LATAM is rolling out superb long-haul upgrades although it has taken nearly a decade for the teams behind Chile’s LAN and Brazil’s TAM to finalise the future passenger experience aboard LATAM’s long-haul fleet.
“LATAM Airlines Brazil’s first renovated Boeing 777 represents the new standard for the group’s long-haul aircraft,” the airline says, and it’s a Thompson Vantage XL staggered seat in a 1-2-1 configuration, as previously shown.
“In the new Premium Business cabin, each custom-designed Thompson seat offers more privacy and direct aisle access, as well as configurations for both individuals and couples,” LATAM notes, highlighting the ‘honeymoon’ pairings in the centre section. “The seats recline 180° into a fully-flat bed, feature the latest generation in-flight entertainment with an 18” Panasonic personal screen and have ample space for personal item[s].”
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When LATAM unveiled the product earlier in the year, I was fairly impressed: it’s a decent enough seat, at a good density, and offers a big improvement on the previous generation in its direct aisle access. It’s also beautiful: this is a really great piece of work by designers Priestmangoode, and exactly what’s needed for an airline wanting to offer a premium look and feel to a product that is not, in and of itself, a new seat.
LATAM’s Premium Business seat doesn’t offer a door, however, and that’s interesting to note at a time when a growing number of airlines are using business class mini-suite doors as a way to increase privacy in their premium cabin, but enough of the jury is still out across the industry on the question that I can forgive it.
The one issue — and here’s where I’m surprised that the 777 model doesn’t go some way to fixing it — is the ‘brushpast’ issue for passengers who are seated immediately next to the aisle, rather than on the other side of one of the combination side-table/footwell installations.
The 777’s wider cabin has more than enough space to add an additional shell structure to reduce the impact of the aisle proximity, even if smaller aircraft like the A350 (to an extent) and 787 (to a much greater extent) can’t fit anything else across in the fuselage.
Also of note is that LATAM is taking the opportunity to revamp its soft product, covering onboard dining, at-seat provisions and the way the crew conducts the service.
“Premium Business includes a new gastronomic proposition designed by renowned Chilean and Brazilian chefs Pamela Fidalgo and Aninha that allows passengers to rest well and wake-up revived on long haul flights,” says the airline, and the food concept looks great. It’s (fairly understandably) no Qatar Airways money’s-no-object provision, but it’s elegant in its simplicity. “True to LATAM tradition, the menu will showcase South American ingredients and will also be accompanied by South America’s best wines, hand-selected by Héctor Vergara, the continent’s only master sommelier.”
“In addition,” the carrier says, “LATAM has implemented new service protocols for cabin crew with fewer interruptions.”
This is an increasingly important factor with the growing size — both in terms of numbers of seats and in terms of on-plane footprint — of business class, where passengers paying for the top cabin on the plane seem less inclined to wait for their meal to be served than in previous years.
Also on offer: “new premium pillows, bed clothes and mattresses with temperature-regulating and pressure-point technology for every flat-bed seat to maximize comfort.”
This kind of addition is really smart, and lifts what is at its base model of seat nothing new into a cabin that looks and feels properly premium. The trick for LATAM, however, will be rolling out both the hard and soft product across its fairly disparate ex-LAN and ex-TAM widebody fleets. The 777s are legacy TAM, now LATAM Brasil, and the airline has a total of ten of them to refurbish, leaving nine to go.
