Singapore Airlines' big cabin reveal last week should have been a victory lap. New first class, new business class, a serious upgrade for anyone flying the airline's ultra-long routes. Instead, the headlines have been about one thing: the business class seat colours, which plenty of travellers find cheap-looking and oddly out of step with the rest of the cabin.
The airline initially dug in, defending the design as modern and progressive. BMW Designworks, the studio behind the cabin, framed the look as "a suit with a sneaker" — white and metal accents meant to feel fresh. But the backlash didn't fade, and at a staff town hall on November 11, 2026, CEO Goh Choon Phong was asked about it directly. His answer, per The Business Times: the airline will "look at it" and see what's feasible. That's a softening, though with seat orders placed years in advance, any change would be complicated.
Chief Commercial Officer Lee Lik Hsin called the reaction a learning point but leaned on the classic "you can't please everyone" line, suggesting travellers will care less about colours once they've felt how comfortable the seats are. The airline's product team, meanwhile, has insisted the design was based on customer feedback and meant to feel refined and suited to business travel.
The reason this matters beyond armchair design criticism: Singapore Airlines has built its reputation on obsessing over exactly this kind of detail, and the new business class cabins are destined for the world's longest flights. Passengers there aren't just corporate travellers in suits heading to a meeting — they're leisure flyers and premium holidaymakers paying serious money to lie flat for 15-plus hours. Comfort will matter, but so will how the space feels, and critics argue the cold, metallic finishes undercut the warmth the airline is known for.
The pragmatic read: the seats themselves are apparently a genuine step up, so frequent flyers on Singapore's long-haul network shouldn't panic. But if you've been eyeing the airline's new product, the finishes you see in launch photos may well differ from what actually enters service. Keep an eye on updates before booking around the new cabin's debut — and if you're choosing flights purely on cabin aesthetics, the existing business class product remains a safe, well-liked bet in the meantime.
Whether the airline actually can or will change course is an open question. For now, the episode is a rare public stumble from a carrier that usually gets product design right.
Story via One Mile at a Time.
