How Flying Lighter Can Revolutionize Aviation Sustainability

Stephanie Ricci contributed to this story.

In an industry where every kilogram counts, Amaury Barberot is leading a quiet revolution from his headquarters in downtown Paris. As CEO and President of Expliseat, the 14-year-old company he co-founded, Barberot has turned what might seem like a mundane component — the airline seat — into a strategic weapon against aviation's carbon footprint.

The aviation industry faces growing pressure to decarbonize, with commercial flights generating 804 million tonnes of CO2 emissions in 2019 and accounting for 2.5% of global CO2 emissions. Since international travel began rebounding after the Covid-19 pandemic, aviation emissions climbed back to nearly 950 million tonnes of CO2 in 2023— over 90% of pre-pandemic levels, according to the International Energy Agency.

While sustainable aviation fuels and electric aircraft grab headlines, Barberot's approach is refreshingly practical: make every component as light as possible.

"It was the idea of one of my partners," Barberot admits with characteristic humility when asked about Expliseat's founding inspiration. "And so me in terms of profiling, I am not the genius, I'm the builder. I'm the one who took a crazy idea to build something out of it."

That "crazy idea" emerged during the dawn of aviation's modern era around 2011 when aircraft like the A380, Dreamliner, and C-Series were introducing revolutionary materials and technologies. Yet, despite the cutting-edge engineering technology, passengers were met with seats that seemed stuck in the past.

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"It was all about a new material, new technology. How those big aircraft could fly and the opposite when you were entering the aircraft, you could see seats with a textile cover that looks like your grandmother's curtains," Barberot says.

"And so it was about the gap of technology between the aircraft by itself and the interface with the passenger, the seat."

The Builder's Philosophy

When it comes to his leadership style, Barberot reflects his self-described role as "the builder" rather than "the genius." His pragmatic approach has served the company well through the complex journey from engineering prototype to certified aircraft component to scaled manufacturing operation.

Building aircraft seats requires navigating stringent safety regulations, achieving cost competitiveness with established suppliers, and convincing conservative airlines to adopt new technologies.

The Weight of Innovation

From that insight, Expliseat developed the iSeat, their Next-Generation Lightweight Seating solution that delivers what airlines are actively seeking: reduced fuel burn, enhanced passenger experience, and extended durability. Using a combination of titanium and carbon fiber, the TiSeat weighs around 6 kilograms, achieving a 30% weight reduction compared to traditional seating. For Barberot, this isn’t just an engineering achievement, but a comprehensive solution that delivers both ecological and economic value to airlines.

And the mathematics of aviation sustainability are stark. Every kilogram of weight reduction translates directly into fuel savings and emission reductions across an aircraft's operational lifetime. This contributes to an average 6% reduction in CO2 emissions per passenger while providing 50% better comfort for passenger experience.

Industry analysis confirms that lighter-weight materials can help reduce aircraft weight and reduce fuel burn, with airlines increasingly prioritizing weight reduction as part of their sustainability programs.

With over 10,000 TiSeats now in service and more than 60 million flight hours accumulated, the environmental impact is measurable, and so is the economic value delivered to airline partners.

Today, the fast-growing French manufacturer employs over 170 people split between its Paris engineering headquarters and its assembly facility two hours away by TGV in Angers. With a factory capacity exceeding 32,000 seats per year, Expliseat has secured partnerships with leading operators including Air France, Air Canada, and Jazeera Airways, while advancing manufacturing agreements with COMAC.

Its partnership with Air France to equip Embraer 190s with the TiSeat 2 X demonstrates adoption by a major carrier to a wider industry trend: lightweight seating is poised to become essential as aviation transitions toward electrification.

The timing is particularly relevant as Air France Hop! recently became the first airline to enter commercial service with Expliseat’s TiSeat 2X, marking a breakthrough moment that validates the lightweight seating technology in live passenger operations.

Expliseat has navigated the challenging transition from startup to scaled manufacturer, moving from outsourced production to internalized assembly – a critical step that its CEO sees as foundational to the company's ambitious growth plans.

Barberot says the company plans to double the number of its seats in service over the next year.

This production increase represents more than operational scaling and is about achieving the volume necessary to meaningfully impact aviation's environmental footprint.

“If we want our technology to have a true impact where at a worldwide level we must be able to deliver 50, 60, 70,000 seats," says Barberot.

The company's five-year strategy focuses on three key pillars: industrial expansion, geographic diversification, and product portfolio development.

The industrial expansion involves either adding a second final assembly line or bringing parts manufacturing in-house. Geographic expansion centers on North America, where regional aviation markets are showing strong interest in lightweight seating solutions.

The product portfolio expansion is meant to address varying market needs, from premium regional first-class configurations to cost-optimized variants for low-cost carriers, says Barberot.

An Imperative Beyond Aviation

Perhaps most intriguingly, Expliseat is extending its lightweight expertise beyond aviation.

"We were doing only aviation, but the reality is that all mobilities needs way to decarbonize," Barberot says. "We were contacted by railway operators to reduce the weight of trains. We were contacted by electric buses and coaches to do the same."

This diversification reflects a broader understanding that decarbonization is a cross-modal challenge.

Electric buses and trains face similar physics: every kilogram of weight reduction extends range and improves efficiency. Railway operators seeking to reduce energy consumption have found value in Expliseat's ultra-light rail seats, which weigh just 26-28 kilograms for a double seat configuration—approximately 50% fewer parts than traditional designs, explains Barberot.

While aviation markets can be cyclical and subject to external shocks, diversifying across multiple transportation modes may also cultivate stability, allowing the company to leverage its core competency in lightweight design across various applications.

An Industry Impact and Challenge

The broader aircraft seating industry is catching on. UK-based AIRTEK and legacy seatmakers are racing to bring their lightweight designs to market, signaling that Expliseat has pushed the sector in a new direction.

The challenge in weight reduction technologies involves scaling production while maintaining quality and safety standards. Aircraft seats must meet rigorous certification requirements, and any manufacturing defects could have serious consequences.

As Barberot guides Expliseat through its next growth phase, balancing rapid expansion with operational excellence will be critical. The company recently secured €36 million ($41 million) in funding, the largest capital increase in its history. The funding will strengthen manufacturing capabilities and accelerate global expansion into premium North American markets.

The aviation industry's commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050 creates a favorable tailwind for companies like Expliseat. While sustainable aviation fuels and electric aircraft will play larger roles in long-term decarbonization, immediate weight reduction offers airlines tangible benefits today.

“Industrial scaling is a very, very important priority,” says Barberot, recognizing that even the best intentions must translate into manufacturing capability to create real impact.

As aviation grapples with its environmental footprint, leaders like Barberot demonstrate that sustainability advances often come from unexpected directions. By focusing on the humble airplane seat — a component perhaps taken for granted — Expliseat is proving that meaningful environmental progress can emerge from engineering excellence applied to everyday objects.

Where innovation often focuses on dramatic breakthroughs, sometimes the fastest path to transformation is building better versions of things that already exist.