Delta Air Lines confirms that they are looking at the Thompson Aero VantageSOLO seat as a replacement for Safran Vue, which they had planned to use on premium cross-country routes in business class on Airbus A321neo aircraft. I reported this a week ago. Aviation watchdog JonNYC was first with the scoop, and Bloomberg cites him as well.
Chief Marketing and Product Officer Ranjan Goswami said in an interview on Monday. Delta expects certification by mid-2028 instead and will proceed with whichever supplier secures approval first, he said.
Delta had originally selected Safran, whose product was slated to debut two years ago but remains stuck in the Federal Aviation Administration’s certification process. The airline is therefore considering Thompson Aero, produced by the AVIC-owned manufacturer, for aircraft serving business demand-heavy US east to west coast routes.
Since the current seat isn’t certified, and isn’t expected to be for at least two years (maybe more!) they’ll switch to Thompson Aero if that seat can be certified more quickly. That’s another way of saying they’re moving to the VantageSOLO seat because it is already flying. JetBlue uses VantageSOLO on its Airbus A321LRs (so the FAA has certified it before) and Iberia uses it on their Airbus A321XLR.
So it isn’t a new, unproven seat, and just needs certification for Delta’s specific use:
- Their passenger layout on the A321neo
- With their inflgiht entertainment, power, charging, doors, restraints and trim
- Using their emergency egress analysis, seat track loads, and delivery configuration.
Thompson is the supplier of existing Delta business class seats, and is Chinese-owned. The Aviation Industry Corporation of China acquired them in 2016.
Delta has been trying to create a premium Airbus A321neo fleet for high value domestic routes, like New York – Los Angeles. Their current product has been failing and customers are unhappy with it. The fleet of planes they use today for these routes – by far the most important in Delta’s network – are aging and unreliable. They need a new product.
However, the aircraft they ordered were supposed to be outfitted with new business class flat bed suites however the planned seat – Safran VUE – hasn’t gotten certified for use. The delay is bad enough that Delta temporarily put in domestic first class seats onto the planes so that they could at least fly on routes from Atlanta to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and San Diego rather than leaving the aircraft parked.
The first aircraft meant for the premium layout was delivered in 2024 but couldn’t enter service because of the seat certification problems.
The Safran Vue seat that Delta was going to use was going to offer a real advantage over competitor lie flat products for domestic narrowbody aircraft (similar to a seat that some others like ITA Airways has used): it was actually going to face passengers toward the window, instead of their backs to the window:
Credit: Safran
Credit: Safran
Delta put in a whopping 44 standard first class seats into the space where lie flat seats were supposed to go on these planes, as a temporary measure.
First look at Delta Air Lines new high-density Airbus A321neo.
The narrowbody aircraft features a staggering 44 domestic First Class recliner seats. pic.twitter.com/3lKUCKWpvz
— Turbine Traveller (@Turbinetraveler) May 8, 2026
Ultimately, a move to the VantageSOLO seat (1) won’t differentiate Delta’s product, and (2) won’t even be installed in planes for some time – it’ll take at least a couple of years. In the meantime, Delta is stuck with its current domestic seats on these planes, and more of them than they’ll sell.
It is similar, for instance, to what American Airlines has today (versus Delta a couple of years from now), in their new Airbus A321XLRs.
Aircraft seats have to satisfy crashworthiness rules, restraint performance, and evacuation tests as well as structural requirements, meeting injury criteria such as head, spine, belt, femur, and load limits. Business class suites are harder to certify because you have shells, doors, large screens, angled sleeping positions, more complex restraints, footwells, and passenger egress issues.
Delta took a big swing with a good concept of a seat, but that wasn’t certified yet, and that has had problems. That swing didn’t work out, and they’re being left behind because of it.
Good of Delta to adapt, instead of wait for false promises, while providing an inferior work-around (recliners), when premium passengers want and expect actual lie-flat for 5+ hour flights, redeyes, especially when they’re paying extra for those transcon services.
