The never-ending chaos surrounding Lufthansa’s new Allegris cabin is going into the next chapter as the airline is supposed to soon take delivery of the Boeing 787-Dreamliners with the new Business Class seating – which hasn’t yet been certified.
According to media reports in Germany this week, the key issue is that the FAA is yet to certify the seats with a prescribed crash test which either hasn’t happened yet or the seats failed (neither has been confirmed).
The seats are a generally new design and manufactured by Collins-Aerospace as Lufthansa elected to rather has a totally new seating concept rather than purchase existing products that have already proved themselves and received certification.
According to Aerotelegraph this could mean serious trouble for Lufthansa as the company is already reeling from the delays of the Boeing 777X.
Initially, Lufthansa expected to take delivery of 15 787 Dreamliners to replace its aging fleet, but not a single aircraft was delivered, said a visibly disappointed CEO Carsten Spohr this summer. The carrier now expects the planes in 2025, but while 13 aircraft have already been completed and the final one will soon roll from the assembly line, new problems await.
According to media reports by Der Spiegel, the new seats have already been installed in at least six of these jets, yet the required crash safety test by FAA 9 has yet to be completed successfully. The test requires seats to be tested with up to 16-G, and it’s apparently a mystery if the test simply wasn’t completed or attempted or if these seats failed the test. However, one thing is certain: The certification is missing, and this presents a massive problem for Lufthansa.
Here is the initial rollout (fantasy) plan by Lufthansa not mentioning the B787 aircraft:
It’s really unfortunate, and Lufthansa has had a serious stroke of bad luck. A lot of it is due to the disaster that’s Boeing, but also many home-made problems. They always try to invent the wheel new rather than playing it safe. If you take too many such risks at once, it might cascade into a mess and that’s exactly what happened here.
This is an awful remembrance of what happened to the Airbus A350 which is already flying with the new Allegris seats but where the First Class had a similar issue in the beginning. Lufthansa’s solution at the time: Rip out the uncertified seats and put Economy Class seats in their place until the certification was secured.
A similar solution is apparently being considered for the B787 as well, as uncertainty about the certification’s timeline grows.
Lufthansa mainline isn’t alone in terms of seating issues. SWISS also encountered problems as their new First Class seats are too heavy for the Airbus A330.
What is going on at Lufthansa under Carsten Spohr?
Mind you, earlier this month Lufthansa published the new seating and pricing chart for Allegris and it’s something from a Monty Python skid:
Lufthansa Publishes Routes & Allocation Prices For New Allegris Business / First Class Seating
There are five different seating types in Business Class, most incurring an extra charge unless you’re an LH Senator/HON Circle member. For a seat that’s missing FAA certification. Pure comedy, but who’s laughing!?
Conclusion
New trouble is brewing for Lufthansa as the carriers 15 Boeing 787 Dreamliners are soon due for delivery but the new Allegris Business Class seats are still missing FAA certification.
The delivish details here: The project is already delayed by at least a year when the first planes will be delivered, and the seats have already been installed in at least six jets, which are currently sitting with Boeing. Yet, there is no sign of the FAA crash test certification. What is the issue with these seats, or is the FAA just sitting on this test?
I feel really bad for Lufthansa, given how many problems they had to face. They were really out of their control. But you can’t blame external sources entirely, as there is plenty of blame going around the LH management halls as well.
Many of the decisions made in the past five years caused or contributed to the airline’s current issues. Yet, the board is taking no notice or responsibility, and shareholders appear to be content with the leadership style. Amazing!
