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Reposted by The Up Front

The Up Front @theupfront.media · 23/09/2026

We have a million questions, and a 5000-word article, for Etihad’s new seats, lounges and overall brand redesign. Is “sand” too generic? Does “superstructure” say “Abu Dhabi”? Is deep jade too Cathay? Is Vantage First enough of a first class? Is Opera’s row 1 seat? Is Beyond Borders even new?

theupfront.media

What Etihad’s new seats, new lounge concepts and an evolving design language tell us about first and business class

Is “sand” too generic? Does “superstructure” say “Abu Dhabi”? Is deep jade too Cathay? Is Vantage First enough of a first class? Is Opera’s row 1 seat? Is Beyond Borders even new? Etihad’s latest desi...

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 23/09/2026

and is that a bottle of the can’t-even-buy-it, notionally $1,500 Champagne Salon behind that Etihad business class bar? With the big S on it? One up/down and four across from the two bottles of the thoroughly gluggable but $25 Willamette Valley not-a-Champagne sparkling wine, Argyle?

Three rows of Champagne bottles, totalling about 30, as described in the text, lined up on a stone bar backlit display area. One is very visibly the S of Champagne Salon.

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 23/09/2026

theupfront.media

What Etihad’s new seats, new lounge concepts and an evolving design language tell us about first and business class

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 10/09/2026

See that blue line on the chart? That means retrofits, retrofits, retrofits — and massive implications for seats, interiors and MRO. It’ll change what you, the passenger see on board, whether you’re up front or down the back. Our relaunched podcast, free to listen, out now:

theupfront.media

Podcast episode #17: Boeing’s Darren Hulst talks future cabins and airframe shortages

This time on our new-look pod: Boeing’s Commercial Market Outlook with the US airframer’s vice president for commercial marketing, analysing the shape of commercial aviation’s next two decades

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 07/09/2026

…all of which is to say, we try to think of these things — and talk about them in industry contexts — so that passengers don’t have to.

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 07/09/2026

They care about it when the seat’s inoperable, or the motors from the seat next to them wake them up, or they weirdly can’t hold their partner’s hand because there’s a divider in the way, or their handbag gets chewed by the recline mechanism, or their pashmina is munched by the divider…

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 07/09/2026

Plus: the very clunky and potentially handbag-munching underseat apparatus, the inverse guillotine problem with the divider, and more expert in-depth analysis you won’t find anywhere else. So, as Emirates says, why not treat yourself — to a subscription to theupfront.media?

Mockup. An Emirates flight attendant in the beige skirt suit uniform with hat, next to the seats we are discussing, one of which is reclined. “So why not treat yourself” in allcaps appears next to the seat.

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 07/09/2026

Premium economy is a strong leisure market, with lots of couples travelling together. Potential SNL sketches about how couples don’t actually want to spend time with each other aside, is this what premium economy passengers really want?

Mockup. Same two rows of two seats, same two passengers in the forward row with the divider up. In the rear row, the divider is down fully, but that’s about halfway compared with being up fully.

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 07/09/2026

Beyond our editorial side-eye of the claim, though, is electrical actuation of premium economy recline and footrests even a smart idea? What about electrical privacy dividers? And even a massive divider that only half retracts, given how much of the passenger base is upmarket leisure travellers?

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Reposted by The Up Front

The Up Front @theupfront.media · 03/09/2026

Let’s be super clear: Lufthansa isn’t some amazingly great experience, and parts of the Temu Lufthansa experience are *better* than full-fat Lufthansa, as we discovered flying Eurowings earlier this year. But it needs to be honest about what passengers are getting.

theupfront.media

From tray to trolley: the Eurobiz benefits of being upgraded from Lufthansa to Eurowings

Examining the fundamentals of European shorthaul business class after a strike-driven rerouting from a full-service airline to its low-cost carrier sibling

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 04/09/2026

Plus: an end-of-summer* and end-of-our-first-year update from @garius.bsky.social and @thatjohn.bsky.social at The Up Front towers, subscription discounts, and more. *g’day, kia ora, selamat malam, jambo, sawubona, bom dia, wena, buenas and hello to our southern hemispheric readers, we love you too

Under a blue sky, looking down the runway at Tokyo Haneda

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 04/09/2026

This summer, our readers told us they wanted more podcasts. So, we’re bringing you more podcasts, including extra in-depth episodes for our subscribers, and the return of The Chain, our special supply chain series. Pull them into your podcast feed today!

theupfront.media

New podcasts, more episodes, and a year one update from The Up Front

Plus: catch up with our back-to-work reading list, and celebrate our Aerospace Media Award win with us

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 04/09/2026

I think you are *drastically* overestimating the helpfulness of signs at FRA, even in the A & B sections.

