Zodiac Seats U.S.
Zodiac Seats U.S. (known as Weber Aircraft LLC until late 2012) is an American manufacturer of airline seats headquartered in Gainesville, Texas. The company is a subsidiary of Zodiac Aerospace of France, and is one of the largest manufacturers of airline seats in the world, competing with such companies as Acro Aircraft Seating, Recaro, B/E Aerospace, and Aviointeriors. Some significant U.S. customers, in addition to being one of the primary seat suppliers for Boeing and Airbus, include Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, and United Airlines. Overseas customers, among many others, include Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Etihad Airways, Asiana Airlines, and Qantas Airways.
Established as Weber Aircraft, LLC in 1968, the company was previously a division of Kidde Inc. until being bought in 1992 by Air Cruisers Co. of Belmar, NJ; itself a part of Groupe Zodiac (Zodiac Aerospace). In September 2012, the company's name was officially changed from Weber Aircraft, LLC to Zodiac Seats U.S.
ZSUS is now the largest manufacturer of airline seats in the world as well as the holder of several notable patents for products created by its employees. With a main facility exceeding 700,000 square feet and over 3,000 employees (as of 2015), ZSUS is the largest single employer in Gainesville/Cooke County. Additionally, ZSUS contains satellite facilities in Rancho Cucamonga, California, Chihuahua, Mexico, and Tianjin, China; and service locations in Everett, Washington and Atlanta, Georgia.
After being led for several years by Division Vice President/General Manager John Walterscheid, current company leadership includes:
- CEO & President - Jeff Barger
- COO, Vice President & General Manager - N/A
- CFO & Vice President/Finance - Kent Dreier
A large number of the ZSUS employees are represented by a union, General Warehousemen and Helpers Local 757, which is affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
Notable products
One product from Zodiac is the 5751 slimline economy class seat. This particular model of seat uses a unique recline mechanism where the seat bucket moves forward while reclining. This model of seat is currently used by Delta Air Lines and American Airlines on all several aircraft including Delta's 717, 737-700/800, 747-400, 767-300, 777, MD-90, and international/premium transcontinental 757-200, as well as American Airlines' 777-300ER and all reconfigured 737-800 and 757-200 aircraft. However, Delta is using the competing Pinnacle seat by BE Aerospace for the Airbus A330 fleet upgrades, as well as on the Boeing 737-900ER fleet), while American is using the competing CL 3620 seat by Recaro on its A319 and A321 fleets. United Airlines also uses the 5751 on its pre-merger United Boeing 777-200ERs equipped with the International Premium Travel Experience (IPTE) cabin.
A new version of the 5751 seat (jointly designed by Weber and Panasonic Avionics Corporation) integrates an ultra-lightweight personal in-flight entertainment on-demand video screen into the seat. Delta Air Lines has on installed these seats on their Boeing 747-400 fleet, and is also currently being installed on their Boeing 767-300ER fleet.[1] Cathay Pacific also uses these seats as their new Economy Class seats, replacing the old, fixed shell seats from rival BE Aerospace.[2]
For business class, one of Zodiac's newest products include the Cirrus "reverse herringbone" sleeper suite. Designed by JPA Design Consultants, this type of sleeper suite is unique in the fact that the outboard seats face toward the windows instead of the aisles, and the center section seats (on widebody aircraft) face inward instead of outward. This model is also produced by Zodiac Seats France (formerly known as Sicma Aeroseat).[3] The version of this seat produced by Zodiac Seats France is used by US Airways for their newest Envoy business class seat, and is also used by American Airlines in Business Class on its Boeing 777-300ER fleet. Cathay Pacific also uses a heavily customized version of this seat (also produced by Zodiac Seats France) as their new business class product and can currently be found in select Boeing 777 and Airbus A330 aircraft.[4] Delta Air Lines has installed the version of this model produced by Zodiac Seats U.S. in BusinessElite on their Boeing 747-400[5] and Airbus A330[6] fleets.
References
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- ↑ [1] Archived October 18, 2010 at the Wayback Machine
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