Singapore Airlines' next business class seat packs real functional upgrades — a redesigned footwell, better sleep comfort, fresh features. But the paint job has turned into a problem. The new cabin's grey-and-black surfaces slashed with bright yellow accents have drawn widespread mockery, with critics saying the look leans closer to a budget carrier or a gaming chair than one of the world's most premium airlines. And now the airline's chief executive has conceded the criticism might have a point.
At a 11 November employee town hall, CEO Goh Choon Phong acknowledged the backlash and said, according to The Business Times, "We'll look at it, we'll see what is feasible." He stopped short of promising a redesign, but the door is now open — a notable shift after launch-day executives defended the palette.
At the seat's unveiling, VP of Product Experience Ong Wah Li said customer research pointed to demand for a more contemporary appearance, describing the result as "modern and refreshed, yet elegant and refined." Chief Commercial Officer Lee Lik Hsin went further, insisting the airline "does not feel that a different colour palette creates any kind of inconsistency."
Plenty of frequent flyers disagree. Singapore Airlines has spent decades building an identity around warm, muted cabin tones and understated luxury. The yellow-accented business class — designed by Designworks, a BMW Group company — reads as a sharp break from that. The awkward comparison is with Scoot, Singapore Airlines' own low-cost subsidiary, which also uses yellow as a signature colour. In Southeast Asia, where travellers are expert at telling full-service and budget products apart, making your premium cabin evoke your budget brand is an odd strategy.
The contrast with the new first class makes it stranger still. That suite, designed by PriestmanGoode, keeps warmer finishes and batik-inspired details — proof that a genuinely new product can still look unmistakably like Singapore Airlines. Premium economy and economy came from Factorydesign, and the premium economy aesthetic has also raised eyebrows. Ultimately, though, the airline signed off on all of it.
Why should travellers care? If you're booking long-haul business class — where these seats will fly for a decade or more — the comfort upgrades are genuinely welcome and unchanged by the colour debate. But cabin aesthetics are part of what you're paying a premium for, and the CEO's comments suggest customer feedback is actually being heard. Anyone with bookings on future Singapore Airlines deliveries, or sitting on KrisFlyer miles for a big redemption, has a stake in whether the finishes soften before the seats enter service. The writer's own suggestion is simple: keep the seat, hand the finishes to PriestmanGoode, and consider a dark brown palette closer to the airline's heritage.
No redesign has been confirmed. But an airline of Singapore's stature admitting it might adjust course — rather than defending a misstep for years — is worth noting.
