Singapore Airlines Signals Possible Rethink of New Business Class Seat Colours

Singapore Airlines may revisit the colour scheme of a business class seat it unveiled only weeks ago, after the design drew sustained public criticism that CEO Goh Choon Phong has now acknowledged for the first time.

Speaking at an employee town hall on 11 November 2026, Goh offered a measured but notable shift from the airline's earlier defensive posture. "We'll look at it, we'll see what's feasible," he said, according to reporting by The Business Times, cited by One Mile at a Time. The comment falls well short of a commitment to change anything. It does, however, mark the first signal from the top of the company that the colour choices are open to review.

What triggered the backlash?

The criticism centres on the cabin products Singapore Airlines recently unveiled, which include a redesigned first class and a new business class seat. The seat itself carries solid premium credentials: a flat bed, privacy doors and laptop storage, as businesstraveller reported.

The problem isn't the hardware. It's the palette. The colour choices drew widespread negative reaction almost immediately after launch, according to multiple outlets including Executive Traveller. A yellow stripe running along the seat became the focal point of the criticism, singled out across coverage — with View from the Wing comparing the look to Spirit Airlines, a low-cost carrier not usually invoked in the same sentence as Singapore's flag carrier.

For several days after the unveiling, the airline defended its colour decisions outright. Goh's town hall remarks, first reported on 11 November, broke that line.

Who designed the seat?

The cabin was developed with BMW Designworks, and the design intent was explicitly framed in premium terms. Ong Wah Li, Singapore Airlines' VP of Product Experience, described the goal as "modern, fresh, yet elegant and refined, that's suited to business travel." Julia de Bono, CEO of BMW Designworks, characterised the result as "more refreshing and more progressive."

Whether those intentions survived the translation to fabric, trim and stripe is now a matter of public record. The gap between the design brief and the reception is the story here: an airline that has built its brand on premium cabin leadership unveiled a product whose aesthetics — not its functionality — became the talking point.

Why this matters beyond colour

For Singapore Airlines, the episode is an unwelcome distraction from a broader product push. The airline has been investing across its premium experience this year, including the KrisWorld entertainment overhaul, an effort that pointed to a carrier determined to hold its premium positioning against deep-pocketed Gulf and Asian rivals.

A colour scheme that generates this volume of negative comment doesn't affect the flat bed or the privacy doors. But brand perception is the product Singapore Airlines sells, and a launch that produces Spirit Airlines comparisons rather than superlatives works against years of positioning.

There's also a practical question of timing. Cabin interiors are certified, procured and fitted on long lead times. A rethink before production seats reach aircraft is a materially different proposition from a retrofit after delivery — and Goh's "we'll see what's feasible" is precisely the kind of phrasing that leaves both options, and neither, on the table.

What happens next

No formal announcement on the seat design has been made. Goh's willingness to acknowledge the feedback publicly, even in qualified terms, suggests the airline is listening; whether any change reaches production is a separate question entirely. The next concrete signal will come if Singapore Airlines issues a formal statement or shows a revised seat.