Things got a little busy last week with the A380 flight, so I didn’t have a chance to post the last of my NBTA posts. Here it is . . . .

Back in May, I talked about how Swiss had decided to replace its current business class offering with a new seat that used air for cushion instead of foam. Well, at NBTA, they trotted out a very early version of the seat to show it off.

I didn’t get to sit in the seat, because they said it wasn’t fully developed yet, but they did have a cushion there that you could hold. Why would you want to hold it? Well, they wanted to show you how light it was compared to a regular cushion. As you’d probably imagine, it really was a good deal lighter. (If it weren’t why would they bother trotting it out?) But that’s only half the story . . . will it be comfortable?

They’ve certainly put a ton of effort into this. You can see at left that there are several layers on top of the air cushion. I believe the white layer is a kevlar coating that helps with fire resistance and distribution of weight. The light blue layer is almost entirely for moisture-wicking. Then the seat cover is on top. Not bad at all, I have to say. But let’s see how it holds up under the stress of flying in revenue service.

By the way, you can see the entire flat seat at right. It looks very similar to Continental, no? You can see how the legs go underneath the seat in front of you. But Swiss is doing something different from Continental in that some rows will have a 1-2-2 configuration while others will have 1-2-1.

I imagine I’d like the seat by itself on the “1″ side, but it depends on if I’m traveling with someone or not. The interesting thing about this configuration is that only a few seats require stepping over someone to get to the aisle. (Just the window seat on one side of the 1-2-2 configuration.) But compared to Continental, they have a lot fewer seats in a row here. That could come back to haunt them - it’s going to be tougher to make money with this less dense configuration.

I know, I know. Enough about seats already, right? This should be it for awhile. Not back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Ok, so maybe it’s not actually an Aerobed, but it’s close enough. Anyone get a chance to see Swiss’s new business class product yet? It’s an interesting concept, but I have to wonder if it’s actually as comfortable as they say.

For those who didn’t see it, you can see the press release and a flash demonstration on the Swiss site. What’s unique about it? First of all, check out the layout.

The seat goes flat, but to save valuable floor space, each person’s feet go underneath the seat in front of it. Instead of actually going under the seat, however, they go under the wide arm rest. I believe that’s similar to what United is doing and others as well, but this is different in that each row has a different number of seats. On the Airbus widebodies that Swiss flies, that means one row will have 1-2-2 configuration while the next will have 1-2-1. That provides plenty of opportunities for single travelers to be alone, but it also allows people traveling together to sit together. Nice.

What else is cool? Well, the Aerobed, of course. Yeah, it sounds weird, I know. These seats have no foam and instead just have a big air cushion (or two). It has a pneumatic air system that allows you to adjust how much air goes into the seat. That means you pick the firmness level, and it can change when you’re sitting versus when you’re sleeping. They say there are all kinds of additional benefits such as weight-savings and lack of flammable materials.

Apparently, this is already on Eurofly’s long haul aircraft, so I have to assume that Swiss did a lot of testing before opting for this one. That being said, I’ll have to reserve judgment until I have a chance to see for myself.

Installation begins next Spring and it will finish by 2011. It’s interesting to see Swiss trying to differentiate itself from Papa Lufthansa, which owns the airline. Maybe Lufthansa is using Swiss as a testing ground for its own future fleet plans.