Most people have a strong desire to travel in style, but some first-class travelers have the strongest urge of all.
The flag carrier of Switzerland, Swiss, is being forced to
make modifications to a few of its aircraft because the first class seats that
were supposed to be placed as part of a much-needed overhaul are turning out to
be excessively heavy.
The front of the aircraft is nose-heavy due to the new jumbo seats on Airbus
A330s, which have locking doors and six-foot walls for each suite. Swiss will
need to install a sizable "balancing plate" at the rear of the
aircraft in order to correct the aircraft's balance.
The "Swiss Senses" seats, which will make their
debut in the winter of 2025–2026, were first announced in 2023. The airline
offers up to 37 square foot first class "suites" with sliding doors
and walls separating customers from other people, promising a true
made-in-Switzerland experience.
According to a statement from Swiss, "these two contrasting trends are
changing the center of gravity of the aircraft in which such seats are
installed." First and business class seats are becoming heavier (to
provide more privacy) while economy seats are becoming lighter.
According to the report, aircraft models that are naturally
nose-heavy are especially vulnerable, and regrettably, the A330 is one of them.
The airline plans to install the new seats on Boeing 777s as well, although not
with the same problem. The extra seats won't be installed in its Airbus A340s.
Swiss will thus be installing a "balancing plate" on the A330s in
order to adjust the center of gravity. The representative stated that the plate
will "remain aboard these aircraft until other options can be
developed" and that the airline is looking into potential replacement
technologies. The calculation will take place after the new cabin interiors are
installed and properly weighed.
Economy passengers won't be able to see the plate because it
is located at the back of the plane. According to the spokeswoman, the airline
is unable to guarantee the precise weight because they need to wait to
determine the counterbalance until they get the final seat weight.
Swiss provides a first-class cabin on all of its long-haul flights, which is
uncommon for a European airline. In the 2024 World Travel Awards, it was chosen
as the top European airline in first class.
The spokesperson stated that the airline was informed by customers "in no uncertain terms that it is time we modernized the cabin interiors of our longhaul aircraft, and especially our Airbus A330-300s," which served as the impetus for the new, substantial interiors. Currently, the aircraft fly routes from Switzerland to the US and Canada's east coast as well as the Middle East.
The airline has made an effort to cut costs by reducing the
number of seats in the first class cabin from eight to four and by not
implementing sliding doors in business class seats, as several other airlines
have done. In order to maintain comfort in the less expensive seats, the
spokeswoman stated that the idea of adding more economy seats to increase
weight at the back of the aircraft was examined but ultimately rejected.
Swiss refuted claims that it was a "planning error," stating that
"rough estimates" of weight were used when designing the cabin; these
estimates have increased as production gets underway, and they will be verified
after the additional seats are placed.
The German flag carrier Lufthansa has likewise committed to
the new seats for its redesigned "Allegris" cabins, but a
representative for the airline clarified that the airline will not be
retrofitting any A330s, so it won't experience the same problem.
Of course, the most environmentally harmful method of commercial flying is
first class. The optimized area and heavier seats make it significantly less
efficient than traveling in a standard economy seat.
Swiss first class seats currently
weigh 205 kg, or 452 pounds. According to the spokeswoman, "it will not be
known until [the new seats are] installed."
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