Japan Airlines Shell Flat Seat wins top US Design Award

The Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design has awarded its coveted GOOD DESIGN Award for 2002 to the Japan Airlines' Shell Flat Seat, designed by B/E Aerospace Design Studio and G-K Industrial Design Inc.

The Chicago museum's prestigious GOOD DESIGN program was founded in Chicago in 1950 and remains the oldest and one of the most important design competitions in the world.

JAL commissioned B/E Aerospace and the Japanese G-K Planning and Design Group to design and manufacture the new seat to up-date "JAL Executive Class - SEASONS", the airline's own branded business class. 

Designed in a stylish shell-shape, JAL' Shell Flat Seat arrangement has maximum 62-inch pitch and has a full recline of 170 degrees for better sleeping comfort when in bed mode. The shell form enhances passenger relaxation and privacy.

In addition the seat is equipped with an adjustable flat footrest that folds up to extend the length of the seat in recline. It also includes a built-in massage function. The armrests fold down to create a total width in bed mode of 23.5 inches for greater comfort. When fully extended in bed mode, the Shell Flat Seat is 190 cm (75 in.) long.

A newly developed seat adjustment system incorporating four independent motors and gear systems ensures a soft, smooth seat movement at the touch of a button on the seat control panel.

AC power installation for personal computer users will be available from January.

JAL has introduced the new seat on London-Tokyo daily round trip flights JL401 and JL402 and from December 29 the seat will be available on JAL's daily New York-Tokyo round-trip flights (JL005 and JL006). The airline plans to install the shell flat seat on a total of 16 aircraft in the international fleet during 2003, to be used on selected long-range routes to Europe and North America.