While some airlines are moving away from First Class, British Airways continues to embrace it. They’ve just rolled out the latest version of their First Class product, and it seems very, well, British. I like that about BA, even though I highly doubt I’ll ever sit in these seats.

I consider myself something of an Anglophile, so I like the traditional, stuffy British style, stiff upper lip and all. That’s why I was with Margaret Thatcher when she condemned those silly world tails. People want British Airways to be British. And when it comes to First Class, I want some of that traditional British service. Heck, you can put Mr Belvedere up there and I’d even be happy. So here’s what they’ve done.

If you know BA’s First Class, this seat will look fairly similar. In fact, the biggest difference is that, as you can see, Rachel Weisz is now included in the price of the ticket. This isn’t a Singapore-style suite where you’re completely and totally closed off from the world, so you and Rachel will have to be discreet. Some people may not be thrilled that they don’t have a closed-off suite, but for some reason, it really doesn’t bother me.

The one thing that really stands out is the window. I know that sounds dumb, but it’s incredible how much that impacts the cabin feel. Unfortunately, the BA stock photos don’t show the window very well, so I took the one that got closest. To see some great pics, go to Business Traveller’s coverage.

As you can see, they’ve put inside paneling that effectively eliminates the round window that we’ve all come to expect on an airplane. There are now blinds on bigger interior windows that, when closed, make you forget you’re on a plane. It’s a pretty cool effect in pictures. I can’t wait to see what it looks like on an airplane (undoubtedly as I’m turning right to go to a lesser class).

Some of the little touches are nice as well. For example, you’ll find a wardrobe in each seat so you can hang your clothes. There is also a leather-bound desk. Totally unnecessary, but then again, isn’t First Class in general?

The seat has been installed on a single 777 so far, but it sounds like it’ll be awhile before it starts going on to the rest of the fleet. Guess we’ll all just have to wait.

Delta may have lost over $1 billion in 2009, but that’s not stopping them from pushing forward on improving their product offerings. In fact, the day before they announced earnings, they also announced a slew of onboard improvements. I’m glad to see it, but there is still one glaring omission here.

Delta is now committing to putting lie flat seats on all 777, 767, and 747 aircraft that fly internationally. That’s great news, because right now it’s a crapshoot on some of these fleets. The 777 LR aircraft have flat beds but the ERs don’t. The 767-400s have some with flat beds but others don’t and the 767-300s don’t. Now all 777s will have the same flat bed while all the 767s will have an alternate flat bed. I think it’s time to break out my old chart, updated with this news:

The big question (literally) is what they’ll put on the 747. They haven’t picked which seat they’ll use, but I’m sure it’ll be completely different from the 767 and 777 just to make things confusing. After all, the cabin width dictated that they use different beds in the 777 than the 767, so I don’t see why that wouldn’t impact the 747 decision as well.

The A330s will apparently still have the old Northwest WorldBusiness seats, and the 757s will keep the old Delta Biz Elite seats. But what about those CRJ-700s?

Ok, so those likely won’t be the exact seats, but Delta is installing First Class on 66 CRJ-700 aircraft operated by Connection carriers. This is undoubtedly meant to compete with United’s ExPlus and American’s recent decision to do the same on its CRJ-700s. These planes are flying more and more longer, former mainline routes so they need something to reward the elites, I suppose.

But what are they doing for the back of the bus? First and most importantly, the 747s and the 767-300s will have audio/video on demand installed at each seat. I assume this is a cost savings, because it gets expensive to pay for the monkeys that actually sit in the projector and run the movie on the big screen today. There is already AVOD in coach on the rest of the international fleet, so that will now be standard.

They’ll also be putting Delta’s blue leather seats on the Northwest fleet (eh, I like cloth) in coach, and more importantly, they’ll be installing the bigger overhead bins on Northwest’s 757s so you can fit rollerbags straight in.

Anything else? Yeah, they’re going to renovate the SkyClub at LAX and open new clubs in Seattle, Philly, and Indianapolis. The Philly one surprises me, but the Indy and Seattle ones don’t. This will be the only lounge in Indy, so that’s nice, and it’s a sign that they aren’t planning on abandoning the city as a little Heartland focus operation. With in-laws in Indy, I’m happy about that.

What’s the one big piece that I said they were missing at the beginning of this post? No word on JFK terminal upgrades. Seriously, this needs to happen. I shot off a question to Delta after seeing nothing regarding New York and they assured me that I’ll be notified as soon as something is ready to announce. You’ll know as soon as I do.

It had been hinted about around the local media here in New Zealand for the last few days, but now its official. If you fly in coach on Air New Zealand, you’ll be able to lie down, well, some of you will. I was at the big reveal of the new interior yesterday, and I liked what I saw.

All three cabins are getting a makeover, though the business cabin is a much more minor change than the rest. The process has taken them more than 3 years, and they hired famed design firm IDEO to work with them along with several local structural design firms. (Read more about the process on BNET.) The result is what CEO Rob Fyfe required – a new, superior product that takes up no more space than the old product and costs the traveler the same amount for a seat. They’ve done just that in coach.