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 03/09/2026

Yeah, I didn’t want to make specific statements about the location, not least because it’s changing (4Y joined LHG/*A in MUC T2, etc etc) and because I hope-imagine that these LH-swap flights will move closer because otherwise the transfers will be absolute hell…

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Reposted by The Up Front

The Up Front @theupfront.media · 03/09/2026

Looks like many more European travellers are going to get Discovered. Discover Airlines — which Lufthansa has previously been calling its “leisure airline” — is now flying on key business routes, like Paris, and is expanding more. And that’s bad news for passengers… sometimes.

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 03/09/2026

theupfront.media

From tray to trolley: the Eurobiz benefits of being upgraded from Lufthansa to Eurowings

Examining the fundamentals of European shorthaul business class after a strike-driven rerouting from a full-service airline to its low-cost carrier sibling

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 03/09/2026

Passengers just *love* the Discover Airlines experience! *In theory*, Discover should now be under the same Lufthansa roof in FRA and MUC, but we hear a lot of things about getting shunted off to distant parts of the main FRA terminal, full-time busgating, etc etc.

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 03/09/2026

One of the most galling parts of getting Discovered is that Lufhtansa isn’t being up front (😉) with its customers about this. Same Frankfurt-Paris flight, same price, different airline 90 minutes later. And “Member of LUFTHANSA GROUP” is in a larger font size than the name of the actual airline.

Screenshot of two Frankfurt-Paris flights. Identical prices in Economy. One is operated by Lufthansa, one is operated by Discover Airlines. “Member of LUFTHANSA GROUP” (caps stet) in larger font under each airline name.

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 03/09/2026

Lufthansa used to really push the idea of Discover as its group “leisure airline”. You know, only to places where passengers aren’t intelligent enough to know they’re getting Temu Lufthansa, or not discerning enough to care. Now major European business destinations are getting Discovered.

A Discover A320 with eurowhite livery sitting next to a Eurowings A320 with eurowhite livery on the tarmac at Gran Canaria, with the sea beyond.

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 03/09/2026

One of our readers got Discovered when Lufthansa staff denied them access to the Lufthansa business lounge in Munich, when ticketed in Discover business class, even though they should have had access. You might not earn miles or status points, depending on which airline’s program you’re part of.

A sad broken piece of chocolate cake under a dome, surrounded by crumbs of chocolate cake, in a Lufthansa lounge.

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 03/09/2026

The Temu Lufthansas are one of the big problems airlines are creating for themselves today: it’s basically business class shrinkflation. Or what used to be sold as a chocolate bar now not containing enough, er, chocolate to be legally sold as chocolate, and now being sold as a “crispy wafer”.

theupfront.media

Business class ticket shrinkflation, lead-in fare fiddles and hostile marketing: airlines are cooking their golden goose

The growth of unbundled and basic business fares are driving greater inconsistency, product dilution and customer frustration

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 03/09/2026

Discover is one of the Temu Lufthansas, along with Lufthansa City, Edelweiss, Air Dolomiti, and even Eurowings to an extent. They look like a Lufthansa duck and quack like a Lufthansa duck… sometimes. Sometimes they don’t. And neither passengers nor staff know when.

A plate of roast duck served on Lufthansa.

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 03/09/2026

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Reposted by The Up Front

starflyergold @starflyergold.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Excellent recounting of the increasing bewildering choices you have to make or forced into when booking a "business class" ticket. The LH FRA/MUC outside lounge podium encounters are all too familiar. Dreadful.

