Industry Boeing and Adient establish new company for airplane seats

The seats will be available for retrofit configurations or for installation on new airplanes. The companies aim to acquire clients such as airlines or leasing companies.

Boeing stated, that the joint venture addresses the aviation industry´s needs for more capacity in the seating category. Analysts assume, that the market for commercial airplane seats will rise from $4.5 billion in 2017 to $6 billion by 2026.

Kevin Schemm, senior vice president of Supply Chain Management, Finance & Business Operations and chief financial officer for Boeing Commercial Airplanes said: "Seats have been a persistent challenge for our customers, the industry and Boeing, and we are taking action to help address constraints in the market. Adient Aerospace will leverage Boeing's industry leadership and deep understanding of customer needs and technical requirements, to provide a superior seating product for airlines and passengers around the world [...] This joint venture supports Boeing's vertical integration strategy to develop in-house capabilities and depth in key areas to offer better products, grow services and generate higher lifecycle value."

Adient chairman and CEO Bruce McDonald added: "Adient has a strong set of transferable competencies that will offer a unique opportunity to create value for our company and for Boeing, our shareholders and the broader commercial aircraft market [...] To enhance the customer experience for passengers, airlines and commercial airplane manufacturers, we will apply our unmatched expertise for comfort and craftsmanship along with our reputation for operational excellence."

Adient´s operational headquarter will be located in Kaiserslautern (Germany), and holds 50.01% shares of the new company, while Boeing holds 49.99% shares. A customer service center will be arranged in Seattle, Washington.