United Airlines on Wednesday unveiled its first new seat in nearly a decade for passengers at the front of the plane, becoming the latest carrier to upgrade its cabin as airlines battle for high-paying travelers. The new first-class seat for narrow-body domestic flights features better technology like armrest wireless charging stations and winged headrests. There will also be an 11-by-19-inch barrier between the seats, which are in a two-by-two configuration. United and rivals like Delta Air Lines and JetBlue Airways have upgraded their business- or first-class seats in recent months to create more privacy and more room for customers willing to pay a premium to fly. Last year, Delta debuted domestic first-class seats that also feature privacy wings at the top of the seat, while JetBlue redesigned its Mint class to offer seats with sliding doors. Airlines are clamoring for new cabins and aircraft, but supply chain delays have slowed some of those efforts, including at United, as the aviation industry struggles to rebuild itself after a Covid pandemic slump. The new United first-class seat will first appear on a Boeing 737 this month. The carrier said it expects to have it on 200 narrow-body aircraft like 737s and Airbus A321neos on domestic routes by 2026. “There’s no one seat that can probably fulfill all of our needs but this is the one we want to build our future around in the domestic space,” Mark Muren, United’s managing director of identity, product and loyalty, told CNBC. The seats will feature three kinds of charging: wireless, a USB-C and an AC outlet. They also feature 13-inch seatback screens, 18-by-8.5-inch tray tables and a new seat cushion.<br/>
star
Portugal’s plan to sell off a chunk of state-owned airline TAP SA will move closer to fruition when the government sets out rules for the process in coming weeks, Finance Minister Fernando Medina said. “Growth of the company, expansion of activity, keeping the hub in Lisbon, protecting the brand and the operation of TAP are going to be the critical issues,” he said in an interview. A decree laying out a framework for the privatization of the 78-year-old carrier will be approved by the government in the next few weeks, according to Medina. As well as taking growing numbers of international tourists to Portugal, TAP’s flights link a global diaspora of the country’s citizens and connect the mainland to the Madeira and Azores archipelagos in the middle of the Atlantic. The government will keep a stake in the airline after the privatization to ensure “strategic objectives” are met, including the goal of keeping Portugal as its main hub, Prime Minister Antonio Costa reiterated in March. Portugal hired Ernst & Young and Banco Finantia SA to carry out valuations of TAP as part of the plan to sell a stake in the carrier, state holding company Parpublica said on July 4. Larger airlines Air France-KLM, Deutsche Lufthansa AG and IAG SA, the parent company of British Airways and Iberia, have said they may look at TAP. It won’t be the first time Portugal has sold a stake in TAP. In 2015, the government agreed to sell 61% of the carrier to Atlantic Gateway, a company grouping investors including airline entrepreneur David Neeleman. <br/>