Latest news with #seats
Skift
24-05-2025
- Business
- Skift
Tetris at 35,000 Feet: Airlines Reshape Business Class to Fit More Seats
The focus was once on complete commonality across fleets. Now, more airlines seem willing to add cost and complexity to squeeze in more business class seats. Business class remains where most full-service carriers make most of their money. As a result, airlines have long sought to maximize revenue by offering a product that keeps their most lucrative (and often most informed) customers from moving to a rival with a better seat. On twin-aisle widebody aircraft, direct aisle access for every passenger is critical for any serious international airline choosing new seats. Airlines are now in the position where a seatmaker's ability to squeeze an extra two seats compared with their nearest competitor is a dealmaker — or dealbreaker. The challenge for seatmakers starts with aircraft shape: Each widebody has slightly different dimensions. While the cabin floor appears fairly rectangular in 2D, curved sidewalls and fuselage tapering turn it into a complex 3D puzzle. To make the most of these 3D shapes, seatmakers are doubling down on their focus to optimize seats for specific aircraft cabins. Constraints such as the position of the seat track supports, the point at which the fuselage tapers at the front of the cabin, and the position of lavatories and galleys must all be considered. The most immediately visible of these is the customized version of Recaro's R7 seat for the Airbus A330. Its core market focuses on retrofitted A330ceo aircraft and new-build A330neos. Here, Recaro is bumping out the curve of the window-adjacent seat and footwell significantly. The company is also straightening what was a lightly angled stagger to better optimize the A330's narrower fuselage. Recaro presented this optimized design at last month's Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg. Credit: John Walton Optimization, But at a Cost Less visible but no less impressive is Thompson Aero Seating's updated A350 and 787 version of its Vantage XL seat, the original version of which is seen at Australian flag carrier Qantas and many other operators. Rather confusingly, it is called the Vantage XL+, a name it previously used for the doored suite version of the XL product. First Look Inside Qantas' New 'Xtra Long Range' Plane Qantas is the latest big-name airline to switch from Boeing to Airbus for its next generation of planes. Despite huge retraining and operational complexities, the carrier is betting that the short-term pain will pay off handsomely. Read More Here, the Vantage XL product was previously optimized for the narrower A330, and with the new version Thompson is adapting the center section with a larger footwell and more knee space. This is enabled by the extra inches it has to work with on the wider A350 and 787 fuselages. There is, of course, a cost to all of this optimization: both literal in terms of seat development, but also in terms of a reduction in parts commonality. There is also an increase in production, certification, maintenance, and parts supply chain costs. But it seems that, for a growing number of airlines and their seatmakers, the result is worth it. Read more of John Walton's passenger experience insights for Skift here. What am I looking at? The performance of airline sector stocks within the ST200. The index includes companies publicly traded across global markets including network carriers, low-cost carriers, and other related companies. The Skift Travel 200 (ST200) combines the financial performance of nearly 200 travel companies worth more than a trillion dollars into a single number. See more airlines sector financial performance. Read the full methodology behind the Skift Travel 200.
CBC
13-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
3 judicial recounts could leave Liberals one seat shy of majority
It's been more than a week since election day, but the seat tally has changed yet again. With recounts now underway in three federal ridings, the Liberal Party could soon move to within one seat of a majority government.
The Guardian
07-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Too close to call: follow the federal election results in the undecided seats here
Election night ended with at least 16 seats too close to call. Here you can see a list of those which were, as of Wednesday morning, still undecided and our reasons for holding off from making predictions about who will win them. We're going to leave the electorates on this list even after predictions have been made so if something happens you won't miss it. In Bean, the Australian Electoral Commission picked the incorrect pairing for the final two-candidate-preferred count (TPC), so we're waiting on a recount with the actual final pairing of Labor v the independent Jessie Price. In Richmond, it's likely that the Labor candidate, Justine Elliot, will be successful against the Greens, and retain the seat. But, again, the initial pairing the AEC chose was not the one that eventuated on the night, so we're waiting on the TCP recount before making a call to avoid any doubt. The count in Bradfield between the independent Nicolette Boele and the Liberal Gisele Kapterian is extremely close and will likely require a full count of the absent, provisional, declaration and postal votes before a decision can be made. Queensland In Longman, the Liberal National party candidate had a narrow lead on Wednesday morning despite a swing against him of 2.9%. Postal votes are now favouring the LNP but most absent and declaration votes have yet to be counted and may swing the seat to Labor. In Ryan, we have a three-cornered contest and it looks as though the Greens have beaten Labor for second place on the primary vote. If this position holds, the Greens should win the seat against the LNP off Labor preferences. But it's possible that absent, postal and other pre-poll votes could make a difference in the final order, so we'll wait for counting to continue. Victoria Victoria has a whopping seven seats that are tricky to call for various reasons. In Calwell, the Labor party leads on the primary vote but we're waiting on more information before the final pairing is clear and a TCP recount can be carried out. In Menzies, we have a close race between Keith Wolahan, the Liberal incumbent, and Gabriel Ng, the Labor challenger. Labor has a clear lead at the time of writing but there's a decent amount of postal and other non-booth votes still to be counted. The seat of Melbourne is an interesting one which I wrote about in detail on Tuesday in our live blog. The leader of the Greens, Adam Bandt, has suffered a substantial swing against him. Between the swing against Bandt and an increased vote for Labor, Bandt may lose the seat, or may hold on with a narrow margin. In Kooyong, the independent Monique Ryan's strong lead on election night has dwindled to the point where the seat count is extremely close. Various election analysts expect her to eventually retain the seat, but we'll want to see the count on most of the pre-poll and other votes before making a call. Flinders is another seat where the initial pairing for the TCP count was incorrect, so now we're waiting on the results of the recount with the Liberal party's Zoe McKenzie against the independent Ben Smith. In Monash, we're also waiting on a new TCP count to see which way the preferences fall for the Liberals' Mary Aldred and Labor's Tully Fletcher. In Bendigo, what was thought to be a contest between Labor and the Liberals has now turned into Labor v Nationals, so we're waiting on the new TCP count. Labor had an extremely narrow lead as of Wednesday morning with 11 of 66 polling places counted for the new TCP figures. Western Australia Things are looking rocky in Bullwinkel (sorry), with Labor leading by just 50 votes on Wednesday morning. The postal votes have mostly been counted, so this will come down to absent, provision and declaration votes, which may give Labor the edge. Fremantle is another site of a new TCP count, and as of Wednesday morning, things were looking good for the Labor incumbent, Josh Wilson, who leads over the independent Kate Hulett. The ABC's projection on the new preferences suggests a narrow Labor win.
