

Backhus says the introduction of slimline seats, which became popular about 10-15 years ago, has driven airlines’ ability to optimize cabins. “However, with the seat advancements and optimized seat design, the number of seat parts are reduced, thus reducing weight and cost to airlines,” he notes.

In economy class, the phase-out of passenger control units in favor of touchscreen technologies has helped reduce weight and wiring in the cabin. “This was a great move,” says Thomas Sonigo, vice president of aircraft modifications at AFI KLM E&M.

“In-screen Bluetooth will soon lead to the removal of headsets that the airlines load on board,” Sonigo says. He also predicts that new seat and cabin features might soon be controlled by passenger electronic devices once design and cybersecurity issues are reliable enough.

“I believe greater connectivity in the cabin is actually helping to make cabins lighter and simpler,” adds Sonigo.

The quest for higher yield per seat is pushing airlines to increase seating capacity, and Sonigo says AFI KLM E&M offers capabilities to help optimize the use of space inside the aircraft. However, reduced space between seats comes with challenges for maintenance, he says.

“Those seats are getting more exposed to damage during turnaround, so we are working to address this specific issue with seat manufacturers,” says Sonigo.

Maksim Jurkov, head of design at J&C Aero in Lithuania, says the main challenge in single-class cabins is frequency of use leading to faster wear and tear. “In such cases, we recommend cabin appearance quality standard checks,” he says.

Accordingly, J&C Aero works with operators to define quality standards and build a customized cabin maintenance program. Jurkov says this starts with periodic cleaning using specific instructions and images to ensure the same quality is maintained by any maintenance provider. It also includes performance of serviceability checks to improve the quality of the cabin and avoid dents, scratches and other damage.

“The program also includes the development of a predictive part replacement list that includes the most defective parts,” says Jurkov. “This helps to minimize last-minute AOGs during the hot season.”

Meanwhile, some OEMs are still reporting delays with vendors and suppliers, but Jurkov has not seen any substantial change in the OEM suppliers market. He suggests the big cabin component players have formed close alliances with the type certificate holders, such as Airbus and Boeing, for many years.

“Ultimately, the big are getting bigger, and they allocate most of their resources to new product supply due to quantitative reasons,” Jurkov says.