Hawaiian Airlines will revamp the interiors of its Boeing 717 aircraft in 2015, installing new, slimmer seats to the fleet and increasing each aircraft’s total seat count to 128.
“We are going to be replacing all the main [717] cabin fleet with more modern, lightweight, thinner seats,” Peter Ingram, chief commercial officer at the Honolulu-based airline, tells investors on 3 December.
“That will give us more seats during peak demand periods… periods where we are spilling traffic today,” he adds.
Ingram says the project will be completed next year.
Although the move will add more seats to the aircraft, Ingram says the new seats’ slimmer design will allow Hawaiian to “maintain the same amount of personal space” in the 717’s main cabin.
Hawaiian has 18 717s, which it deploys on flights among the Hawaiian islands. Eleven of the aircraft have 123 total seats, including eight first class seats and 115 economy seats. The remaining seven aircraft have a total of 118 seats, including eight first class seats and 110 economy seats
When the project is completed, all of the 717s will have eight first class seats and 120 economy seats, Ingram says.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