ABC News
06-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
From Bradfield to Melbourne, here are the 13 seats where the race is still too tight to call
Despite heading to the polls over the weekend, it remains a close race for several key seats across Australia. There are currently 13 seats in doubt, with votes too close to call. These include the closely watched electorate of Melbourne — held by Greens leader Adam Bandt. Live results : Find out what's happening in your seat as counting continues Here's your quick guide to the seats still undecided: Melbourne Greens leader Adam Bandt looks like he is in a good position to be re-elected in the seat he has held since 2010. Postal votes had been breaking strongly to Labor, with Bandt getting just 23 per cent of preferences. For victory, he needs that number to be above a third. The good news for him is that all four of the polling places counted on Tuesday have beaten that target. Based on current preference flows, Bandt trails his Labor opponent, but if Tuesday's counting trend continues, he should be re-elected. Bradfield In one of Australia's most affluent electorates, the race is on between Liberal candidate Gisele Kapterian and independent Nicolette Boele. Ms Kapterian is currently in the lead by a few dozen votes. The seat is up for grabs after Liberal MP Paul Fletcher's retirement. He had held the Sydney upper north shore electorate since a 2009 by-election. Ryan Another fight between the Greens and the Liberals plays out in Brisbane's western suburbs. Greens incumbent Elizabeth Watson-Brown is up against Liberal candidate Maggie Forrest. ABC projections suggest Watson-Brown is ahead in the seat she has held since 2022. Calwell A spot left by long-term Labor incumbent Maria Vamvakinou is one to watch in Melbourne's north-west fringe. Vamvakinou has represented the electorate since 2001 but now the seat faces a battle between Labor's Basem Abdo and the Liberals' Usman Ghani. If Ghani wins, it will be a major upset for Labor, who have held the seat since 1984. Bean The home of the ACT's largest electorate and the external territory of Norfolk Island has seen a contest between a midwife and a born-and-bred Canberran rage on. Labor's David Smith is in a tight race with independent Jessie Price. Smith has held the seat since 2019, following a stint as an ACT senator. Bendigo A transfer of a Nationals stronghold could flip an ALP hub in this north-central Victorian electorate. The competition between Nationals candidate Andrew Lethlean and Labor's Lisa Chesters remains firm. It has been held by Withers since 2013, but the transfer of a strongly National voting area around Rochester could reduce the Labor margin. Kooyong This is another teal seat under pressure. Incumbent independent Monique Ryan first scored the inner Melbourne electorate during 2022's teal wave. Now she faces pressure from the Liberals' Amelia Hamer following a strong push to regain what was once a safe Liberal seat. Longman There are fewer than 150 votes between the two frontrunners in the electorate between Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast. Liberal incumbent Terry Young is fighting to retain his seat against Labor's Rhiannyn Douglas. Flinders Another showdown between the major parties and independents is occurring in this south-east Victorian seat. Liberal incumbent Zoe McKenzie is up against independent Ben Smith. McKenzie has held the seat since 2022, while Smith has most recently been the Mornington Community Support Centre CEO. Fremantle This suburban Perth Labor stronghold may be in trouble. Despite being considered a very safe seat for Labor and currently held by Josh Wilson since 2016, a Climate 200-backed independent is proving to be an indomitable challenger. If elected, independent Kate Hulett could rattle a seat that has been held by Labor since 1972. Monash Incumbent Russell Broadbent's dissociation from the Liberal Party has changed the game in this eastern Victorian electorate. Broadbent has represented the seat since 2004 but became an independent in 2023 after losing pre-selection. Now, Liberal candidate Mary Aldred faces a tight race with Labor's Tully Fletcher. Menzies One of the Liberal's promising MPs could be under pressure in this eastern Melbourne race. Incumbent Keith Wolahan gained the seat for the Liberals in 2022 but faces a tough re-election bid against Labor's Gabriel Ng. Losing the electorate named after the founder of the modern Liberal party would be a major blow to the Coalition. Bullwinkel This is this electorate's first chance to choose a representative and it is proving a tough one. This seat, which covers Eastern Perth and the Avon Valley, is being contested for the first time, though it has been notionally held by Labor. So far, a battle wages between Labor's Trish Cook and the Liberals' Matt Moran.
