Flying in 2030: The Seats, Styles, and Surprises Ahead

The shape of seating for 2030 is now set, but what airlines, designers and seatmakers do within those shapes will make or break their market position.

In the first of a special three-part series, John Walton examines the cabin trends that will define the airline industry between now and 2030.

Business class is where most airlines make their money, and 15 years ago, designer Ben Orson was at the forefront of the Cathay Pacific Cirrus II. It's a seat that defined the category for 20 years.

Now helming his own outfit, Orson Associates, he explains to Skift that we’re now in a period of evolution, rather than revolution: “The fundamental architectures of aircraft cabins have largely stabilized. The so-called Tetris Wars over competing configurations are a thing of the past. Increasingly, therefore, a next-generation business class cabin from a leading airline is a refinement of its predecessor, not a radical departure.”

The overwhelming majority of the longhaul-focussed business seats being offered today — whic