The best way to have a look is to watch this 8 minute video. Ed Sims, Group General Manager of the International Airline for Air New Zealand, walked me through each cabin talking about what’s changing. Take a look and then let’s talk below.

They’ve been saying this product is revolutionary; is it? To some extent, yes. Clearly the business class isn’t revolutionary, but the other two cabins are quite innovative to say the least. I guess the best way to answer this is . . . are there any other economy cabins in the world that allow you to lie down? Unless you’re on an empty flight, the answer is no. Here’s what they’re doing.

Economy Class
When the new economy class rolls out on the 777, you might be dismayed to see that it’s going to be in a 3-4-3 configuration. That’s one more across than in the standard configuration, but many airlines have gone toward that model. The width will now be around 17.2 inches, about what you’ll find on a standard 737, but less than that you’ll get on say, United’s 777s.

Of course, while United may give you more width, Air NZ gives you a couple inches more legroom. The 777-300 will have mostly 33 inch pitch throughout, and I found it to be quite comfortable, even if it is 1 inch less than what you get on the 747s today.

There will be 246 coach seats on the plane, and they’ll all have individual power outlets, USB ports to watch your own content on their entertainment system, a screen that is 2 inches larger than the current large screen, and foot nets to rest your feet. Personally, I don’t like foot nets, but it’s better than nothing, I suppose.

While many airlines have gone toward the winged headrests in coach, Air NZ is taking it one step further. They’re now attaching pillows to the winged headrest to make for a really comfortable place to put your head.

Of those seats, 66 on the sides of the first 11 rows of coach will be part of the new SkyCouch offering. If you’re an individual, the only difference is that instead of a foot net, there are full leg rests. If you want to sit in these seats, you’ll be able to pay about US$150 more, but that’s not the real value.

The value comes when you use the three seats together to turn into a bed. The seats will already be designed to be flush with each other so you can lie down. The armrests will also go all the way up. Meanwhile, the legrests will all come up to fill in the area where your legs usually go to create a big bed. Two short people can cuddle up while taller people would need to prop their heads up against the wall to avoid getting run over by carts.

Since Air NZ serves a high percentage of leisure traffic, these seats are meant for couples and families. If a couple books the two seats, they’ll be able to buy the third for half the price to make a more affordable option for lying down than you’ll find in premium cabins. If you have a family of three, you can pay $150 more for everyone to share the area together. If your kid can lie down, your flight will be much better.

Premium Economy
This is a very compelling option. While the current premium economy isn’t much of an upgrade, these are real premium seats that should be considered more like “business lite.” The configuration is 2-2-2, but the center is different from the sides. The center seats, which they’re calling inner space, face in toward each other, and the large armrests go up. When they do, you can change your position to face each other and even have a meal. The tray table comes down at an angle so you can put your food on the armrest and a laptop on your table. Room for everything.

There are no legrests in this cabin but rather Otto the bean bag. Seriously. Otto can be moved around to be used as a legrest no matter which way you’re sitting. The point of these seats is to allow you to move around and fidget as much as you’d like and have plenty of comfortable positions available. Very well done.

The outside seats both angle toward the window, so they’re meant more for the individual traveler. You can still talk to each other if you’re a couple, but these really also give you privacy if you’re not. This cabin really seems to be all about flexibility and choice.

Business
Other than the shiny new white leather (which they really think won’t get scuffed up, uh huh), not a ton is changing here. The seat is the same, though the screen will also grow a couple inches. The big change is the mattress. Right now, some passengers complain that the mattress is too hard, so they’re adding an inch or so of new padding to soften it up. They’re also including a mattress pad that adds additional padding and a new duvet. I tried it; it’s quite nice.

Other than that, there will be changes to the meal service. They’re actually installing ovens on the plane to cook the food instead of simply reheat it. They’re looking toward a menu of comfort food since that’s what people seem to really like. In the premium cabins, this will be more of a “bistro” style of offering, but it goes back to coach as well. They showed off a mammoth burger for coach that looked delicious. Oh, and like Virgin America, you’ll be able to order food and drink when you’d like from your seatback entertainment system.

Overall, I think they’ve done a really nice job here. If you’re a family or a couple, this is really the first affordable flat bed option that I’ve seen in the skies. Or if you just want to fidget, the premium economy was really impressive.

These seats will first roll out on NZ 5/6 between LA and Auckland beginning before the end of the year. In April, it will shift to NZ 1/2 and go Auckland – LA – London. Eventually, it will be on every long haul flight. The 747s will be retired and the 777-200s will be refitted with this interior.

[See all my photos of the new Air New Zealand cabin here]

It’s certainly interesting to watch the Japanese market these days. JAL is turning in record losses and is effectively sitting on a cliff waiting to jump. Meanwhile, ANA has decided to pour a bunch of money into seriously improving its product. This is some pretty impressive looking stuff. Take a look at the new first class suite.