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Reposted by The Up Front

John Walton @thatjohn.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

This is what I mean! a) people think lounge access is a thing that normally comes with a business class ticket b) *even* if airlines want to change that part of the travel social contract (which I think is a terrible idea, obvs) then missing parts should not be something passengers just "find out"

theupfront.media

Business class ticket shrinkflation, lead-in fare fiddles and hostile marketing: airlines are cooking their golden goose

The growth of unbundled and basic business fares are driving greater inconsistency, product dilution and customer frustration

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 28/08/2026

Business Comfort. Business Choice. Business Preferred. Business Classic. Business Optimal. Which of these is actual business class, and what comes with it as part of the fare? Airlines are risking their most profitable product — and we explain how.

theupfront.media

Business class ticket shrinkflation, lead-in fare fiddles and hostile marketing: airlines are cooking their golden goose

The growth of unbundled and basic business fares are driving greater inconsistency, product dilution and customer frustration

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 21/08/2026

The context totally changed around ten years ago, with the Qatar Qsuite. Same 777, but look at the height of the walls of this Qsuite relative to the height of the cabin, compared with the Cathay picture above. That’s some 30-40cm or so of difference — about 0.001 furlongs if you don’t do metric.

Interior, Qatar Qsuite, 777, a staggered business class seat in beiges and burgundy. The height of the seat wall is perhaps 15cm above the end of the window level.

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 21/08/2026

Until they start giving us a parachute along with the flotation vest, probably best to pass on that idea…

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 21/08/2026

Remember when this seat was called “coffin class” because of its — for the early 2000s — incredibly high walls? That’s part of the answer to the business class doors question: what does the seat itself and the surrounding cabin, mean for privacy, before even *thinking* about doors?

Rendering/PR staged image, 777, aisle-facing herringbone seat. A flight attendant serves a smiling passenger a meal. The walls finish approximately 10cm below the top of the 777 window.

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 21/08/2026

Does every business class seat need a door? It’s the hottest question in the airline passenger experience design world right now. Short answer: no. But it’s complicated. Fortunately, we at The Up Front *love* complicated.

theupfront.media

Seats vs suites: are doors a must-have for every new business class?

Doors are almost a default on today’s seats in business — but should they be, and what are the other critical factors creating (or blocking) privacy in today’s most profitable airline cabins that can ...

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 14/08/2026

100 percent. And, like… it’s nice to have these, for people who want them. So put them in a paper wrapper, in a cardboard box, in the Y galley, for people to take one if they want.

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 14/08/2026

Meanwhile, Lufthansa wants you to give it free money for its Economy Green fares — “our recommendation”, it says, and highlights them — which make a “contribution to future CO2 savings”. Aviation has a *lot* of greenwashing. This is some of the worst out there.

A screengrab of Lufthansa’s economy pricing. Headline things: Economy Light (no bag), USD 324. Economy Comfort, with bag, 434. Economy Green, preselected, noted as “our recommendation”: only difference is 10% more miles/points and “contribution to future CO2 savings”. Economy Flex, with refundability, USD549

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 14/08/2026

We’re having difficulty coming up with any immediate reaction other than “oh”. A plasticky single-use eye mask, and a pair of ear plugs, in a bag so small that you could fit… maybe a single 1.8m charging cable? Who on earth thought that this was worth spending money and time on?

Same picture, but now an plasticky-looking eye mask and a pair of ear plugs in their own bag are sitting on the seat next to it, labelled as if we were unable to read “ear plugs” or determine that it was an eye mask

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 14/08/2026

Okay, we’ll bite, Lufthansa, what’s inside your new economy class amenity kit? For the amount of plastic that’s going to be thrown away, we hope it’s really amazing!

A small blue plastic amenity pouch, about three times the width and four times the height of a seatbelt strap, on a blue seat. The text says, in the Lufthansa house font, “Swipe to see what’s inside the new Economy Class amenity kit!”

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Reposted by The Up Front

The Up Front @theupfront.media · 07/08/2026

Why is there a weird little 1960s-kitchen-style hatch between the galley and row 1? How is *that* linked to the flight attendant seat that hangs off the side of the back galley, itself brand new and much improved? And why are we, of all outlets, cross about a wheelchair sticker on a lavatory?

