Double-deck double-down

In a sign that Qantas is still serious about the not-so-pointy end of the blunt-nosed superjumbo, first class will also see a refresh, and it’s not just the soft product of new foam mattresses and bedding plus a new “bespoke pillow menu”. Qantas is also recushioning the seats and adding new fabrics, plus swapping out the inflight entertainment screens for larger, high-definition versions.

Retaining first class in its existing place also gives Qantas the option, in a few years, to either convert the main deck zone 1 cabin to economy or premium economy seating.

But the really big news comes on the upper deck in business class, with Qantas’ denser staggered Thompson Vantage XL-based Business Suite product adding an extra six seats to the cabin even while adding direct aisle access for every passenger on board. We’re at a point in time when any airline not installing direct aisle access in longhaul business class or well underway with a refit is making an active choice to provide a sub-par passenger experience, and an increasingly mobile, social, vocal and knowledgeable generation of business class travellers wants to ensure that they get their money’s worth when paying the big bucks for the big beds.

Continuing to place the business class cabin upstairs is smart: the Vantage XL staggered seat is one of the most space-efficient direct aisle access products for a cross-section the size of the upper deck of the A380, which more closely resembles an A330 — on which the product is also very efficient.

It’s interesting, though, that Qantas hasn’t announced any additions to take advantage of the extra few inches on the A380, like perhaps a door. Delta Air Lines is launching its own version of the same Thompson seat as Qantas with a door, which fixes some of the zero-sum problems of staggered seating: namely, that seats adjacent to the aisle are less private and more prone to disturbance than seats separated from the aisle by one of the foot cubby consoles.

Qantas is also using its practically in-house designer, David Caon, to redesign the lounge space in the “forehead” area of the double-decker’s upstairs cabin, which are currently taken up by sofa seating that’s little used. Other airlines use this space for a variety of purposes: Etihad has the Residence and first class showers, Emirates also has first class showers, and Lufthansa has a very large lavatory, to name a few options that are beyond the lounge space.

The key for this area is to ensure that it is useful in a different way to passengers when comparing options with their seat. If “snuggle up in your pajamas and watch a movie” is more attractive than “sit and chat with fellow travellers” then changes are needed. Emirates makes the best use of this kind of space out of the main seat track floor area of the A380 with its rear business class lounge, which the airline recently updated to look like a chic business jet or yacht rather than the usual Dubai chic brass and faux burled walnut.

It’s always been baffling why Qantas hasn’t figured out a way to make better use of this space. Australians are generally a gregarious kind of traveller; people heading to Australia are generally happy to sit and chat; Australia has a strong service industry and many other nations are familiar with Australians in the hospitality industry. The key is likely some combination of hard and soft product design to ensure that the space is more useful, and here David Caon would do well to work closely with Neil Perry — and of course with cabin crew — to create options for passengers.

Could there be an Australian wine-tasting series, paired with the cheese already on board? How about a partnership with tourism bodies to help crewmembers create walking tours of their favourite neighbourhoods or a set of top-notch food and drink options, able to be either handed out in printout form or emailed on to passengers? Creating a kind of social hub on board this iconic aircraft is not just smart from a passenger experience point of view: it’s smart from a “Spirit of Australia” point of view too.