Alaska Air Group will install lie-flat suites on at least 25 Boeing 737 MAX 10s and rework the premium cabins on its 787s and Hawaiian Airlines' Airbus A330s, with retrofits beginning in 2028 as the carrier pushes deeper into international and premium markets.

The company announced the cabin program on September 29, 2026. It named two products: Aurora Suites, a lie-flat suite with privacy door and direct aisle access, and Premium Reserve, a new premium economy seat.

On the narrowbody side, Alaska plans to fit 12 Aurora Suites plus 12 Premium Reserve seats on each of at least 25 MAX 10s assigned to selected transcontinental routes. That puts a lie-flat business class product onto single-aisle aircraft, a segment where Alaska has until now competed with recliner-style first class seating.

The widebody configuration is denser in premium terms. Alaska's 787s will carry 34 Aurora Suites, each with a privacy door, direct aisle access and a lie-flat bed. Premium Reserve will provide 35 seats on both the 787-9 and 787-10, with 38-inch pitch, leg rests and 16-inch entertainment screens.

A330 retrofit shifts seat mix

Hawaiian's A330s will replace their current 2-2-2 premium layout with 22 Leihōkū suites in a 1-2-1 arrangement, each with a privacy door and direct aisle access. The aircraft will also receive 28 Premium Reserve seats. Alaska said the changes will lift premium seats to roughly 40% of the A330 cabin, from 30% today.

The cabin investment follows Alaska's acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines and forms part of its broader plan to build a long-haul business from its Seattle hub. The company expects premium revenue to exceed 40% of total revenue by 2030 and its Seattle network to reach at least 15 intercontinental destinations that year.

Long-haul flying should account for approximately 15% of network capacity by 2030, compared with about 8% today. Alaska said it has captured roughly two-thirds of the $1 billion in incremental profit targeted under its Alaska Accelerate strategy.

Certification timing risk

The MAX 10 cabin disclosure comes a day after the FAA said it would delay certification of the aircraft while assessing a newly disclosed software issue. The agency has not specified how long the approval will slip. Boeing's MAX 10 program has already run years behind its original schedule, and any further certification delay would push back the aircraft type on which Alaska has based its transcontinental lie-flat plan.

For now, Alaska says its premium cabin introduction remains scheduled for 2028 — a date that depends on both the MAX 10 clearing certification and the carrier's retrofit capacity across three aircraft types simultaneously.