SIA's influencer-led cabin reveal hits turbulence with netizens

By now, you may have seen Singapore Airlines (SIA) popping up on your Instagram feed, with creators sharing their first look at the airline's revamped cabins following its launch event. From Munah Bagharib to Bellywellyjelly, local personalities have been giving their followers a glimpse of the new seats, interiors and in-flight dining.

The refresh covers First Class, Business Class, Premium Economy and Economy, with design work involving PriestmanGoode, Designworks and Factorydesign. The new cabins are expected to enter service from the second half of 2027.

It is a sizeable refresh, backed by more than SG$2 billion in investment. But while the influencer push gave SIA an opportunity to put its new cabins in front of a wider audience, the online response has not been entirely smooth sailing. Some have welcomed the upgrades, while others have questioned whether the new look still feels like the premium airline they know. 

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Not everyone has been taken with the new direction. DJ Jade Rasif, for instance, shared an Instagram reel of SIA's existing First Class cabin, accompanied by the text: "Last chance to fly Singapore Airlines before they make it ugly". Her caption added: "Goodbye warm colour palette, goodbye expensive looking things." It is unclear if she was one of the creators invited to the launch event. 

Local influencer Darshen, who is a former Singapore Airlines cabin crew member, also weighed in on Instagram. While welcoming the addition of sliding doors for Business Class passengers, he took issue with the cabin's aesthetics, likening the new seats to dental chairs, which he said "usually is not a good experience".

"As a PPS Club member, I'm very loyal to you guys, but after seeing the new business class seats, it's very hard to be loyal," he said, urging the airline to reconsider its colour palette.

"Please change the business class colour palette. It's not too late," he added. "We are the world's best airline, we must look classy. We can't look like a dental chair."

Meanwhile, US-based travel influencer Maxmilespoints similarly questioned the new Business Class interiors, comparing the seat to a doctor's examination or dentist's chair. He also drew parallels with the dark grey and neon yellow detailing on Spirit Airlines' seats.

Having worked in visual design for 10 years, he also questioned whether the different cabin designs would translate into a cohesive experience. "When you have that many cooks in the kitchen working on one project, you kind of lose that visual cohesiveness," he said.

The criticism has largely centred on whether the Business Class cabin looks out of place alongside the airline's other offerings. That concern is reflected in CARMA's social listening findings, which recorded negative sentiment at 49.4%, compared with 14.46% positive sentiment and 36.14% neutral sentiment. Design accounted for 38.2% of the conversations monitored, with the Business Class palette drawing particular attention.

Truescope separately recorded 113,392 engagements and approximately 3.47 million views around the cabin refresh. Business Class generated 40,506 engagements, or 35.7% of the total, while First Class accounted for 32,649 engagements, or 28.8%.

The discussion has extended beyond aesthetics, with audiences also weighing in on seat width, Economy Class comfort, the rollout timeline and whether the investment could eventually affect fares. Some have recognised the practical improvements, even as they remain unconvinced by the visual direction.

The platforms have also shaped how the conversation has travelled. Truescope found that TikTok generated the highest engagement and accounted for 92% of shares, while Instagram recorded approximately two million views and the highest number of comments. Facebook discussions leaned more towards Economy Class comfort and perceived fairness.

Truescope Singapore managing director Kelvin Koh said the response should not be taken as a rejection of the airline's investment, with some critics also recognising the practical improvements.

"The social response is not a rejection of Singapore Airlines' investment. It is a debate about what people expect from a premium national carrier, and even many of the critics recognised the practical improvements in the new cabins," he said.

SIA defends its design direction

SIA's leadership has defended the new interiors, pointing to customer feedback and the airline's broader approach to the travel experience. In a video shared by Australian travel creator The Points Wanderer, vice president of product experience Ong Wah Li said customers had expressed a preference for a more contemporary aesthetic.

"We spoke to our customers, and they said they wanted a more modern refreshed look. We worked with Designworks and Julia de Bono to come up with the colour palette that is modern and refreshed, yet elegant and refined that's suited to business travel," she said.

Chief commercial officer Lee Lik Hsin also said the differences in cabin colours would not undermine the airline's brand consistency, pointing to the wider journey customers experience. He said: 

The cohesive customer experience for Singapore Airlines goes far beyond colour. It even goes far beyond a cabin. It is the end-to-end experience that we provide.

In another video circulating on Instagram, as seen by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, Designworks CEO Julia de Bono explained the thinking behind the Business Class palette. She likened the grey tones to a business suit and the white accents to linen and sneakers, while the yellow adds energy to the space.

"I think it works very well for Business Class. You have the silver accents that pop in front of the yellow, so I think it works very well," she said. De Bono also described the yellow as bringing "zestiness" to the cabin.

The challenge of keeping the brand recognisable

Industry professionals MARKETING-INTERACTIVE spoke to see merit in giving each cabin its own visual identity, but warned that SIA risks weakening its brand if the differences become too pronounced.

Vantage Branding managing and creative director Simon Lee said the different designs give each cabin a distinct character, but believes Business Class risks feeling disconnected from the airline's established identity.

"Business Class is a better product, with more space and more privacy, but if you showed it to me on its own, I'm not sure I'd guess the airline. And that matters, because Business Class is where most premium customers actually experience the brand," he said.

Lee said having three design studios work across the cabins could give each class its own character and provide passengers with reasons to trade up. The automotive influence in Business Class is also apparent, given Designworks' association with BMW. However, he cautioned that differentiation should not come at the expense of recognisable brand cues.

Being different is fine. Being disconnected is the risk.

For Lee, SIA's batik motifs, warmth and attention to craft are among the shared cues that can help preserve that identity across different cabin designs. Without them, the cabins risk becoming disconnected expressions rather than contributing to a recognisable brand.

Bonsey Design chief creative officer and CEO Jonathan Bonsey similarly sees an imbalance between the cabins. While First Class retains a sense of luxury and Economy feels like a more accessible expression of it, he believes Business Class stands apart.

"I understand the choice of BMW DesignWorks. The association with precision and premium engineering is obvious, perhaps too obvious. But the result is so different that Business Class feels like another airline altogether," he said.

For Bonsey, the issue is not whether the new cabin is better designed in isolation, but whether it strengthens the airline's overall identity.

If the goal was to elevate the brand through a more advanced experience, the outcome has done something else: it has fragmented it.

There is, however, a commercial case for giving each cabin a more distinct personality. ABrandADay founder and chief creative officer Nafe Tong said passengers have different expectations of luxury and comfort depending on the class they are travelling in.

"It's also a smart commercial move. Each cabin becomes a proposition in its own right, with its own appeal and reasons for people to trade up," he said.

Tong also pointed to SIA's amenity collaborations with brands such as Sisley, Byredo and Ink & Water as ways of extending the airline's experience beyond the flight itself. "A good brand experience should have a life beyond the point of purchase, or in this case, beyond the flight," he said.

He added that some of the upgrades, including flat beds and greater privacy, have been available from competitors for some time. As a later mover, SIA has the opportunity to learn from other airlines and deliver a more polished experience.

Ultimately, SIA's challenge is to make each cabin distinct without making them feel disconnected from one another. As Bonsey put it:

For a brand built on seamless consistency, that's no small risk.

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