United’s new single-aisle Polaris seat likely Adient’s Altitude

With patents unveiling some details about what is expected to be the new United Airlines single-aisle Polaris offering one key question remained: Who will manufacture the seats? The answer appears to be Adient, with the product based on its Altitude concept.

Part of this reasoning comes from unconfirmed reports earlier this year that Adient is the manufacturer of choice. That certainly bears investigation, especially as Adient starts to grow its footprint in the industry.

While the Adient Ascent seat offers options for both single and twin-aisle aircraft, it is a reverse herringbone layout. The patent drawings show a herringbone.

Altitude focuses solely on the narrow-body market and delivers unmatched density. But Adient is coy about the layout on board, at least on its own website. And it certainly won’t confirm a customer until the airline is ready to make that announcement.

Fortunately, a few external resources help narrow it down.

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Award winning, with bonus photos

Perhaps the most significant tip that Altitude is the winner comes from the seat’s winning entry in the 2022 Good Design Awards. The image of Altitude shown there is clearly a herringbone design.

And, as Jon noted in a follow-up conversation about Adient being the likely manufacturer, zooming in on that image shows the small blue tag on the edge of the seatback cushion that looks an awful lot like the tags United has on its other new seats these days. No guarantees, but it is another tip in that direction.

The right designers, too

Another key factor in narrowing the field: Acumen Design Agency notes that it “delivers another innovation in Business Class in partnership with Adient Aerospace – called ‘Altitude’.” From the patents we know that Acumen’s team were also the inventors of those designs. And the timing of the patent application and the product history align nicely.

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And there will be doors

While the patent diagrams do not show doors for the seats, that absolutely is available on the Adient Altitude product. As part of its 2022 Good Design Awards submission doors are described twice (and shown in the image above):

The ultra-compact sliding suite door cassette gives the passenger optimal personal space without compromising on available aisle width.

The two-stage sliding privacy door encloses the seat from all aisle traffic, creating passenger privacy and temporary isolation.

Other coverage of the seat also describes the doors providing additional privacy.

Launch – and only – customer

Also of note, with United being the patent assignee, the carrier appears to be the first customer for the Altitude seat. And, unless it agrees to license the concept out, the only customer for the seats. At least with the patented space sharing “arm well” included.

Such licensing deals are relatively rare, but the few times they’ve happened (e.g. Air New Zealand‘s Sky Couch to ANA, Azul, and China Airlines; Virgin Atlantic‘s Upper Class design to Air New Zealand) it has proven beneficial to all parties involved. United also “owns” the type certification for the CRJ550 and could theoretically license that to other airlines. Right now, however, the only parties who might be interested are United’s largest US competitors. That’s a scenario very unlikely to play out. Back in 2019 when the CRJ550 entered service United’s SVP for United Express Sarah Murphy was very much against that idea. “I’m not planning on us doing anything for anyone,” she explained. “I’m a pretty competitive person so I don’t want to let this one go. Someone might try to replicate it, but it isn’t easy.”

Find an interested party far enough away, however, and United might benefit from such a deal.

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The renderings and mockups appear to match the patent diagrams. And it all seems to line up with what United wants to deliver on its A321XLR and 737 MAX 10 premium configurations. Now we just have to wait for the planes to be delivered to see how comfortable it is.

More about United’s single-aisle Polaris seats:

• United’s new single-aisle Polaris seat design details revealed in patent
• Making premium more accessible in United’s Polaris single-aisle design