The Up Front Update #7: a big week for airports, airlines and airplane diplomacy

This week's update brings you Heathrow's 5-year plan to airplane diplomacy in Paris, more on Qantas' cybersecurity breach and Airbus' new boss — plus Delta pulling engines off parked A321neos and much more…

By John Walton 7 min read
Virgin Atlantic Retreat Suite, screens show the eyes of a person with glitter eyeshadow and long lashes.

Hello everyone, and welcome to this week’s The Up Front Update — coming to you on Saturday this week, following the release of the AI171 preliminary report late last night.

The big thing to note this week: India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau preliminary report into the crash of flight AI171 at Ahmedabad was released overnight [PDF]. Investigations are scrutinising the movement of the fuel switches approximately five seconds after takeoff. “At this stage of investigation, there are no recommended actions to B787-8 and/or GE GEnx-1B engine operators and manufacturers,” notes the AAIB report. The Air Current has an excellent explainer from earlier in the week.

This week on The Up Front: 

We dive deep into Virgin Atlantic’s big business class and premium economy play, with 30–50% boosts to Upper Class and Premium Economy, and the studio class Retreat Suite jumping from just a pair of seats to 6 on the forthcoming A330neos and a whopping 8 on the refit 787-9s. 

Interior, Virgin Atlantic A330neo, Upper Class. Centre section of Thompson Vantage XL doored suites in pink-purple washed LED lighting with red accents.
Virgin is transitioning to become a truly business- and premium-focussed airline. Image: John Walton

We also asked Virgin’s new AI concierge partner, ChatGPT, about Virgin’s seats, and its hallucinations were… inventively eyebrow-raising, let’s say.

Our second longform piece this week brings you over 3,000 words on a massive business class trend: the ultra-optimisation of staggered and herringbone seats on an aircraft type-by-type basis, especially on the 787 and A330 platforms.

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On our radar: what’s going on around the industry?

The Up Front UpdateAir IndiaVirgin AtlanticLondon HeathrowAirbusMalaysia AirlinesAirAsiaQantasCybersecurityLars WagnerDeltaA321neo
John Walton

Editor in chief of The Up Front, with two decades of experience reporting across the global aviation industry, specialising in business and first class, seats, cabins and the passenger experience.