It’s a competitive space

Tinseth is certainly a skilled marketer. “World-class comfort” is a stretch that will raise many an eyebrow aboard the increasing majority of 777 aircraft where economy class seats are configured in — or are being converted to — 3-4-3 layouts, where the seats are some of the narrowest of any major airliner alongside the 787 Dreamliner’s 3-3-3 configuration.

With no standardised width measurement, a generation of shaved-width armrests and narrower aisles has largely hidden the official statistical effect on passenger comfort. But hips don’t lie, and airlines that feel they can get away with squeezing an extra seat in each row will do so.

And an increasing number are. The 10-abreast 777 configuration was initially seen only on the Japanese high-density domestic market, where ANA and JAL operated 777-300 aircraft in seating a massive 514 (ANA) or 500 (JAL) passengers, largely shuttling between domestic airports on flights of around an hour.

But the siren call of densification spread further, first to the network carriers challenging legacy premium airlines on price, then to legacy airlines’ leisure fleets, then to the rest of the market. The few remaining major airline holdouts of nine-abreast — Delta, JAL, Korean Air, Singapore Airlines — are exceptions, as other airlines seeking to retain their premium status fold one by one.

Densification is creating change throughout the aircraft. Premium economy is often called the most valuable real estate on the plane, since per square centimetre it commands the highest price. A major driver of its demand is the narrowing of seats in regular economy, alongside the increasing prices for increasingly luxurious business class combined with the trend towards longer flights.

The 3-4-3 layout on a 777 that barely gets to cruising altitude between Tokyo and Osaka is one thing. It’s different when you’re sitting there for more than 12 hours on international long-haul.

Yet even as premium economy on longer flights becomes more attractive, the 777’s premium economy configuration is one of the least attractive in the market since it is universally arranged in a 2-4-2 layout, like the wider Boeing 747 and Airbus A380. As a rule, middle seats are a “minus” and the 787 and A330 have one fewer centre seat in offering a 2-3-2 premium economy configuration. The A350, meanwhile, is split between a spacious 2-3-2 and relatively narrow 2-4-2 in the middle cabin.

Business class, though, is where the 777 has truly shone for passengers. The wider cabin means wider seats, even where the same product is used on smaller widebodies such as the A330 or 787. It is even the case on the A380 since most business class seats are in an upper deck which is closer to an A330 in width (although the benefits of the side bins and lounge and bar areas are a plus).

And there’s the rub: the 777 lacks many of the features of flagship aircraft. There’s no nose or upper deck cabin like the 747, and there’s none of the passenger experience perquisites of the A380 such as showers, bars, or lounges with the single exception of Virgin Australia’s 777-300ER bar. And there’s no lower cabin altitude or higher air humidity like the 787 or A350 — yet.

Those latter two come with the 777X family — the stretched 777-9 and the shorter 777-8. They will offer the hard-to-quantify jetlag and fatigue-reducing benefits that are increasingly a factor of choice for knowledgeable passengers, especially on longer routes. The difference in cabin altitude means passengers avoid dehydration and the susceptibility to airborne infections.

Crucially, the 777X family will also sculpt out some sidewall space to make the cabin wider where it matters: passengers’ hips and shoulders. It won’t be huge, just 10.2cm more than the 777. But that’s an extra centimetre per passenger, and over 18 or more hours they will take every bit of space they can get.

‘Business class is where the 777 has truly shone for passengers.’