Designing an Airline Seat From Scratch Is Not as Easy as it Looks
Photo Credit: Lift by EnCore is creating new coach seats. A lot goes into designing new seats, including crash testing. EnCore
Skift Take
Building a coach airline seat is not like creating home furniture. Building stuff for aircraft is remarkably complicated. We got an inside look recently at the production center for an aircraft seat maker. Here's some of what we learned.
When EnCore, a company that makes components for aircraft interiors, including galleys, which might cost $300,000 per plane, set out to build coach seats, it didn't try to disrupt the industry by creating the world's most innovative product.
It could have — its employees have the technological acumen— but airlines are risk-averse, and most want versions of what they've always had. For its new segment, called Lift by EnCore, the company went simple, promising a functional seat that will be comfortable for passengers but thin enough to satisfy requests from some discount carriers seeking to install as many seats as possible.
Encore is new to the market, but it has a competitive advantage. Last year, Boeing said Lift would create its preferred seat for new 737s. Airlines can choose other seats, but these will be the only ones designed to complement the aircraft's signature "Sky Interior," with its blue LED lighting simulating the sky.
"Boeing spends so much time and effort i
