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Home » Delta Air Lines » I’m Skeptical About Delta’s New A321neo First Class Seat
Delta Air Lines

I’m Skeptical About Delta’s New A321neo First Class Seat

Matthew Klint Posted onJanuary 28, 2020November 14, 2023 15 Comments

a row of seats in an airplane

I’ve been quite charitable to Delta lately on Live and Let’s Fly, but the new first class seat on the A321neo does not leave me excited.

Yesterday, paxex.aero broke news of a new first class seat coming to Delta’s Airbus A321neo. For readers outside the USA, U.S. airlines call their domestic premium cabin “first class” even though most of the world would call it business class. Delta is awaiting delivery of 100 A321neo and will begin taking deliveries later this year.

The new seats, produced by Recaro and Factory Design, include:

  • Increased privacy without reducing seat width
  • A larger tray table, providing 25% more workspace
  • Increased storage
  • Passenger-facing power port
  • Memory foam cushioning

Sound familiar? Similar language is also used to describe the Recaro economy class seats that will be featured on JetBlue’s A321neo.


> Read More: JetBlue’s Innovative New A321neo Cabin Interior


And while these will be high-quality German-made seats produced in beautiful Schwäbisch Hall, keep in mind Recaro also produced the slimline seats that have invaded the entire narrow body fleet on Lufthansa group carriers and are the most uncomfortable seats in the sky.

But what makes me most skeptical about these new Delta first class seats is that they appear to have a fixed shell. As visually attractive as the seats are, substituting an articulating seat pan (seat cushion slides forward to give the illusion of recline) for a fixed shell results in a seat that is far more uncomfortable when reclined.

Look, just last week a guy almost damaged my laptop on a United flight in first class because he reclined his seat so quickly. A fixed shell would be nice in the sense of protecting your workspace. But for me personally, it is not worth the tradeoff since I find the hardshell seats (similar to several premium economy products) more uncomfortable. The legroom also looks tighter.

CONCLUSION

More storage, a place to lean your head, larger IFE screens, and easy-to-reach power ports are all innovations. But if those come at the expense of legroom and recline, I’m not sure we are getting a better deal. In fact, I would argue we are not. But for now, we will just wait for more details from Delta. All we have is one picture.

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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15 Comments

  1. Jeff Reply
    January 28, 2020 at 10:06 am

    There’s actually 3-4 pictures if you download the entire Crystal Cabin shortlist deck.

    • Matthew Reply
      January 28, 2020 at 10:11 am

      I looked but could not find it. Do you have a link?

      • Jeff Reply
        January 28, 2020 at 10:19 am

        It’s on their press release here: http://www.crystal-cabin-award.com/cca-news-realeases/article/the-future-of-flight-from-luxurious-to-sustainable-the-crystal-cabin-award-shortlist-2020-1.html

        Here’s the direct link to the 1.7 GB: https://seafile.hamburg-tourism.de/f/9b9b450f73d84304af00/?dl=1

        You’ll find some interesting stuff in there, too.

        • Matthew Reply
          January 28, 2020 at 12:31 pm

          Thanks.

        • Mitch Reply
          January 28, 2020 at 3:52 pm

          Throwing shade at Delta for calling this first class is disingenuous as most narrow body business class that I’ve flown on a non US carrier is nothing more than an economy seat with an open middle.

          • Jimmy Setiabudi
            January 29, 2020 at 7:25 am

            “non US carrier”

            You mean Singapore Airlines?

  2. Gene Reply
    January 28, 2020 at 10:53 am

    It’s hard to fathom even LESS legroom in DL First class. It is already irritating for me at 6’2″.

  3. MeanMeosh Reply
    January 28, 2020 at 1:45 pm

    I tend to agree. This sounds like a seat design that’s going to sound good in theory, but end up being not very good in practice, a la the original iterations of the “shell” Y seats on CX that were supposed to revolutionize the industry.

    As an aside, as a car enthusiast, considering that Recaro buckets are regarded as the gold standard of driver seating, it pains me horribly to even think about the awful job they do with airline seats…

  4. WR2 Reply
    January 28, 2020 at 2:03 pm

    The seat back shell is separate from the armrests, which suggests that they move relative to each other. So no, I don’t think this is a fixed shell design.

    • Brent Usewils Reply
      January 29, 2020 at 3:22 am

      I agree, if it was really a fixed shell, it would have one cabin-wide seatbackdesign.

  5. Liz sharnette Reply
    January 28, 2020 at 4:24 pm

    Is there amy reason why this websites articles dont open up completely on feedly. Every other blog I read does and I am getting sick of having to go to the actual site to see the whole entry… its making me not even read this site as much amymore.

    • Matthew Reply
      January 29, 2020 at 9:16 am

      I’ve asked the people at Boarding Area. This is not something I have control over.

  6. Mattt Reply
    January 29, 2020 at 5:41 am

    how in the world are the plump Delta Diamonds (soooo many 50 y/o men who sit and eat for a living) going to squeeze into the window seat?? That’ll be some bumped knees

  7. emercycrite Reply
    January 29, 2020 at 9:19 am

    I don’t think it’s a fixed shell. Rather the whole seatback and shell reclines as a unit.

  8. Bruce Reply
    December 29, 2023 at 8:18 am

    By far the mosr devious torture chamber yet devised masquerading as pseudo comfort. Avoid!

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