Turning lie flat seats with direct aisle access into “suites” by putting privacy doors on them has become a world standard in business class. Qatar Airways was the first to do it, followed by Delta, but now we see this offered by British Airways, Air France and KLM, and many, many more.
U.S. airlines have to ask the government’s permission to put doors on these seats, entirely apart from all other certifications for their cabins, because doors are expressly prohibited inside aircraft cabins. The rules really have doors between cabins in mind, potentially slowing down passengers during an evacuation. But doors on business class suites require an exemption, too. (The FAA refused to consider the initial exemption request from American Airlines because American submitted its request on letterhead which didn’t contain the carrier’s address.)
The FAA has decided that the workload in ensuring business class suite doors are in their correct position is significant. These doors generally have to be open during taxi, take-off, and landing. And that extra work means that airlines have to staff cabin crew beyond otherwise-required minimums (of 1 flight attendant per 50 seats) for planes with doors.
Back in March JetBlue decided to add a crewmember to planes in order to comply with the FAA’s requirements.
- The A321neo with 160 seats, including 16 business suites, went from 4 to 5 flight attendants
- The A321LR with 138 passengers, including 24 business suites went from 3 to 4 flight attendants
JetBlue has now decided that business class suites on their A321neos will have their doors disabled so that they can go back to just 4 flight attendants. In so doing, all of JetBlue’s Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft will be staffed with the same number of cabin crew.
According to Seth Miller, this change will be deployed by mid-August. It’s just the sort of move you’d expect if corporate raider Carl Icahn wins at JetBlue. Here’s another risk.
just proof that whoever handled this request at the FAA has never been a crew member…. definitely hard to justify another crew member JUST to make sure the door is locked.
This is significant for airlines that were counting on using narrowbodies to compete in international markets.
Airlines that have less than 150 seats are probably not impacted because they were going to use 4 FAs anyway.
And pilot costs on narrowbodies over 8 hours will be much higher than on widebodies where pilot costs can be spread over many more passengers.
JBLU’s attempts to move upscale will take a hit. It’s not just WN that is struggling.
Gary – don’t blame Icahn for something like this. It is the idiotic FAA that set this up. Not sure why an FA, who is already walking through to check if seatbelts are on and seats are upright, can’t also look at the doors. Sounds like a Brandon union friendly rule to add another FA instead of anything to do with safety.
I wasn’t blaming Icahn, I was saying if this is happening without Icahn what’s the point of fighting him!
Idiots missing the point. SAFETY FIRST. That is why there is an additional FA. Bunch of clueless trough feeders.
Wow! Is this a joke? Seriously, is jetBlue trying to punish their loyal fliers? This is a ridiculous way to save money. The sounds of a once great, now dying airline.
Because if I’m a FA checking to make sure you’re bags are put away and your seatbelt is fastened, the extra millisecond it would take me to notice if your door is open are not, on a very small number of seats of the overall aircraft, requires an entire additional FA? Get real. An absurd look for the FAA given all of the actual problems they’ve mishandled and missed.
JetBlewIt has business class? Now that’s comedy. They don’t have any class.
Nice I know how to enable/disable the door so will be doing so on my next B6 flight.
This being JetBlue, they’ll probably give everyone a $50 voucher or something silly if you’re on a flight with the doors locked open.
This is crazy because if you use the mean flight attendant salary as an example, such as $48 a flight hour for a 12 hr credit jfk -> lax 1-1 two day thats only $576 extra cost to the airline
The last thing JetBlue needs to worry about is the doors on its mint suites. How about they hire something other than ghetto New York trash flight attendants. The majority of them are rude and complain when asked to do the job they are paid for. This airline need a revamp ASAP starting with whoever is in charge of hiring the flight attendants.
Getting closer and closer to a merger with AA.
Follow the money. The FAA/government and FA union.
In my professional opinion, the doors on narrow-body aircraft may not be as effective as desired in emergency situations. If a door becomes jammed in the closed position, it could potentially endanger the lives of all passengers on board. Additionally, the task of repeatedly asking entitled passengers to open the door during landing can be challenging and time-consuming.
This seems like the Big 3 are snickering behind the curtains making B6 jump through these hoops.
JetBlue was the VERY FIRST airline in the world to put doors on a business class, back in 2013. Qatar didn’t introduce until 2017. Same with Delta. Check your facts. The industry copies JetBlue at every turn. JetBlue firsts: TVs, WiFi, lie-flat domestic, doors on business class. Don’t worry about JetBlue. They will figure it out and the world’s airlines will be back to copying them soon
@Bill
How could a jammed door endanger all passengers??? ROFL
It’s kinda sad that people can’t follow simple instructions, therefore the “need” for the extra crew member.
Why can’t they use a classy cloth curtain for privacy. Less weight and maintenance over a heavy sliding door and still allows privacy.
@ac
Stfu with your Brandon comment.
I mean who hasn’t cheapened an experience to cut costs?
Well, Clueless picked a perfect name. And, thevFAA needs to concentrate on important things.
Sounds like it’s happening with or without said-Vulture Capitalist.
6 one way, half a dozen the other and all that.
I was recently on a Qatar flight from HAN to DOH and was told the doors were being kept in the open position because of a mechanical problem. After reading this it makes me wonder if perhaps they were a crew member short? (There were only 4 pax in business and about the same in coach)
Door control doesn’t save a single life – all it does is outlaw the good guys with doors.
Hopefully the National Door Association will challenge this insane and unconstitutional law.
I bet the price of the seat won’t decrease for the product that had this feature.