DL and Safran undoubtedly have a contract clause regarding certification of products.
DL’s preference is undoubtedly still the Vue but Safran has probably agreed that, if they cannot get the seat certified, DL is likely free to shop elsewhere. and DL has probably said they could go with the Solo seat because they have a time-locked option for which they are undoubtedly paying something.
Narrowbody premium aircraft will still be inferior to widebodies in many ways, and unlike AA and UA, DL doesn’t intend to operate them on TATL flights. DL’s order for premium 321NEOs is smaller than AA or UA’s as a result.
UA doesn’t even have any in service and AA has a couple that are getting poor reviews. DL won’t lose anything by a couple year delay.
@Tim Dunn — “Narrowbody premium aircraft will still be inferior to widebodies…” How very ‘back in my day,’ of you, sir. Lie-flat on narrowbodies is the past, present, and future; it’s just that Delta messed up on this seat, and is paying the price (through 2028 it seems). Oof. Take the L, dawg.
Another Premium FAILURE by Delta
“UA doesn’t even have any in service and AA has a couple that are getting poor reviews. DL won’t lose anything by a couple year delay.”
Typical Tim. Bad news for Delta, he pivots to, “Yeah, but UA and AA…”
I flew TAP’s A321LR TATL recently. For a 7 hour flight it was perfectly fine, the downsides of the product were TAP problems and had nothing to do with the aircraft. I think the people who whine about a narrow body for a TATL flight are just doing so because they can. I have also recently flown JetBlue Mint from JFK to SFO. It was the best TCON flight I have ever taken, hands down. Are the business class seats better on wide bodies? Yes. But does the seat need to be the best on a flight of 10 hours or less? No. Tim stop your whining, Delta has dropped the ball again and now will be playing catch up on some of the most important, business heavy, premium heavy routes.
Great, big win for B6.
@ Andy — Not possible. Delta ALWAYS wins!
1990
Widebodies were developed because they do lots of things better than narrowbodies.
We could all still be flying 707s and DC8s if someone didn’t think there was a better way.
Business class seats on a narrowbody are simply not going to have the space that a widebody offers.
and either the 737 or 320 put a far higher percentage of passengers away from the aisle – important on a long flight.
and for the rest of you, this is just a supply chain issue. Safran failed to certify what it developed, not unlike what Boeing has done repeatedly. As much as there are a bunch of simpletons that love to cheer on any failure for the top dog, they conveniently forget how many more aircraft have been grounded at other airlines than DL because of the GTF or the number of groundings that have occured on MAX aircraft and delays of 787s, all of which DL managed to avoid.
those that are fixated on finding fault w/ other carriers would do well to objectively look at how well their companies have done in selecting suppliers that can get their product across the finish line.
DL has done a far better job at managing supply chain issues than any other US airline.
but that is impossible for some people to accept, let alone admit
@Tim Dunn — A true ‘great’ international airline has all-the-above, fuel-efficient, modern, luxurious premium on a combination of narrowbodies, widebodies, and regionals. Think Delta’s a350s, a339, a321neo/XLR (with 1-1 lie-flat), a220s, and ideally some E2s. (Fine, okay, add some 787s, whatever. Ditch the remaining 330/320ceos, 767s, 737s, 717s, and CRJs, please).
But, all that is a bit of a distraction from what actually happened here: Delta took a high-risk bet on Safran that failed, leaving them with an uncompetitive transcontinental product until at least mid-2028. Meanwhile, AA’s XLR and UA’s Coastliners are far ahead of them… yikes, man…
TD says – “DL has done a far better job at managing supply chain issues than any other US airline.”
More bold statements with nothing to verify the claim.
On the bandaid 44 F seats, DL should monetize the hell out of those. Price them modestly more than Comfort + to get more economy passengers used to F and will pay for F more frequently on other routes.