ATLANTA— Delta Air Lines (DL) may abandon its flagship lie-flat business class seat for the Airbus A321neo after years of failed safety certification. The carrier reportedly plans to drop the Safran Vue reverse herringbone seat and switch to the Thompson Aero VantageSOLO, the same herringbone seat already flying with rivals.
These premium A321neo jets were designed to replace ageing Boeing 757s on transcontinental routes like Los Angeles (LAX) to New York JFK. Aviation insider JonNYC reports the change, which would give Delta the same seat used by American Airlines (AA), United Airlines (UA), and JetBlue (B6).
Delta to Drop A321neo Business Class
Delta planned to fit its premium A321neo subfleet with flat-bed business class, premium economy, and economy cabins. The airline chose the Safran Vue seat, a reverse herringbone design that faces passengers toward the windows.
Safran first unveiled the seat in 2022. It features enclosed suites with all-aisle access and sliding privacy doors at every seat. Safran describes the suites as offering excellent privacy, with no eye contact possible between seated passengers.
The reverse herringbone layout is widely considered better than the herringbone seats picked by American and United, which face the aisle. That design choice was meant to give Delta a clear edge over its competitors across the roughly decade-long seat cycle.
The problem is certification. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has not approved the Safran Vue seat.
Delta took delivery of its first A321neo meant to carry the seat in 2024, but the airline immediately placed the aircraft into long-term storage. Two years later, the certification process remains stalled with no clear end in sight.
The Temporary Fix With 44 Recliners
With the premium cabin on hold, Delta reconfigured some of these planes with a temporary layout. Each jet now carries 44 domestic first class recliner seats.
Delta flies these aircraft on shorter domestic routes out of Atlanta (ATL) rather than the premium transcontinental flights they were built for.
Recent expectations held that certification would take a couple more years, putting the intended cabins in service around 2028. The new rumor suggests these cabins may never get certified at all. If true, Delta would face the worst of both worlds.
The airline would have delayed a new fleet type by several years, only to end up with the same seat as everyone else, OMAAT reported.
The Likely Replacement Seat
If Delta drops the Safran Vue, it would likely move to the Thompson Aero VantageSOLO. This seat already holds FAA approval, which removes the certification barrier.
The VantageSOLO flies on JetBlue A321LRs and Iberia (IB) A321XLRs, and it is very similar to the seat on American A321XLRs.
The switch would move Delta from its planned reverse herringbone product to a herringbone design, a clear downgrade for passengers.
A Wider Certification Problem in the United States
The Delta situation reflects a growing certification backlog in the United States. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford recently addressed the issue, noting that many new premium cabins are failing human factors tests, which delays safety approval. Many seats also fail to meet FAA crash test standards, forcing manufacturers to make updates.
European regulators have moved faster. Rome-based ITA Airways (AZ) already flies a reverse herringbone business class seat on its A321neo after the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) approved it. EASA also certified Lufthansa’s (LH) Allegris business class seats on the Airbus A350.
The same seats on the Boeing 787 faced long delays because FAA approval was required for the U.S.-built aircraft.
Most Allegris seats now hold FAA approval, but four seats still cannot be occupied on the 787 due to ongoing certification concerns.
Bottom Line
Delta is facing serious certification trouble with its new A321neo flat bed business class seats. The first jet built for the Safran Vue spent well over a year in storage before Delta installed temporary recliner cabins.
The carrier has stayed quiet on the seat’s future. The final decision will likely depend on whether Delta still believes the Safran Vue can ever win approval, since that seat would deliver a long-term advantage over its rivals.
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