James Thompson (researcher)

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refimprove = March 2008
orphan = March 2008
expand = March 2008

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.

Background

Thompson lives and works in the small coastal town of Kilkeel in County Down. He is founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Thompson Solutions, which specialises in the design and engineering of aircraft seating.cite news
title = Kilkeel company sees innovative seat idea 'take off'
publisher = 4ni.co.uk
date = 2004-01-16
url = http://www.4ni.co.uk/northern_ireland_news.asp?id=24532
accessdate = 2008-03-09] cite news
title = Airline Deal For Kilkeel High Flyers
publisher = 4ni.co.uk
date = 2008-02-05
url = http://www.4ni.co.uk/northern_ireland_news.asp?id=71257
accessdate = 2008-03-09]

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 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 Seatingcite news
title = Delta Invites BusinessElite Customers to Relax in Its New Full-Flat Bed Seat on International Boeing 767-400 Flights Beginning Spring 2009
publisher = Delta Air Lines
date = 2008-02-05
url = http://news.delta.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=10962
accessdate = 2008-03-09] in a multi-million pound deal with Thompson Solutions.

Later in 2008, Delta also announced that they would be installing a new staggered economy class seat known as the Cozy Suite on their international 767 and 777 aircraft in 2010 [http://gizmodo.com/382292/delta-cozy-suite-seats-make-economy-class-semi+tolerable Delta "Cozy Suite" Seats Make Economy Class Semi-Tolerable] . These seats feature unique padded sides where passengers can rest more comfortably, as well as a unique recline mechanism where the seat bottom moves down and forward rather than the seat back tilting backwards, resulting in more room for the passengers behind. Their staggered layout will allow Delta to increase capacity on their international widebody aircraft without significantly reducing seat width. The 767s will feature a diagonal 2-4-2 layout, and the 777s will feature a diagonal 3-4-3 layout.

Thompson Solutions customers

Customers of Thompson Solutions include Contour Premium Aircraft Seating, B/E Aerospace and Sicma Aeroseat,cite web
title = Consultancy
publisher = Thompson Solutions
url = http://www.thompsonsolutions.co.uk/ts_consultancy.html
accessdate = 2008-03-11] as well as Delta Air Lines, Emirates Airline, First Choice Airways, Emirates Airline, Swiss International Airlines and Virgin Atlantic Airways.cite web
title = Consultancy
publisher = Thompson Solutions
url = http://www.thompsonsolutions.co.uk/ts_consultancy.html
accessdate = 2008-03-11]

Further reading

*Lindon, Patrick (2007) "The Making of a Business Class Seat", Karo Publishing, Basel, ISBN 3-9521009-6-X

References

External links

* [http://www.thompsonsolutions.co.uk/ Thompson Solutions]
* [http://www.seatguru.com/ Seatguru]
* [http://seatexpert.com Seat Expert]