A large rear narrowbody galley with a bumpout, plus a flight attendant seat that swings back into the aisle.

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 07/08/2026

Super easy, like most aisle-facing herringbones. I think the only use is *possibly* #a11y but not massively convinced there. Or maybe gaming, but it’s no PS5, and what games do I need a terrible controller for?

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 07/08/2026

It really is! It might look like what Virgin Atlantic was doing back in 2003 (and in general design/kinematic principle it essentially is) but it goes *completely* back to first principles in so many ways, and runs into so many intriguing engineering problems, with so many fascinating compromises.

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 07/08/2026

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 07/08/2026

Why is there *really* a row of middle-seat-blocked Eurobusiness? (It’s not what you think, or what’s been reported.) What’s underneath the Mount Blankets of pillows and linens, and how is it entirely unprecedented in modern aviation? How does that blue plastic divider make the entire seat work?

A blue and grey inward facing herringbone seat in seated mode, with five white/offwhite soft product items as per the previous paragraph on top.

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 07/08/2026

We need to talk about United’s new A321XLR, the new Elevate Altitude aisle-facing herringbones that it’s launching as its new standard narrowbody Polaris. Fortunately, we have 4200 words for you where we do just that.

theupfront.media

Onboard United’s A321XLR: new Elevate Altitude seats, impressive engineering, and clear certification compromises

How 32” at 49° feels like more, why seat airbags are back, and the real reasons United is introducing a middle-seat-free Eurobusiness economy seat product

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Reposted by The Up Front

The Up Front @theupfront.media · 21/07/2026

The Farnborough Airshow flight line shouldn’t look like this on day 2 either. The order totals for the day shouldn’t be under 100 aircraft — the majority little Embraers. This is Thursday levels of busy, on the Tuesday. Genuinely, we’re concerned about the future of the summer European airshows.

Chalet Row at Farnborough, with blue skies but almost no airlines visible.

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 21/07/2026

What went on, what were we talking about with industry insiders during the quiet show, and what are our first conclusions about Farnborough 2026 (and what it means for aviation)? Yes, it’s quite, but for us (and our readers) that’s not all a bad thing. Here’s why:

theupfront.media

Business Readout: Farnborough 2026, Day 2: another very quiet day in a very quiet airshow, but that’s not all bad

Orders were tiny, topups — or both — almost across the board, leaving time for in-depth discussions not previously possible at the European summer airshows

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 21/07/2026

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 20/07/2026

The Farnborough Airshow shouldn’t look like this. We shouldn’t be able to capture the entire range of commercial aircraft on show without a wide-angle lens. An A321XLR. An A350-900, the same we saw at last year’s Le Bourget. An E195-E2. And that’s it for the passenger airliner world.

Farnborough flightline, very sparse: an A321neo, an A350-900, and a 777 converted freighter in the distance

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 19/07/2026

Absolutely thrilled to win our first Aerospace Media Award — in our very first year — for one of our #accessibility features. Like all our accessibility work, we make it available free to read for everyone, and thank our subscribers enormously for their support. theupfront.media/disabled-pas...

A glass award: the 2026 Aerospace Media Award: The Mike Savage Award for the best passenger & crew wellbeing submission, awarded to John Walton

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Reposted by The Up Front

The Up Front @theupfront.media · 16/07/2026

Curious about how inflight entertainment screens get to the seatback in front of you? Do we have a podcast episode for you! From working with Boeing and Airbus, to getting USB-C onboard, to how Panasonic gets the screens, CPUs and RAM in the component crunch, and more — a pre-#FIA25 must-listen.

theupfront.media

The Chain, episode 10: Panasonic unpacks the inflight entertainment, connectivity and engagement supply chain

Want to know how the seatback entertainment world goes from components to airplane? We sit down for all the details with Andy Masson from Panasonic Avionics

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The Up Front @theupfront.media · 16/07/2026

theupfront.media

The Chain, episode 10: Panasonic unpacks the inflight entertainment, connectivity and engagement supply chain

Want to know how the seatback entertainment world goes from components to airplane? We sit down for all the details with Andy Masson from Panasonic Avionics

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