Pretty awesome-looking, huh? But let’s start with coach since that’s where most of us will end up anyway. Coach seats will have 34 inch pitch, so pretty nice legroom, along with headrests AND footrests. Footrests in coach?! Hooray! They will also have 10.6 inch monitors with full audio/video on demand, iPod connectors, USB ports, and power outlets.

In addition, they’ve decided to lay the cabin out in a 2-4-3 configuration. I personally love this configuration because it gives options to people regardless of the size of the party. And nobody gets stuck in the middle of a section of 5. Granted, it required three different types of seat sets (set of 2, set of 3, and set of 4), so it makes things a little more difficult logistically, but from a customer perspective, I don’t think it can be beat.

ANA is also rolling out a premium economy class with a 2-4-2 configuration with 42 inch pitch. The big selling point here is that there are dividers between seats that can move if you so choose, and the epic armrest struggle is unnecessary since there is a double-wide available. Take a look:

Now let’s get to the fancy stuff. Business Class seats will go fully flat in a 1-2-1 configuration so everybody has an aisle. The seats are set up in a staggered way, so you’ll have your seat with your feet going under a table in the seat in front of you. Take a look at this release for an overview of what I’m talking about. The screen here is 17 inches and the service is upgraded. They’re even taking a page from the Virgin America playbook by allowing customers to order their meals on the touchscreen whenever they feel like eating.

Now let’s get back to that first class suite that they’re calling the First Square. This is also in a 1-2-1 configuration but it afford complete privacy from the outside world, just like on Emirates, Singapore, and the like. The screen is 23 inches (anyone else remember when having a 19 inch tv at home was a big deal?) and it has all the amenities you could imagine.

As if that’s not enough, in Tokyo, they’re introducing Suite Check-in for the fancy pants fliers. You go to a private suite where they check you in, take your bags, and put you through security. They’re also creating Suite Lounges so you can have your own private workspace while you wait. Just unreal stuff.

In the air, the changes will begin rolling out on the 777-300ER aircraft beginning on February 20. This will start on the Tokyo-JFK route every other day and it will go on to the Tokyo-London and Tokyo-Frankfurt routes by the end of 2010. In 2011, it will go on the other US and Europe routes.

Tell me you don’t want to try it. That’s what I thought.

US Airways announced this morning that they will be rolling out a nicer, more attractive version of the business class seat that was rumored to be coming back in June. Let’s be honest. You don’t think of luxury product innovation when you think of US Airways, but they appear to have really come through on this one.

The new seat is called the Envoy Suite, and it will first go on the A330-200s that just started coming into the fleet recently. This makes sense because those are the ones deployed on the longest-haul flights to places like Tel Aviv and, eventually, Tokyo. By Fall of 2010, the existing A330-200s will be refitted with the new seat, designed by SICMA, and all future deliveries will have it as well.

The seat itself is in a reverse herringbone style with a 1-2-1 layout. So instead of your back against the wall looking toward the aisle like in a herringbone, your back is against the aisle looking toward the window or middle. So if you’re sitting in the window, it provides a fantastic view. If you’re sitting in the middle (what you see in the photo above), there still seems to be enough blocking so that you don’t have to deal with the person next to you.

Now that picture above doesn’t look completely flat to me, but according to US Airways, the seat will go down into a 6′4″ or 6′8″ 180 degree flat bed depending upon which seat you have in the cabin. The seat width is 20.5″ with the armrests up, but when they go down, the width is 25″ for sleeping.

I asked about storage since that is a big problem with many business class seats, and this one doesn’t look much better. There is a bunch of room under the ottoman when you’re in flight, but I believe that won’t be allowed to be used during takeoff and landing. So you’ll need your bin space on this one. I have confirmed that storage underneath the seat will be allowed during takeoff and landing. That’s great.

I was particularly interested in the weight of this seat. My understanding is that the herringbone design is very heavy, because it requires pallets to be secured properly. I have been told, however, that this seat does not require pallets and will only weigh 20 to 30 pounds more than the existing seat.

There are also all the standard amenities. Yes, there is a 110V power outlet, a USB port, and a 12.1″ screen with audio/video on demand. Sounds very good, so why is US Airways doing this? Good question. They’re going to have to lose seats on this plane, because the reverse herringbone takes up more space than the current seats. My guess is that if you think about US Airways and their traffic mix, this may actually make sense.

How many of those business class seats is US Airways selling today? My guess is that there are an overwhelming number of upgrades there. So even though there will be fewer seats going forward, they will probably be able to sell them since they are now competitive on the world stage. That’s really the only reason I can imagine that this would make sense for US Airways to do.

When will we get to see this on the rest of the international fleet? Well you’ll never see it on the 767s. Those will be retired soon enough. The A330-300s, however, will get a new seat but not exactly this one. Apparently it doesn’t quite fit perfectly on the A330 so some tweaking will be required. Once they figure that out, they’ll announce it.

It’s a very big step forward for US Airways, and it should certainly make flying the airline internationally a much nicer experience.

See a video and interactive demo on the new seat

Edited 9/18 @ 327p to change info about storage space