James Thompson (researcher)

James Thompson (born 1966 in Newry, Northern Ireland) is a Northern Irish patent holder known for his innovative research and development in airline seating. Thompson holds over twenty patents, most of which have been brought into production. He is best known for his staggered seating design which increases comfort and aircraft capacity.

Contents

Background

Thompson lives and works in the small coastal town of Kilkeel in County Down. He is founder of Thompson Aero Seating (formerly Thompson Solutions), which specialises in the design and engineering of aircraft seating.[1][2]

Work

In 2003 Thompson began developing a lie flat business class seat which is a fully horizontal flat bed. This design offers no loss of seats compared to the old "lie flat at an angle" style seating. The seating layout, also known as the Thompson Vantage configuration, is staggered, row by row, and implements a wide console which is the footwell for the passenger behind.

In February 2008, Delta Air Lines announced that they would be installing the Vantage sleeper suite product designed by Thompson on their 767-400ER aircraft, engineered and manufactured by Contour Premium Aircraft Seating[3] in a multi-million pound deal with Thompson Aero Seating.[2] Delta later announced that they would also install the Vantage on their 767-300ER fleet, which is scheduled for completion in 2013.

Thompson's long-awaited Cozy Suite has passed its 16G H.I.C. Development Test and after having conducted a number of highly successful customer comfort trials, Cozy Suite is ready to enter service in 2011.[4] The Cozy Suite economy seat offers a distinct horizontally stepped seating layout which eases egress, provides a shoulder width as wide as business class, a dedicated sleeping area and more legroom.[5]

Thompson Aero Seating customers

Customers of Thompson Aero Seating include Contour Premium Aircraft Seating, B/E Aerospace and Sicma Aeroseat,[6] as well as Delta Air Lines, Emirates Airline, Finnair, First Choice Airways, Emirates Airline, Swiss International Airlines and Virgin Atlantic Airways.[6]

Further reading

References

  1. ^ "Kilkeel company sees innovative seat idea 'take off'". 4ni.co.uk. 2004-01-16. http://www.4ni.co.uk/northern_ireland_news.asp?id=24532. Retrieved 2008-03-09. 
  2. ^ a b "Airline Deal For Kilkeel High Flyers". 4ni.co.uk. 2008-02-05. http://www.4ni.co.uk/northern_ireland_news.asp?id=71257. Retrieved 2008-03-09. 
  3. ^ "Delta Invites BusinessElite Customers to Relax in Its New Full-Flat Bed Seat on International Boeing 767-400 Flights Beginning Spring 2009". Delta Air Lines. 2008-02-05. Archived from the original on 2008-02-11. http://web.archive.org/web/20080211171153/http://news.delta.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=10962. Retrieved 2008-03-09. 
  4. ^ Cozy Suite ready to fly in 2011
  5. ^ Cozy Suite
  6. ^ a b "Consultancy". Thompson Solutions. http://www.thompsonsolutions.co.uk/ts_consultancy.html. Retrieved 2008-03-11. 

Thompson to invest £5.2M http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/10432752.stm

External links