US automotive seating specialist Adient has partnered with Boeing to jointly explore the development of new seating and interiors for commercial aircraft.

This partnership aims to add innovation, comfort, efficiency and functional improvements to aircraft seating and interiors.

As part of the deal, Boeing will offer insight into the commercial aviation industry and its technical specifications, as well as understanding to the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification requirements.

Adient will provide its expertise in design, comfort, craftsmanship, operational excellence and supply chain management.

Adient chairman and CEO Bruce McDonald said: “Adient is committed to our strategy of leveraging our strong global expertise and leadership in automotive seating and interiors to deliver customer value and competitive advantages in adjacent mobility markets.

“Through discussions with Boeing, we believe there's an opportunity for Adient to raise the bar on the aviation passenger experience, building on our leadership in the automobile seat market.”

Employing 75,000 people, the company currently operates 230 manufacturing/assembly plants in 33 countries worldwide.

"We believe there's an opportunity for Adient to raise the bar on the aviation passenger experience, building on our leadership in the automobile seat market.”

Boeing Commercial Airplanes supplier management vice-president and general manager Kent Fisher said: “Boeing is building commercial airplanes at record rates to deliver on an order backlog of more than $400bn.

“We continually explore opportunities to offer more value to our customers and believe they would benefit from a wider range of options and more reliable, on-time performance in the airplane interiors and seating category.”

A Counterpoint Market Research analysis has estimated the aircraft interiors market to reach $21.7bn by 2025, a compounded annual growth rate of 4.3% from last year to 2025.  

Image: Interior of a Boeing business jet. Photo: courtesy of Boeing.