The seat of tomorrow ... tomorrow
For Business Class travelers hoping to catch some shut-eye on Continental’s overseas routes, the recent unveiling of new, fully horizontal lie-flat seats is a dream come true. Or about to come true, as the upgrades are facing a rather long ramp up period.
The new pod-style seat will first appear on the carrier’s B777s in the fall of 2009, and on its B757-200s in 2010. Continental has its priorities backwards here: Replacing the B757’s narrow 156-degree recliner, which is in heavy use on European routes, is much more urgent than updating the B777’s wider, 170-degree seat. And what’s in store for the B767s that share many overseas routes? No word yet. The new seat will also be standard in BusinessFirst on B787s as they’re delivered.
With laptop power, USB and headset plugs, individual monitors, and more, the new seat boasts a full toybox, but is it worth a sit?
Right out of the box, it trumps American’s 171-degree, angled lie-flat by virtue of that crucial 10 additional degrees without the steep angle. The better foreign carriers have little to fear in the international seat-stakes, though. In fact, by the time these new seats are in place across the fleet, it’s likely they will seem dated compared to what the top-tier carriers will have to offer. Two (or more) years is a long time when you’re already a decade late to the party.
The new seats are a welcome upgrade, but much of the goodwill could be lost amid customer confusion as to what seat their BusinessFirst ticket buys while installation drags on.
The seat of tomorrow ... tomorrow
For Business Class travelers hoping to catch some shut-eye on Continental’s overseas routes, the recent unveiling of new, fully horizontal lie-flat seats is a dream come true. Or about to come true, as the upgrades are facing a rather long ramp up period.
The new pod-style seat will first appear on the carrier’s B777s in the fall of 2009, and on its B757-200s in 2010. Continental has its priorities backwards here: Replacing the B757’s narrow 156-degree recliner, which is in heavy use on European routes, is much more urgent than updating the B777’s wider, 170-degree seat. And what’s in store for the B767s that share many overseas routes? No word yet. The new seat will also be standard in BusinessFirst on B787s as they’re delivered.
With laptop power, USB and headset plugs, individual monitors, and more, the new seat boasts a full toybox, but is it worth a sit?
Right out of the box, it trumps American’s 171-degree, angled lie-flat by virtue of that crucial 10 additional degrees without the steep angle. The better foreign carriers have little to fear in the international seat-stakes, though....